I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3987 
To reduce gun violence, fund gun violence research and victim assistance, 
and enhance the tracking of lost and stolen firearms, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 5, 2017 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. 
GUTIE´RREZ, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To reduce gun violence, fund gun violence research and vic-
tim assistance, and enhance the tracking of lost and 
stolen firearms, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Protecting Americans 
from Gun Violence Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. COLLECTION OF FEE FOR USE OF THE NATIONAL 
INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK 
SYSTEM IN TRANSFERRING A FIREARM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 923 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(m)(1) When, pursuant to section 922(t) of this 
title, a licensee under this chapter is first required to con-
tact the national instant criminal background check sys-
tem established under section 103 of the Brady Handgun 
Violence Prevention Act about a person with respect to 
a transaction involving one or more firearms, but before 
contacting the system, the licensee shall— 
‘‘(A) charge and collect from the person a fee 
in an amount equal to $1, regardless of the number 
of firearms involved in the transaction; 
‘‘(B) provide the person with a timestamped re-
ceipt acknowledging receipt of the fee from the per-
son; and 
‘‘(C) maintain a written or electronic record of 
the transaction and the timestamped receipt for 3 
years. 
‘‘(2) Not later than the end of the calendar quarter 
in which a licensee collects a fee under paragraph (1), the 
licensee shall transmit the amount of the fee to the Attor-
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ney General, who shall remit the amount to the Secretary 
of the Treasury.’’. 
(b) PENALTY.—Section 924 of such title is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(q)(1)(A) With respect to each violation of section 
923(m) by a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or 
licensed dealer, the Attorney General shall, after notice 
and opportunity for hearing, impose a civil penalty of 
$2,500 on the licensee. 
‘‘(B) An action of the Attorney General under this 
paragraph may be reviewed only as provided under section 
923(f). 
‘‘(2) The imposition of a civil penalty under para-
graph (1) shall not preclude any administrative remedy 
that is otherwise available to the Attorney General.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. CDC RESEARCH ON GUN VIOLENCE. 
Section 391 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 280b) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(c) GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH.—In carrying out 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct or support re-
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search described in such subsection relating to gun vio-
lence.’’. 
SEC. 4. DEDICATION OF REVENUES. 
Of the amounts received by the Secretary of the 
Treasury pursuant to the amendment made by section 
2(a) for fiscal year 2018 or any succeeding fiscal year: 
(1) The first $10,000,000 shall be available, 
without further appropriation, to the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention to carry out section 
391(c) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by 
section 3. 
(2) The next $5,000,000 shall be available, 
without further appropriation, to the Attorney Gen-
eral, for the operation and maintenance of the na-
tional instant criminal background check system es-
tablished under section 103 of the Brady Handgun 
Violence Prevention Act. 
(3) The remainder shall be available, without 
further appropriation, to the Attorney General for 
such activities of the Office for Victim Assistance of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the Attorney 
General deems appropriate. 
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SEC. 5. REPORTING OF LOST OR STOLEN FIREARMS TO 
LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES. 
(a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 922 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(aa) Within 48 hours after a person who owns a 
firearm that has been shipped or transported in, or has 
been possessed in or affecting, interstate or foreign com-
merce, discovers or should have discovered the theft or loss 
of the firearm, the person shall report the theft or loss 
to local law enforcement authorities. To the best of the 
person’s ability, the person shall provide the following in-
formation, if known: 
‘‘(1) A description of the firearm, including the 
make, model, manufacturer, caliber, and serial num-
ber of the firearm, and any other distinguishing 
number or identification mark on the firearm. 
‘‘(2) Whether the firearm is being reported lost 
or stolen. 
‘‘(3) The date of the loss or theft. 
‘‘(4) The person’s name and address. 
‘‘(5) The location from which the firearm was 
lost or stolen.’’. 
(b) PENALTIES.—Section 924 of such title is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(r) PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO REPORT LOSS OR 
THEFT OF FIREARM.—Whoever violates section 922(aa) 
shall be fined $10,000, imprisoned not more than 1 year, 
or both, with respect to each firearm involved in the viola-
tion.’’. 
(c) REQUIREMENT THAT LOCAL LAW ENFORCE-
MENT AUTHORITIES REPORT LOST OR STOLEN FIRE-
ARMS
TO
THE NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CEN-
TER.—Within 7 days after a local law enforcement author-
ity receives a report that a firearm is lost or stolen, the 
authority shall transmit the report to the National Crime 
Information Center maintained by the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation. 
Æ 
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