II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 551 

To increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General to deny the 

transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses 

to known or suspected dangerous terrorists. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2015 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. DURBIN, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. REED, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General 

to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses to known or suspected dangerous terrorists. 

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 ‘‘Denying Firearms and 

5 Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE AUTHOR2 ITY TO DENY THE SALE, DELIVERY, OR 

3 TRANSFER OF A FIREARM OR THE ISSUANCE 

4 OF A FIREARMS OR EXPLOSIVES LICENSE OR 

5 PERMIT TO DANGEROUS TERRORISTS. 

6 (a) STANDARD FOR EXERCISING ATTORNEY GEN7 ERAL DISCRETION REGARDING TRANSFERRING FIRE8 ARMS OR ISSUING FIREARMS PERMITS TO DANGEROUS

9 TERRORISTS.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United States 

10 Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting after section 922 the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 922A. Attorney General’s discretion to deny trans13 fer of a firearm 

14 ‘‘The Attorney General may deny the transfer of a 

15 firearm under section 922(t)(1)(B)(ii) of this title if the 

16 Attorney General— 

17 ‘‘(1) determines that the transferee is known 

18 (or appropriately suspected) to be or have been en19 gaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in 

20 aid of, or related to terrorism, or providing material 

21 support or resources for terrorism; and 

22 ‘‘(2) has a reasonable belief that the prospective 

23 transferee may use a firearm in connection with ter24 rorism. 


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1 ‘‘§ 922B. Attorney General’s discretion regarding ap2 plicants for firearm permits which would 

3 qualify for the exemption provided under 

4 section 922(t)(3) 

5 ‘‘The Attorney General may determine that— 

6 ‘‘(1) an applicant for a firearm permit which 

7 would qualify for an exemption under section 

8 922(t)(3) is known (or appropriately suspected) to 

9 be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in 

10 preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism, or 

11 providing material support or resources for ter12 rorism; and 

13 ‘‘(2) the Attorney General has a reasonable be14 lief that the applicant may use a firearm in connec15 tion with terrorism.’’; 

16 (2) in section 921(a), by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(36) The term ‘terrorism’ includes inter19 national terrorism and domestic terrorism, as de20 fined in section 2331 of this title. 

21 ‘‘(37) The term ‘material support or resources’ 

22 has the meaning given the term in section 2339A of 

23 this title. 

24 ‘‘(38) The term ‘responsible person’ means an 

25 individual who has the power, directly or indirectly, 

26 to direct or cause the direction of the management 


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1 and policies of the applicant or licensee pertaining to 

2 firearms.’’; and 

3 (3) in the table of sections, by inserting after 

4 the item relating to section 922 the following: 

‘‘922A. Attorney General’s discretion to deny transfer of a firearm. 

‘‘922B. Attorney General’s discretion regarding applicants for firearm permits 

which would qualify for the exemption provided under section 

922(t)(3).’’. 

5 (b) EFFECT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRE6 TIONARY DENIAL THROUGH THE NATIONAL INSTANT

7 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM (NICS) ON

8 FIREARMS PERMITS.—Section 922(t) of title 18, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or 

11 State law, or that the Attorney General has deter12 mined to deny the transfer of a firearm pursuant to 

13 section 922A of this title’’ before the semicolon; 

14 (2) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 

15 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or if the Attorney 

16 General has not determined to deny the transfer of 

17 a firearm pursuant to section 922A of this title’’ 

18 after ‘‘or State law’’; 

19 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

21 (i) in clause (i)— 

22 (I) in subclause (I), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 


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1 (II) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(III) was issued after a check of the sys4 tem established pursuant to paragraph (1);’’; 

5 (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

6 after the semicolon; and 

7 (iii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(iii) the State issuing the permit agrees to 

10 deny the permit application if such other person is 

11 the subject of a determination by the Attorney Gen12 eral pursuant to section 922B of this title;’’; 

13 (4) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, or if the 

14 Attorney General has not determined to deny the 

15 transfer of a firearm pursuant to section 922A of 

16 this title’’ after ‘‘or State law’’; and 

17 (5) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘, or if the 

18 Attorney General has determined to deny the trans19 fer of a firearm pursuant to section 922A of this 

20 title’’ after ‘‘or State law’’. 

