I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4356 
To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 8, 2016 
Mr. LANGEVIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers. 
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 ‘‘Crackdown on Dead-
beat Gun Dealers Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ALLOWED COMPLI-
ANCE INSPECTIONS OF FIREARMS DEALERS. 
Section 923(g)(1)(B)(ii)(I) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘once’’ and inserting ‘‘3 
times’’. 
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SEC. 3. INCREASING PENALTIES ON FIREARMS LICENSEES. 
Section 924(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘one year’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 
SEC. 4. SERIOUS RECORDKEEPING OFFENSES THAT AID 
GUN TRAFFICKING. 
Section 924(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; but if the 
violation is in relation to an offense under subsection 
(a)(6) or (d) of section 922, shall be fined under this title, 
imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.’’. 
SEC. 5. SUSPENSION OF FIREARMS DEALER’S LICENSE AND 
CIVIL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE 
GUN CONTROL ACT. 
Subsections (e) and (f) of section 923 of title 18, 
United States Code, are amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(e) The Attorney General may, after notice and op-
portunity for hearing, suspend or revoke any license issued 
under this section, or may subject the licensee to a civil 
penalty of not more than $10,000 per violation, if the 
holder of the license has willfully violated any provision 
of this chapter or any rule or regulation prescribed by the 
Attorney General under this chapter or fails to have secure 
gun storage or safety devices available at any place in 
which firearms are sold under the license to persons who 
are not licensees (except that in any case in which a secure 
gun storage or safety device is temporarily unavailable be-
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cause of theft, casualty loss, consumer sales, backorders 
from a manufacturer, or any other similar reason beyond 
the control of the licensee, the dealer shall not be consid-
ered to be in violation of the requirement to make available 
such a device). The Attorney General may, after notice 
and opportunity for hearing, suspend or revoke the license 
of, or assess a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 on, 
a dealer who willfully transfers armor piercing ammuni-
tion. The Attorney General may at any time compromise, 
mitigate, or remit the liability with respect to any willful 
violation of this chapter or any rule or regulation pre-
scribed by the Attorney General under this chapter. The 
Attorney General’s actions under this subsection may be 
reviewed only as provided in subsection (f). 
‘‘(f)(1) Any person whose application for a license is 
denied and any holder of a license which is suspended or 
revoked or who is assessed a civil penalty shall receive a 
written notice from the Attorney General stating specifi-
cally the grounds upon which the application was denied 
or upon which the license was suspended or revoked or 
the civil penalty assessed. Any notice of a suspension or 
revocation of a license shall be given to the holder of the 
license before the effective date of the suspension or rev-
ocation. 
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‘‘(2) If the Attorney General denies an application 
for a license, or suspends or revokes a license, or assesses 
a civil penalty, the Attorney General shall, upon request 
by the aggrieved party, promptly hold a hearing to review 
the denial, suspension, revocation, or assessment. In the 
case of a suspension or revocation of a license, the Attor-
ney General shall, on the request of the holder of the li-
cense, stay the effective date of the suspension or revoca-
tion. A hearing under this paragraph shall be held at a 
location convenient to the aggrieved party. 
‘‘(3) If after a hearing held under paragraph (2) the 
Attorney General decides not to reverse the decision to 
deny an application or suspend or revoke a license or as-
sess a civil penalty, the Attorney General shall give notice 
of the decision to the aggrieved party. The aggrieved party 
may at any time within 60 days after the date notice is 
given under this paragraph file a petition with the United 
States district court for the district in which the party 
resides or in which the party’s principal place of business 
is located for a de novo judicial review of the denial, sus-
pension, revocation, or assessment. In a proceeding con-
ducted under this subsection, the court may consider any 
evidence submitted by the parties to the proceeding wheth-
er or not such evidence was considered at the hearing held 
under paragraph (2). If the court decides that the Attor-
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ney General was not authorized to deny the application 
or to suspend or revoke the license or to assess the civil 
penalty, the court shall order the Attorney General to take 
such action as may be necessary to comply with the judg-
ment of the court.’’. 
SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF FIREARMS DEALER’S LICENSE 
UPON FELONY CONVICTION. 
Section 925(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘until any conviction pursuant to the 
indictment becomes final’’ and inserting ‘‘until the date 
of any conviction pursuant to the indictment’’. 
SEC. 7. AUTHORITY TO HIRE ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL. 
The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
Firearms and Explosives may hire at least 50 additional 
personnel for the purpose of carrying out additional in-
spections as provided for in the amendments made by this 
Act. 
SEC. 8. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS. 
The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
Firearms and Explosives shall submit biennial reports to 
the Congress on the implementation of this Act, which 
shall include a statement by the Director as to what addi-
tional resources, if any, are necessary in order to imple-
ment this Act, and any recommendations of the Director 
for how better to ensure that firearms dealers are com-
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plying with all laws and regulations that apply with re-
spect to dealing in firearms, and that noncompliant fire-
arms dealers are subject to appropriate action in a timely 
manner. 
Æ 
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