I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4966 
To require the Attorney General to report certain revocation and remedial 
action data with respect to Federal firearm licenses and to require 
the Comptroller General of the United States to study the effectiveness 
of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in inves-
tigating and revoking the licenses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2023 
Ms. BROWNLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require the Attorney General to report certain revocation 
and remedial action data with respect to Federal firearm 
licenses and to require the Comptroller General of the 
United States to study the effectiveness of the Bureau 
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in inves-
tigating and revoking the licenses. 
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 Reckless Gun Dealers Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United 
States Code is amended by inserting after section 925D 
the following: 
‘‘§ 925E. Annual report to Congress on license inspec-
tions. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 
the Attorney General shall submit to the appropriate con-
gressional committees a written report on the actions un-
dertaken by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 
and Explosives in the year covered by the report to issue 
and revoke licenses and inspect licensees under section 
923, that includes the following: 
‘‘(1) The number of inspections completed each 
month. 
‘‘(2) The number of inspections that identified 
at least 1 serious violation. 
‘‘(3) The number of licenses that were revoked, 
the number of licenses that were not renewed in lieu 
of revocation, and the number of licenses surren-
dered after an inspection. 
‘‘(4) For each licensee whose license was re-
voked on the basis of an inspection, the name and 
location of the licensee, the date of revocation, and 
any serious violation identified by the inspection. 
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‘‘(5) For each licensee whose license was not re-
newed in lieu of revocation after an inspection, the 
name and location of the licensee, the date the li-
cense expired, and any serious violation identified by 
the inspection. 
‘‘(6) For each licensee who surrendered such a 
license after an inspection, including a licensee who 
discontinued business operations, the name and loca-
tion of the licensee, the date of surrender, and any 
serious violation identified by the inspection. 
‘‘(7) The number of inspections that identified 
at least 1 serious violation but with respect to which 
the Attorney General did not revoke the applicable 
license, broken down by— 
‘‘(A) the Attorney General’s decision not to 
pursue revocation, further broken down by the 
Attorney General’s reason for the decision; 
‘‘(B) the reversal of an initial decision of 
the Attorney General to revoke the license after 
a hearing held pursuant to section 923(f)(2); 
and 
‘‘(C) the order of a court to reverse a rev-
ocation after a petition was filed for review of 
a final agency determination. 
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‘‘(8) The reasons of the Attorney General not 
to pursue revocation, broken down geographically 
based on the location of the field office of the Bu-
reau with responsibility for the area where the li-
censee involved is located. 
‘‘(9) The number of reports of violations and 
warning letters issued and warning conferences held 
by the Bureau, broken down geographically based on 
the location of the field office of the Bureau in-
volved. 
‘‘(b) PUBLICATION ON WEBSITE.—On each date a re-
port required by subsection (a) is submitted, the Attorney 
General shall cause to be published on the website of the 
Bureau the information contained in the report. 
‘‘(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 
In this section, the term ‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’ means— 
‘‘(1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
Senate. 
‘‘(d) SERIOUS VIOLATION.—In this section, the term 
‘serious violation’ means one of the following: 
‘‘(1) Refusing to allow an inspection pursuant 
to section 923(g). 
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‘‘(2) Transferring a firearm in violation of sec-
tion 922(d). 
‘‘(3) Failing to wait 3 business days before 
transferring a firearm pursuant to section 922(t)(1). 
‘‘(4) Failing to comply with any other require-
ment of section 922(t)(1) before transferring a fire-
arm. 
‘‘(5) Falsifying a record required to be main-
tained pursuant to section 923(g). 
‘‘(6) Failing to respond to a trace request pur-
suant to section 923(g)(7). 
‘‘(7) Transferring a firearm to another person 
with the knowledge that the person is making a 
straw purchase of the firearm in violation of section 
932. 
‘‘(8) Failing to submit a report of multiple sales 
or other dispositions to an unlicensed person pursu-
ant to section 923(g)(3). 
‘‘(9) Failing to report a theft or loss of a fire-
arm pursuant to section 923(g)(6). 
‘‘(10) Failing to maintain an accurate record of 
the receipt, sale, or other disposition of a firearm 
pursuant to section 923(g)(2).’’. 
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 925D the following: 
‘‘925E. Annual report to Congress on license inspections.’’. 
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON THE EFFECTIVENESS 
OF THE BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, 
FIREARMS, 
AND 
EXPLOSIVES 
TO 
INVES-
TIGATE FEDERAL FIREARM LICENSES. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall conduct a study on the operations and proce-
dures used to issue and revoke licenses under section 923 
of title 18, United States Code, and to investigate and in-
spect holders of such licenses, that focuses on— 
(1) whether systemic failures in the issuance 
and revocation of the licenses have resulted in inef-
fective enforcement of chapter 44 of such title; 
(2) the extent to which the Attorney General 
has exercised discretion not to pursue revocation of 
a license based on the putative existence of extraor-
dinary circumstances, notwithstanding a finding by 
the Attorney General that a licensee willfully com-
mitted a violation that renders the license eligible for 
revocation; 
(3) geographic variability in the enforcement of 
such chapter; 
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(4) the outcomes related to the revocation of li-
censes, including— 
(A) the number of licensees who received a 
notice of license revocation but whose licenses 
were not revoked; and 
(B) the average and median periods of 
time from inspection to revocation of a license, 
broken down by— 
(i) revocations without hearing or ap-
peal by the licensee; 
(ii) revocations after an administrative 
determination without judicial review pur-
sued by the licensee; and 
(iii) revocations after such a judicial 
review; and 
(5) the policies and practices for providing over-
sight of the activities of the licensees during the 
pendency of revocation proceedings, including while 
a licensee seeks judicial review. 
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall submit a written report to Con-
gress on the results of the study required by subsection 
(a). 
Æ 
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