21 (c) UNLAWFUL SALE OR DISPOSITION OF FIREARM

22 BASED UPON ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DE23 NIAL.—Section 922(d) of title 18, United States Code, is 

24 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(10) has been the subject of a determination 

7 by the Attorney General under section 922A, 922B, 

8 923(d)(3), or 923(e) of this title.’’. 

9 (d) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

10 AS PROHIBITOR.—Section 922(g) of title 18, United 

11 States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

13 end; 

14 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the comma at 

15 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(10) who has received actual notice of the At19 torney General’s determination made under section 

20 922A, 922B, 923(d)(3) or 923(e) of this title,’’. 

21 (e) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

22 OF FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSES.—Section 923(d) of 

23 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 

2 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Any’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (3), any’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) The Attorney General may deny a license appli6 cation if the Attorney General determines that the appli7 cant (including any responsible person) is known (or ap8 propriately suspected) to be or have been engaged in con9 duct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related 

10 to terrorism, or providing material support or resources 

11 for terrorism, and the Attorney General has a reasonable 

12 belief that the applicant may use a firearm in connection 

13 with terrorism.’’. 

14 (f) DISCRETIONARY REVOCATION OF FEDERAL FIRE15 ARMS LICENSES.—Section 923(e) of title 18, United 

16 States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(e)’’; 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘revoke any license’’ and insert19 ing the following: ‘‘revoke— 

20 ‘‘(A) any license’’; 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘. The Attorney General may, 

22 after notice and opportunity for hearing, revoke the 

23 license’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘; 

24 ‘‘(B) the license’’; and 


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1 (4) by striking ‘‘. The Secretary’s action’’ and 

2 inserting the following: ‘‘; or 

3 ‘‘(C) any license issued under this section if the 

4 Attorney General determines that the holder of such 

5 license (including any responsible person) is known 

6 (or appropriately suspected) to be or have been en7 gaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in 

8 aid of, or related to terrorism or providing material 

9 support or resources for terrorism, and the Attorney 

10 General has a reasonable belief that the applicant 

11 may use a firearm in connection with terrorism. 

12 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General’s action’’. 

13 (g) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

14 INFORMATION IN FIREARMS LICENSE DENIAL AND REV15 OCATION SUIT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 923(f)(1) of title 18, 

17 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

18 the first sentence the following: ‘‘However, if the de19 nial or revocation is pursuant to subsection (d)(3) or 

20 (e)(1)(C), any information upon which the Attorney 

21 General relied for this determination may be with22 held from the petitioner, if the Attorney General de23 termines that disclosure of the information would 

24 likely compromise national security.’’. 


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1 (2) SUMMARIES.—Section 923(f)(3) of title 18, 

2 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

3 the third sentence the following: ‘‘With respect to 

4 any information withheld from the aggrieved party 

5 under paragraph (1), the United States may submit, 

6 and the court may rely upon, summaries or redacted 

7 versions of documents containing information the 

8 disclosure of which the Attorney General has deter9 mined would likely compromise national security.’’. 

10 (h) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

11 INFORMATION IN RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES LAW12 SUITS.—Section 925(c) of title 18, United States Code, 

13 is amended by inserting after the third sentence the fol14 lowing: ‘‘If the person is subject to a disability under sec15 tion 922(g)(10) of this title, any information which the 

16 Attorney General relied on for this determination may be 

17 withheld from the applicant if the Attorney General deter18 mines that disclosure of the information would likely com19 promise national security. In responding to the petition, 

20 the United States may submit, and the court may rely 

21 upon, summaries or redacted versions of documents con22 taining information the disclosure of which the Attorney 

23 General has determined would likely compromise national 

24 security.’’. 


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1 (i) PENALTIES.—Section 924(k) of title 18, United 

2 States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

4 end; 

5 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the comma at 

6 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(4) constitutes an act of terrorism, or pro10 viding material support or resources for terrorism,’’. 

