I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4193
To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 11, 2002
Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Ms.
BROWN of Florida, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. FRANK,
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York,
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. MORELLA,
Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. STARK, Mrs. TAUSCHER,
Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WEXLER, and Ms. WOOLSEY) 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 Dealers Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) a small number of licensed firearms dealers
account for a large proportion of the firearms traced
from crimes;
(2) in 1998, 1.2 percent of licensed firearms
dealers—1,020 of the approximately 83,200 licensed
retail firearms dealers and pawnbrokers— accounted
for over 57 percent of the crime guns traced to li-
censed firearms dealers; and
(3) in 1998, just over 450 licensed firearms
dealers had traced to them 10 or more guns that
were used in crimes within 3 years after they sold
the guns.
SEC. 3. 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’’.
SEC. 4. INCREASING PENALTIES ON GUN KINGPINS.
(a) INCREASING THE PENALTY FOR ENGAGING IN AN
ILLEGAL FIREARMS BUSINESS.—Section 924(a)(2) of
title 18, United States Code is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(2) Whoever—
‘‘(A) knowingly violates subsection (a)(6), (d),
(g), (h), (i), (j), or (o) of section 922; or
‘‘(B) willfully violates section 922(a)(1),
SEC. 6. 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 Secretary may, after notice and opportunity
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 chap-
ter or any rule or regulation prescribed by the Secretary
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 because of
theft, casualty loss, consumer sales, backorders from a
manufacturer, or any other similar reason beyond the con-
trol of the licensee, the dealer shall not be considered to
be in violation of the requirement to make available such
a device). The Secretary 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 ammunition. The Sec-
retary may at any time compromise, mitigate, or remit the
liability with respect to any willful violation of this chapter
or any rule or regulation prescribed by the Secretary
under this chapter. The Secretary’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 Secretary stating specifically 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 be-
fore the effective date of the suspension or revocation.
‘‘(2) If the Secretary denies an application for a li-
cense, or suspends or revokes a license, or assesses a civil
penalty, he 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 Secretary shall, on the request
of the holder of the license, stay the effective date of the
suspension or revocation. 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
Secretary decides not to reverse the decision to deny an
application or suspend or revoke a license or assess a civil
penalty, the Secretary 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 party resides or in which
the party’s principal place of business is located for a de
novo judicial review of the denial, suspension, revocation,
or assessment. In a proceeding conducted under this sub-
section, the court may consider any evidence submitted by
the parties to the proceeding whether or not such evidence
was considered at the hearing held under paragraph (2).
If the court decides that the Secretary 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 Sec-
retary to take such action as may be necessary to comply
with the judgment of the court.’’.
SEC. 7. 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’’.
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