II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2310

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, with respect to penalties

for licensed firearms dealers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 29, 2000

Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, with

respect to penalties for licensed firearms dealers.

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 ‘‘Firearms Dealer Pen5 alty Flexibility Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF FIREARMS DEALER’S LICENSE AND

7 CIVIL PENALTIES.

8 Section 923 of title 18, United States Code, is

9 amended by striking subsections (e) and (f) and inserting

10 the following:
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1 ‘‘(e) REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF LICENSE;

2 CIVIL PENALTIES.—

3 ‘‘(1) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—The Secretary

4 may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, sus5 pend or revoke any license issued under this section,

6 or may subject the licensee to a civil penalty of not

7 more than $10,000 per violation, if the holder of

8 such license has willfully violated any provision of

9 this chapter or any rule or regulation prescribed by

10 the Secretary under this chapter.

11 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF ARMOR PIERCING AMMUNI12 TION.—The Secretary may, after notice and oppor13 tunity for hearing, suspend or revoke the license of,

14 or assess a civil penalty of not more than $10,000

15 on, a dealer who willfully transfers armor piercing

16 ammunition.

17 ‘‘(3) COMPROMISE, MITIGATION, OR REMIT18 TANCE OF LIABILITY.—The Secretary may at any

19 time compromise, mitigate, or remit the liability with

20 respect to any willful violation of this chapter or any

21 rule or regulation prescribed by the Secretary under

22 this chapter.

23 ‘‘(4) REVIEW.—An action of the Secretary

24 under this subsection may be reviewed only as pro25 vided in subsection (f).
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1 ‘‘(f) RIGHTS OF APPLICANTS AND LICENSEES.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary denies an

3 application for a license, or revokes or suspends a li4 cense, or assesses a civil penalty under this section,

5 the Secretary shall provide written notice of such de6 nial, revocation, suspension, or assessment to the af7 fected party, which notice shall—

8 ‘‘(A) state specifically the grounds upon

9 which the application was denied or upon which

10 the license was suspended or revoked or the

11 civil penalty assessed, as applicable; and

12 ‘‘(B) with respect to a notice of a revoca13 tion or suspension of a license, be given to the

14 holder of such license before the effective date

15 of the revocation or suspension, as applicable.

16 ‘‘(2) APPEAL PROCESS.—

17 ‘‘(A) HEARING.—If the Secretary denies

18 an application for, or revokes or suspends a li19 cense, or assesses a civil penalty under this sec20 tion, the Secretary shall, upon request of the

21 aggrieved party, promptly hold a hearing to re22 view the denial, revocation, suspension, or as23 sessment. A hearing under this subparagraph

24 shall be held at a location convenient to the ag25 grieved party.
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1 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF DECISION; APPEAL.—If,

2 after a hearing held under subparagraph (A),

3 the Secretary decides not to reverse the decision

4 of the Secretary to deny the application, revoke

5 or suspend the license, or assess the civil pen6 alty, as applicable—

7 ‘‘(i) the Secretary shall provide notice

8 of the decision of the Secretary to the ag9 grieved party;

10 ‘‘(ii) during the 60-day period begin11 ning on the date on which the aggrieved

12 party receives a notice under clause (i), the

13 aggrieved party may file a petition with the

14 district court of the United States for the

15 judicial district in which the aggrieved

16 party resides or has a principal place of

17 business for a de novo judicial review of

18 such denial, revocation, suspension, or as19 sessment; and

20 ‘‘(iii) in any judicial proceeding pursu21 ant to a petition under clause (ii)—

22 ‘‘(I) the court may consider any

23 evidence submitted by the parties to

24 the proceeding, regardless of whether

25 or not such evidence was considered
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1 at the hearing held under subpara2 graph (A); and

3 ‘‘(II) if the court decides that the

4 Secretary was not authorized to make

5 such denial, revocation, suspension, or

6 assessment, the court shall order the

7 Secretary to take such actions as may

8 be necessary to comply with the judg9 ment of the court.

10 ‘‘(C) STAY PENDING APPEAL.—If the Sec11 retary suspends or revokes a license or assesses

12 a civil penalty under this section, upon the re13 quest of the holder of the license, the Secretary

14 shall stay the effective date of the revocation,

15 suspension, or assessment pending an appeal

16 under this paragraph.’’.

17 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF FIREARMS DEALER’S LICENSE

18 UPON FELONY CONVICTION.

19 Section 925(b) of title 18, United States Code, is

20 amended by striking ‘‘until any conviction pursuant to the

21 indictment becomes final’’ and inserting ‘‘until the date

22 of any conviction pursuant to the indictment’’.

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