FIREARM Act

Bill: 118-s-3812
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA]
Introduced: 2024-02-27
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Latest action: action_date: 2024-02-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3812 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 27, 2024 Ms. Ernst (for herself, Mrs. Blackburn , Mr. Braun , Mr. Budd , Mr. Cassidy , Mr. Cramer , Mr. Daines , Ms. Lummis , Mr. Marshall , Mr. Mullin , Mr. Ricketts , Mr. Risch , Mr. Rubio , Mr. Scott of Florida , Mr. Tillis , Mr. Vance , and Mr. Crapo ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide firearm licensees an opportunity to correct statutory and regulatory violations, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fighting Irrational Regulatory Enforcement to Avert Retailers' Misfortune Act or the FIREARM Act . 2. Firearm licensing revocations and denials (a) Self-Reported violations; opportunity To correct violations Section 923(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) by inserting (1) after (e) ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (2) (A) The Attorney General may not bring an enforcement action to revoke, or deny a renewal of, a license for a violation of any provision of this chapter or any implementing regulation thereof on the basis of a self-reported violation. (B) In the case of a self-reported violation, the Attorney General shall— (i) assist the licensee to correct the self-reported violation; and (ii) provide the licensee with instructions and compliance training designed to assist the licensee in avoiding repetition of the self-reported violation in the future. (3) (A) Before initiating an enforcement action under this subsection, the Attorney General shall provide the licensee with actual notice of the violation giving rise to the enforcement action, which shall include, at a minimum— (i) a detailed explanation of the substance of the violation; (ii) all evidence or documentation in the possession of the Attorney General regarding the enforcement action; and (iii) a statement that the Attorney General will not initiate the enforcement action if the licensee corrects the violation by the date that is 30 business days after the date on which the licensee receives the notice. (B) The Attorney General may bring an enforcement action under this subsection against a licensee described in subparagraph (A) if— (i) 30 business days have elapsed since the date on which the licensee received the notice of the violation required under that subparagraph; and (ii) the licensee has not corrected the violation. (4) The Attorney General may not bring an enforcement action on the basis of any violation of any provision of this chapter or any implementing regulation thereof that has been corrected pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3). . (b) Direct judicial review of license revocations Section 923(f) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in paragraph (2), by striking If and inserting Except as provided in paragraph (3), if ; (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following: (3) (A) During the 10-business-day period beginning on the date on which a license holder receives a written notice of revocation of the license under paragraph (1), the license holder, in lieu of requesting a hearing under paragraph (2), may file a petition with the United States district court for the district in which the license holder resides or has his or her principle place of business for a judicial review of the revocation. (B) If a license holder files a petition with a United States district court under subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall stay the effective date of the revocation until the court issues a judgment. (C) In a proceeding conducted under this paragraph, the court may consider any evidence submitted by the parties to the proceeding. (D) If the court decides that the Attorney General was not authorized to revoke the license, the court shall order the Attorney General to take such action as may be necessary to comply with the judgment of the court. . (c) Definitions Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (38) The term self-reported violation means a violation by a licensee of any provision of this chapter or any implementing regulation thereof that the licensee reports to the Attorney General before the Attorney General discovers the violation during an inspection of the licensee under this chapter. (39) The term willfully has the meaning given the term in section 5336(h) of title 31, except that— (A) the term only includes conduct resulting from or achieved through deliberate planning or specific intent; (B) willfulness shall not be inferred from previous conduct; and (C) minor, clerical, or curable conduct is presumptively not willful. .