I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3569 

To provide grants to States to encourage the implementation and maintenance 

of firearms licensing requirements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide grants to States to encourage the implementation 

and maintenance of firearms licensing requirements, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making America Safe 

5 and Secure Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘MASS Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FIREARMS LICENSING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime 

8 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 

9 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART OO—FIREARMS LICENSING 

2 ‘‘SEC. 3051. DEFINITIONS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In this part— 

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered license’ means a— 

5 ‘‘(A) firearms license; or 

6 ‘‘(B) firearms dealer license; 

7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘extreme risk protection order’ 

8 means a written order, issued by a State court or 

9 signed by a magistrate that, for a period not to ex10 ceed a time frame established by the State— 

11 ‘‘(A) prohibits the individual named in the 

12 order from having under the custody or control 

13 of the individual, purchasing, possessing, or re14 ceiving a firearm or ammunition; and 

15 ‘‘(B) requires that any firearm or ammuni16 tion under the custody or control of the indi17 vidual be removed; 

18 ‘‘(3) the term ‘prohibited individual’ means an 

19 individual who is categorically ineligible to receive a 

20 covered license; 

21 ‘‘(4) the term ‘suitable’ means that an indi22 vidual does not create a risk to public safety; and 

23 ‘‘(5) the term ‘thorough background check’ 

24 means a Federal and State background check, which 

25 may include a fingerprint-based background check. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITED INDIVIDUALS.—For purposes of 

2 this part, a State— 

3 ‘‘(1) shall establish standards for categorizing 

4 an individual as a prohibited individual for purposes 

5 of receiving a covered license; and 

6 ‘‘(2) in establishing standards with respect to a 

7 covered license under paragraph (1), shall take into 

8 consideration whether limitations may be warranted 

9 based on— 

10 ‘‘(A) criminal history; 

11 ‘‘(B) whether an individual has been— 

12 ‘‘(i) deemed a danger to himself or 

13 herself or other individuals by a court or 

14 authorized administrative body; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) committed to a hospital or insti16 tution as a danger to himself or herself or 

17 other individuals; 

18 ‘‘(C) age; 

19 ‘‘(D) legal residency; 

20 ‘‘(E) military dishonorable discharges; 

21 ‘‘(F) whether an individual is subject to a 

22 permanent or temporary protection order; 

23 ‘‘(G) outstanding arrest warrants; 

24 ‘‘(H) status as a fugitive; 


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1 ‘‘(I) renunciation of United States citizen2 ship; and 

3 ‘‘(J) other factors relevant to the suit4 ability of a license holder. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 3052. GRANTS AND CONDITIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Assistant Attorney 

7 General may make grants to States to implement or main8 tain firearms and firearms dealer licensing requirements. 

9 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANTS.—A grant under sub10 section (a) shall be for a period of 3 fiscal years. 

11 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS FOR FIREARMS AND FIREARMS

12 DEALER LICENSING.— 

13 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES.—Amounts received under a 

14 grant under subsection (a) shall be used for the im15 plementation or maintenance of firearms and fire16 arms dealer licensing requirements, which shall in17 corporate and implement the elements described in 

18 paragraph (2). 

19 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The elements described in 

20 this paragraph are those providing that— 

21 ‘‘(A) an individual shall have a firearms li22 cense— 

23 ‘‘(i) at the time of the purchase, rent24 al, or lease of a firearm or purchase of am25 munition; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) during the entire period of own2 ership or possession of a firearm or ammu3 nition; 

4 ‘‘(B)(i) an individual who (including the 

5 owner or operator of a business that) sells, 

6 rents, or leases a minimum number of firearms, 

7 or sells ammunition, during a calendar year 

8 shall obtain a firearms dealer license; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the State shall establish the minimum 

10 number of firearms for purposes of clause (i), 

11 which may not be higher than 10 per calendar 

12 year; 

13 ‘‘(C) the chief of police or the board or of14 ficer having control of the police department of 

15 a local government, or a designee within the 

16 same department, shall function as the licensing 

17 authority; 