11 (j) REMEDY FOR ERRONEOUS DENIAL OF FIREARM

12 OR FIREARM PERMIT EXEMPTION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 925A of title 18, 

14 United States Code, is amended— 

15 (A) in the section heading, by striking 

16 ‘‘Remedy for erroneous denial of fire17 arm’’ and inserting ‘‘Remedies’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘Any person denied a fire19 arm pursuant to subsection (s) or (t) of section 

20 922’’ and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), any person 

22 denied a firearm pursuant to subsection (t) of section 922 

23 or a firearm permit pursuant to a determination made 

24 under section 922B’’; and 

25 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) In any case in which the Attorney General has 

2 denied the transfer of a firearm to a prospective transferee 

3 pursuant to section 922A of this title or has made a deter4 mination regarding a firearm permit applicant pursuant 

5 to section 922B of this title, an action challenging the de6 termination may be brought against the United States. 

7 The petition shall be filed not later than 60 days after 

8 the petitioner has received actual notice of the Attorney 

9 General’s determination under section 922A or 922B of 

10 this title. The court shall sustain the Attorney General’s 

11 determination upon a showing by the United States by a 

12 preponderance of evidence that the Attorney General’s de13 termination satisfied the requirements of section 922A or 

14 922B, as the case may be. To make this showing, the 

15 United States may submit, and the court may rely upon, 

16 summaries or redacted versions of documents containing 

17 information the disclosure of which the Attorney General 

18 has determined would likely compromise national security. 

19 Upon request of the petitioner or the court’s own motion, 

20 the court may review the full, undisclosed documents ex 

21 parte and in camera. The court shall determine whether 

22 the summaries or redacted versions, as the case may be, 

23 are fair and accurate representations of the underlying 

24 documents. The court shall not consider the full, undis25 closed documents in deciding whether the Attorney GenVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Feb 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S551.IS S551

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1 eral’s determination satisfies the requirements of section 

2 922A or 922B.’’. 

3 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND4 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 44 of title 

5 18, United States Code, is amended by striking the 

6 item relating to section 925A and inserting the fol7 lowing: 

‘‘925A. Remedies.’’. 

8 (k) PROVISION OF GROUNDS UNDERLYING INELIGI9 BILITY DETERMINATION BY THE NATIONAL INSTANT

10 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM.—Section 103 

11 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 

12 922 note) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (f)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘or the Attorney General 

15 has made a determination regarding an appli16 cant for a firearm permit pursuant to section 

17 922B of title 18, United States Code,’’ after ‘‘is 

18 ineligible to receive a firearm’’; and 

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘except any information 

20 for which the Attorney General has determined 

21 that disclosure would likely compromise na22 tional security,’’ after ‘‘reasons to the indi23 vidual,’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (g)— 

25 (A) the first sentence— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘or if the Attorney 

2 General has made a determination pursu3 ant to section 922A or 922B of title 18, 

4 United States Code,’’ after ‘‘or State 

5 law,’’; and 

6 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, except any infor7 mation for which the Attorney General has 

8 determined that disclosure would likely 

9 compromise national security’’ before the 

10 period at the end; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘Any petition for review of information with13 held by the Attorney General under this sub14 section shall be made in accordance with section 

15 925A of title 18, United States Code.’’. 

16 (l) UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF EXPLOSIVES

17 BASED UPON ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DE18 NIAL.—Section 842(d) of title 18, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 

21 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(10) has received actual notice of the Attorney 

24 General’s determination made pursuant to sub25 section (j) or (d)(1)(B) of section 843 of this title.’’. 


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1 (m) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

2 AS PROHIBITOR.—Section 842(i) of title 18, United States 

3 Code, is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (7), by inserting ‘‘; or’’ at the 

5 end; and 

6 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(8) who has received actual notice of the At9 torney General’s determination made pursuant to 

10 subsection (j) or (d)(1)(B) of section 843 of this 

11 title,’’. 

