HR 3234 : Keeping Gun Dealers Honest Act of 2019 – House Bill

Position: Support Status: House Judiciary, Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee

A bill to ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers.

Update


11 Cosponsors (11 D)

Identical to S 1795.

Keeping Gun Dealers Honest Act [Section 1 names the Act]

  • Section 2: Increase number of allowed compliance inspections at FFLs from once to three times in a twelve-month period.
  • Section 3: Increase imprisonment penalties from one year to five years for false record keeping.
  • Section 4:  Add fines, 10 years imprisonment for knowingly selling to a straw purchaser. (See footnote 1) or selling to a prohibited purchaser (See footnote 2)
  • Section 5: Suspension of firearms dealer’s license and civil penalties for violations of the Gun Control Act [18 US Code §923(e)(f)]
  • Section 6: Termination of firearms dealer’s license upon felony conviction;
  • Section 7: Gives permission to hire “at least 80 additional” ATF employees;
  • Section 8: Authorizes requirement of physical inventory and report if
    • FFL has been convicted of unlawfully transferring a firearm;
    • 10 or more crime guns have been traced back to FLL;
  • Section 9: AG may (changes “shall issue” to “may issue”) deny an FFL application if AG finds:
    • issuing the license would pose a danger to public safety; or
    • that the applicant is not likely to comply with the law;
    • or applicant is otherwise is not suitable to be issued a license.
  • Section 10: removes the word “willfully” from liability standards [923(c)(1) and (d)(2)];
  • Section 11: Provides regulatory flexibility by removing the word “only” from this sentence:  (a)The Attorney General may prescribe only such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including—
    • (1)regulations providing that a person licensed under this chapter, when dealing with another person so licensed, shall provide such other licensed person a certified copy of this license;
    • (2) regulations providing for the issuance, at a reasonable cost, to a person licensed under this chapter, of certified copies of his license for use as provided under regulations issued under paragraph (1) of this subsection; and
    • (3)regulations providing for effective receipt and secure storage of firearms relinquished by or seized from persons described in subsection (d)(8) or (g)(8) of section 922.
  • Section 12: ATF must submit biennial reports to Congress on implementation of this Act and shall include:
    • a statement by the Director as to what additional resources, if any, are necessary in order to implement this Act; and
    • any recommendations of the Director for how better to ensure that:
      • firearms dealers are complying with all laws and regulations that apply with respect to dealing in firearms; and
      • noncompliant firearms dealers are subject to appropriate action in a timely manner.
  • Section 13: If any provision of this Act or of an amendment made by this Act, or the application of such a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this Act or of such an amendment, or the application of this Act or of such an amendment to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected.

Footnotes:

  • Footnote 1:  (6) or any person in connection with the acquisition or attempted acquisition of any firearm or ammunition from a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector, knowingly to make any false or fictitious oral or written statement or to furnish or exhibit any false, fictitious, or misrepresented identification, intended or likely to deceive such importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector with respect to any fact material to the lawfulness of the sale or other disposition of such firearm or ammunition under the provisions of this chapter;
  • Footnote 2: (d) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person—
    • (1) is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
    • (2)is a fugitive from justice;
    • (3) is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
    • (4) has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;
    • (5) who, being an alien—
      • (A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
      • (B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)));
    • (6) who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;
    • (7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;
    • (8)is subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partnerof such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child, except that this paragraph shall only apply to a court order that—
      • (A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had the opportunity to participate; and
      • (B) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or
    • (9) has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
    • This subsection shall not apply with respect to the sale or disposition of a firearm or ammunition to a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector who pursuant to subsection (b) of section 925 of this chapter is not precluded from dealing in firearms or ammunition, or to a person who has been granted relief from disabilities pursuant to subsection (c) of section 925 of this chapter.