I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3536 
To amend section 923 of title 18, United States Code, to require an electronic, 
searchable database of the importation, production, shipment, receipt, 
sale, or other disposition of firearms. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2021 
Mr. PASCRELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend section 923 of title 18, United States Code, to 
require an electronic, searchable database of the importa-
tion, production, shipment, receipt, sale, or other disposi-
tion of firearms. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Crime Gun Tracing 
Modernization Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC, SEARCHABLE DATABASES. 
Section 923(g) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(8)(A) In this paragraph, the term ‘foreign intel-
ligence information’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 
of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801). 
‘‘(B) Not later than 3 years after the date of enact-
ment of this paragraph, the National Tracing Center of 
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 
shall establish and maintain electronic, searchable data-
bases of all records within its possession of the importa-
tion, production, shipment, receipt, sale, or other disposi-
tion of firearms required to be submitted to the Bureau 
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by persons 
licensed under this chapter. 
‘‘(C) Each licensee under this chapter may provide 
the National Tracing Center with electronic access, con-
sistent with the requirements of this paragraph, to all 
records within the licensee’s possession that are required 
to be kept under this chapter. 
‘‘(D) A licensee may voluntarily relinquish possession 
of any non-electronic record required to be kept under this 
chapter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 
Explosives if— 
‘‘(i) 10 years have elapsed from the date of the 
firearm transaction; or 
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‘‘(ii) in the case of paper acquisition and dis-
position books, 10 years have elapsed without any 
open disposition entries and with no dispositions re-
corded in the record. 
‘‘(E) The National Tracing Center— 
‘‘(i) shall have remote access to and may query, 
search, or otherwise access the electronic databases 
described in this paragraph; and 
‘‘(ii) may, with the permission of a State, or po-
litical subdivision of a State, have remote access to, 
and may query, search, or otherwise access the data-
bases of the firearms registration system or pawn-
broker records system of the State or political sub-
division. 
‘‘(F) The National Tracing Center may query, 
search, or otherwise access the electronic databases de-
scribed in this paragraph for only the following purposes: 
‘‘(i) To obtain information related to a bona 
fide law enforcement investigation by a Federal, 
State, local, tribal, or foreign law enforcement agen-
cy. 
‘‘(ii) To obtain information that is— 
‘‘(I) foreign intelligence information; or 
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‘‘(II) necessary to understand, or assess 
the importance of, foreign intelligence informa-
tion. 
‘‘(iii) To obtain information necessary during a 
compliance inspection of an active licensee who has 
submitted non-electronic records in accordance with 
subparagraph (D). 
‘‘(G) The databases established under this para-
graph— 
‘‘(i) shall be electronically searchable by date of 
acquisition or disposition, license number, and the 
information identified on each firearm or other fire-
arm descriptor, including the manufacturer, im-
porter, model, serial number, type, and caliber or 
gauge; 
‘‘(ii) shall not be electronically searchable by 
the personally identifiable information of any indi-
vidual; and 
‘‘(iii) shall include in search results the entire 
contents of the relevant records kept by the licensee. 
‘‘(H) This paragraph shall take effect notwith-
standing any other provision of law, including any tem-
porary or permanent restrictions placed on funds made 
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available to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 
Explosives, or the Department of Justice.’’. 
Æ 
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