12 (n) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL

13 OF FEDERAL EXPLOSIVES LICENSES AND PERMITS.— 

14 Section 843 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Upon’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (j), 

17 upon’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(j) The Attorney General may deny the issuance of 

20 a permit or license to an applicant if the Attorney General 

21 determines that the applicant or a responsible person or 

22 employee possessor thereof is known (or appropriately sus23 pected) to be or have been engaged in conduct consti24 tuting, in preparation of, in aid of, or related to terrorism, 

25 or providing material support or resources for terrorism, 


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1 and the Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the 

2 person may use explosives in connection with terrorism.’’. 

3 (o) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY REVOCA4 TION OF FEDERAL EXPLOSIVES LICENSES AND PER5 MITS.—Section 843(d) of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(d)’’; 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘if in the opinion’’ and inserting 

9 the following: ‘‘if— 

10 ‘‘(A) in the opinion’’; and 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘. The Secretary’s action’’ and 

12 inserting the following: ‘‘; or 

13 ‘‘(B) the Attorney General determines that the 

14 licensee or holder (or any responsible person or em15 ployee possessor thereof) is known (or appropriately 

16 suspected) to be or have been engaged in conduct 

17 constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related 

18 to terrorism, or providing material support or re19 sources for terrorism, and that the Attorney General 

20 has a reasonable belief that the person may use ex21 plosives in connection with terrorism. 

22 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General’s action’’. 

23 (p) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD

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1 NIAL AND REVOCATION SUITS.—Section 843(e) of title 

2 18, United States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting after the first 

4 sentence the following: ‘‘However, if the denial or 

5 revocation is based upon an Attorney General deter6 mination under subsection (j) or (d)(1)(B), any in7 formation which the Attorney General relied on for 

8 this determination may be withheld from the peti9 tioner if the Attorney General determines that dis10 closure of the information would likely compromise 

11 national security.’’; and 

12 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

13 following: ‘‘In responding to any petition for review 

14 of a denial or revocation based upon an Attorney 

15 General determination under subsection (j) or 

16 (d)(1)(B), the United States may submit, and the 

17 court may rely upon, summaries or redacted versions 

18 of documents containing information the disclosure 

19 of which the Attorney General has determined would 

20 likely compromise national security.’’. 

21 (q) ABILITY TO WITHHOLD INFORMATION IN COM22 MUNICATIONS TO EMPLOYERS.—Section 843(h)(2) of title 

23 18, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or in 

2 subsection (j) of this section (on grounds of ter3 rorism)’’ after ‘‘section 842(i)’’; and 

4 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

5 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

6 inserting ‘‘or in subsection (j) of this section,’’ 

7 after ‘‘section 842(i),’’; and 

8 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, except 

9 that any information that the Attorney General 

10 relied on for a determination pursuant to sub11 section (j) may be withheld if the Attorney Gen12 eral concludes that disclosure of the information 

13 would likely compromise national security’’ 

14 after ‘‘determination’’. 

15 (r) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO IMMIGRATION AND

16 NATIONALITY ACT.—Section 101(a)(43)(E)(ii) of the Im17 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

18 1101(a)(43)(E)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘or (5)’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘(5), or (10)’’. 

20 (s) GUIDELINES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

22 issue guidelines describing the circumstances under 

23 which the Attorney General will exercise the author24 ity and make determinations under subsections 

25 (d)(1)(B) and (j) of section 843 and sections 922A 


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1 and 922B of title 18, United States Code, as amend2 ed by this Act. 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—The guidelines issued under 

4 paragraph (1) shall— 

5 (A) provide accountability and a basis for 

6 monitoring to ensure that the intended goals 

7 for, and expected results of, the grant of au8 thority under subsections (d)(1)(B) and (j) of 

9 section 843 and sections 922A and 922B of 

10 title 18, United States Code, as amended by 

11 this Act, are being achieved; and 

12 (B) ensure that terrorist watch list records 

13 are used in a manner that safeguards privacy 

14 and civil liberties protections, in accordance 

15 with requirements outlines in Homeland Secu16 rity Presidential Directive 11 (dated August 27, 

17 2004). 

Æ 


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