I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1642 
To direct the Attorney General to prioritize the investigation and prosecution 
of Federal firearms offenses, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 8, 2021 
Ms. MALLIOTAKIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To direct the Attorney General to prioritize the investigation 
and prosecution of Federal firearms offenses, 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 ‘‘Prosecuting Gun 
Crimes Saves Lives Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Promoting public safety, addressing gun- 
based homicides, and enforcing Federal firearms 
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laws are among the highest priorities of the Con-
gress. 
(2) Point-of-sale background checks can reduce 
the risk of gun-based homicides by preventing crimi-
nals and prohibited persons from purchasing fire-
arms while protecting access for law-abiding citizens. 
(3) Under the Gun Control Act of 1968, cat-
egories of persons who may pose a threat to public 
safety, including violent felons, fugitives from jus-
tice, and persons convicted of domestic violence 
crimes, are prohibited from shipping, transporting, 
receiving, or possessing firearms or ammunition. 
(4) Thousands of prohibited persons illegally at-
tempt to purchase firearms every year. In 2017, the 
FBI’s NICS Section referred 112,090 denied trans-
actions to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 
and Explosives (ATF). Of these NICS denials, only 
12, or 0.09 percent, were prosecuted in 2017. 
(5) On March 12, 2018, former Attorney Gen-
eral Jeff Sessions issued a memo directing Depart-
ment of Justice prosecutors to prioritize ‘‘vigorous 
and appropriate’’ prosecution of cases involving false 
statements on Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex-
plosives Form 4473. The memo stated that ‘‘Crimi-
nals and other prohibited persons who attempt to 
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thwart the background check process by lying on the 
required forms threaten to undermine this important 
crime prevention tool’’ and that ‘‘we must vigilantly 
protect the integrity of the background system 
through appropriate prosecution of those who at-
tempt to circumvent the law’’. The Department of 
Justice’s efforts to reclaim the integrity of the back-
ground check system yielded a 23-percent increase 
in the number of defendants charged with unlawful 
possession of a firearm in the 3 months following 
issuance of the memo. 
(6) On November 13, 2019, Attorney General 
William Barr announced the launch of a new initia-
tive, Project Guardian, to reduce gun-based homi-
cides by investigating, prosecuting, and preventing 
firearm crimes. Project Guardian will address gun- 
based homicides by encouraging coordinated pros-
ecution efforts, enforcement of the background check 
system, improved information-sharing, response to 
mental health denials, and crime gun intelligence co-
ordination. 
(7) Congress must ensure Federal, State, and 
local entities tasked with preventing prohibited indi-
viduals from purchasing firearms, recovering fire-
arms from prohibited individuals, and investigating 
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and prosecuting lying and buying and lying and try-
ing cases have sufficient information and resources 
to carry out their missions and promote public safe-
ty. 
(8) Congress urges the Attorney General to 
prioritize the investigation and prosecution of Fed-
eral firearm offenses to protect Americans and pre-
vent and deter the illegal purchase and possession of 
firearms. 
SEC. 3. INFORMATION-SHARING WITH STATE FUSION CEN-
TERS. 
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Attorney General may direct the Bu-
reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to reg-
ularly provide to State and local law enforcement agencies, 
including through State law enforcement fusion centers 
(as defined in section 210A(j)(1) of the Homeland Secu-
rity Act of 2002) a report listing individuals for whom 
the National Instant Criminal Background Check System 
has issued firearm transfer denials, including the basis for 
the denial, with the purpose of equipping law enforcement 
with the information they need to prevent persons from 
illegally purchasing, receiving, or possessing firearms. 
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SEC. 4. POINT OF CONTACT AND PARTIAL POINT OF CON-
TACT STATE GRANTS TO INCREASE INVES-
TIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the Attorney General may make grants to eligible States 
to investigate firearm transfer denials and increase inves-
tigations and prosecutions of persons who illegally pur-
chase, possess, or receive a firearm, or illegally attempt 
to purchase, possess, or receive a firearm. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An eligible State is any State that 
is a point of contact State or partial point of contact State 
for the national instant criminal background check sys-
tem. 
(c) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this sec-
tion, a State shall submit to the Attorney General an ap-
plication at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Attorney General may reasonably 
require. 
(d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Attorney General may give priority to each eligi-
ble State that— 
(1) establishes a task force that includes enti-
ties such as State and local law enforcement agen-
cies, State and local prosecutors, agencies con-
ducting background checks, and representatives 
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