18 ‘‘(D) for an application for issuance or re19 newal of a firearms license, the licensing au20 thority shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) conduct a thorough background 

22 check, which may include— 

23 ‘‘(I) conducting an interview with 

24 the applicant; 


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1 ‘‘(II) requiring the submission of 

2 letters of reference stating that the 

3 applicant is of sound mind and char4 acter; and 

5 ‘‘(III) any other requirements the 

6 State determines relevant; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) make a determination of suit8 ability; 

9 ‘‘(E) a first-time firearms license applicant 

10 shall complete safety training; 

11 ‘‘(F) for an application for issuance or re12 newal of a firearms dealer license, the licensing 

13 authority shall conduct an investigation into the 

14 criminal history of the applicant, which may in15 clude— 

16 ‘‘(i) an interview with the applicant; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a thorough background check; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iii) any other requirements the 

20 State determines relevant; 

21 ‘‘(G) the State shall establish appropriate 

22 application processes for covered licenses con23 sistent with Federal, State, and local law; 

24 ‘‘(H) the State shall establish standards 

25 and processes by which licensing authorities can 


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1 revoke, suspend, or deny the issuance or re2 newal of a covered license; 

3 ‘‘(I) the State shall ensure that a revoca4 tion, suspension, or denial cannot be based on 

5 race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual ori6 entation, or gender identity; 

7 ‘‘(J) the State shall establish judicial re8 view processes by which any applicant for or 

9 holder of a covered license may, within a rea10 sonable time period, petition to obtain judicial 

11 review of a revocation, suspension, or denial of 

12 the issuance or renewal of a covered license; 

13 ‘‘(K) the State shall establish— 

14 ‘‘(i) standards and a process under 

15 which a family member of an individual 

16 who the family member fears is a danger 

17 to himself, herself, or others may petition 

18 for an extreme risk protection order; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) standards for the termination or 

20 extension of an order described in clause 

21 (i); 

22 ‘‘(L) the State shall establish processes 

23 under which— 

24 ‘‘(i) an individual whose covered li25 cense is revoked or suspended, or whose 


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1 application for issuance or renewal of a 

2 covered license is denied, shall surrender or 

3 transfer all firearms and ammunition that 

4 are or would have been covered by the li5 cense; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) an individual who is subject to 

7 an extreme risk protection order shall sur8 render or transfer all firearms and ammu9 nition in the possession of the individual; 

10 ‘‘(M) the State shall establish requirements 

11 with which a firearms dealer licensee must com12 ply, which— 

13 ‘‘(i) shall include requirements relat14 ing to— 

15 ‘‘(I) the location at which the li16 censee conducts firearm or ammuni17 tion transactions; 

18 ‘‘(II) the manner in which the li19 censee records firearm or ammunition 

20 transactions; 

21 ‘‘(III) background checks for em22 ployees of the licensee; and 

23 ‘‘(IV) any other matter that the 

24 State determines appropriate; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) may include requirements that a 

2 licensee— 

3 ‘‘(I) maintain a permanent place 

4 of business— 

5 ‘‘(aa) that is not a resi6 dence; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) at which the licensee 

8 conducts all firearms or ammuni9 tion transactions; 

10 ‘‘(II) submit to mandatory record 

11 and inventory inspections by a licens12 ing authority; 

13 ‘‘(III) maintain a sales record 

14 book at the permanent place of busi15 ness described in subclause (I) in ac16 cordance with standards established 

17 by the State; 

18 ‘‘(IV) conduct a pre-employment 

19 background check on each potential 

20 employee to determine the suitability 

21 of any potential employee who may 

22 have direct and unmonitored contact 

23 with a firearm or ammunition; and 

24 ‘‘(V) take any other action that 

25 the State determines appropriate; 


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1 ‘‘(N) the State shall promulgate rules and 

2 regulations to ensure the prompt collection, ex3 change, dissemination, and distribution of infor4 mation pertaining to the issuance, renewal, ex5 piration, suspension, or revocation of a covered 

6 license; 

7 ‘‘(O) the State shall establish standards 

8 that are consistent with Federal and State 

9 law— 

10 ‘‘(i) governing the transfer of a fire11 arm or ammunition; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) for identifying a prohibited indi13 vidual, in accordance with section 3051(b); 

14 ‘‘(P) the State shall promulgate rules and 

15 regulations that require a dealer or private sell16 er of firearms or ammunition to verify the va17 lidity of a firearms license before the sale, rent18 al, or lease of any firearm or the sale of any 

19 ammunition; 

20 ‘‘(Q) a dealer or private seller of firearms 

21 or ammunition shall report all sales, rentals, 

22 and leases of firearms, and sales of ammuni23 tion, to State authorities; 

24 ‘‘(R) a dealer of firearms or ammunition 

25 shall notify the licensing authority when preVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3569.IH H3569

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1 sented with an invalid or expired firearms li2 cense; 

3 ‘‘(S) any firearms licensee whose firearm 

4 or ammunition is lost or stolen shall report the 

5 loss or theft to the licensing authority and 

6 State authorities within a reasonable time 

7 frame and in a manner established by the 

8 State; 

9 ‘‘(T) an individual holding a firearms li10 cense or firearms dealer license shall renew the 

11 license on a time frame established by the 

12 State; 

13 ‘‘(U) an individual may not use the fire14 arms license of the individual to purchase a 

15 firearm or ammunition for— 

16 ‘‘(i) the unlawful use of the firearm or 

17 ammunition by another individual; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) the resale or other transfer of 

19 the firearm or ammunition to an unli20 censed individual; and 

21 ‘‘(V)(i) it shall be unlawful to store or keep 

22 a firearm in any place unless the firearm is se23 cured in a locked container or equipped with a 

24 tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety 

25 device, properly engaged so as to render the 


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1 firearm inoperable by any individual other than 

2 the owner or other lawfully authorized user; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of clause (i), a firearm 

4 shall not be considered to be stored or kept if 

5 carried by or under the control of the owner or 

6 other lawfully authorized user. 

7 ‘‘(3) SEPARATE AMMUNITION DEALER LICENSE

8 PERMITTED.—A State that requires a license for 

9 dealing ammunition that is separate from a license 

10 for dealing firearms shall be deemed to have satis11 fied the requirements under paragraph (2) relating 

12 to a firearms dealer license, as that license relates 

13 to the dealing of ammunition, if the State imposes 

14 the same requirements for an ammunition dealer li15 cense as are mandated under paragraph (2) for a 

16 firearms dealer license, as that license relates to the 

17 dealing of ammunition. 

18 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

19 under subsection (a), a State shall submit to the Assistant 

20 Attorney General an application at such time, in such 

21 manner, and containing such information as the Assistant 

22 Attorney General may require, including a description of 

23 how the State will use the grant to implement or maintain 

24 firearms and firearms dealer licensing requirements that 

25 include the elements described in subsection (c)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each State receiving a 

2 grant under this section shall submit to the Assistant At3 torney General, for each fiscal year during which the State 

4 expends amounts received under the grant, a report, at 

5 such time and in such manner as the Assistant Attorney 

6 General may reasonably require, that contains— 

7 ‘‘(1) a summary of the activities carried out 

8 using amounts made available under the grant; 

9 ‘‘(2) an assessment of whether the activities are 

10 achieving the elements described in subsection 

11 (c)(2); and 

12 ‘‘(3) such other information as the Assistant 

13 Attorney General may require. 

14 ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS ON THE ALLOCATION OF

15 FUNDS.—Not more than 2 percent of the amount made 

16 available to carry out this section in any fiscal year may 

17 be used by the Assistant Attorney General for salaries and 

18 administrative expenses. 

19 ‘‘(g) REALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—A recipi20 ent of a grant under subsection (a) shall return to the 

21 Assistant Attorney General any amounts received under 

22 the grant that are not expended for a purpose described 

23 in this section.’’. 

24 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

25 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 


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1 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(a)) is amended by 

2 adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(29) There are authorized to be appropriated 

4 such sums as may be necessary to carry out part 

5 OO.’’. 

Æ 


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