[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4238 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4238
To prevent gun trafficking.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 17, 2022
Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prevent gun trafficking.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-
Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FIREARMS TRAFFICKING.
(a) In General.--Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 932. Trafficking in firearms
``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `actual buyer' means the individual for whom
a firearm is being purchased, received, or acquired; and
``(2) the term `term of imprisonment exceeding 1 year' does
not include any offense classified by the applicable
jurisdiction as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of
imprisonment of 2 years or less.
``(b) Offenses.--It shall be unlawful for any person, regardless of
whether anything of value is exchanged--
``(1) to ship, transport, transfer, or otherwise dispose to
a person, 2 or more firearms in or affecting interstate or
foreign commerce, if the transferor knows or has reasonable
cause to believe that the use, carrying, or possession of a
firearm by the recipient would be in violation of, or would
result in a violation of, any Federal, State, or local law
punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding 1 year;
``(2) to receive from a person, 2 or more firearms in or
affecting interstate or foreign commerce, if the recipient
knows or has reasonable cause to believe that such receipt
would be in violation of, or would result in a violation of,
any Federal, State, or local law punishable by a term of
imprisonment exceeding 1 year;
``(3) to make a statement to a licensed importer, licensed
manufacturer, or licensed dealer relating to the purchase,
receipt, or acquisition from a licensed importer, licensed
manufacturer, or licensed dealer of 2 or more firearms that
have moved in or affected interstate or foreign commerce that--
``(A) is material to--
``(i) the identity of the actual buyer of
the firearms; or
``(ii) the intended trafficking of the
firearms; and
``(B) the person knows or has reasonable cause to
believe is false; or
``(4) to direct, promote, or facilitate conduct specified
in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
``(c) Gift Exceptions.--Subsection (b) shall not apply to a firearm
that is--
``(1) lawfully acquired by a person to be given as a gift
to another person not prohibited from possessing a firearm
under Federal or State law; or
``(2) lawfully received or otherwise acquired--
``(A) by a court-appointed trustee, receiver, or
conservator for, or on behalf of, an estate or
creditor; or
``(B) by a person to carry out a bequest, or an
acquisition by intestate succession under the laws of
the State of residence of the person.
``(d) Penalties.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), any person who
violates, or conspires to violate, subsection (b) shall be
fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 20 years,
or both.
``(2) Organizer enhancement.--If an individual violates
subsection (b) in concert with 5 or more other individuals, and
the individual planned the violation or recruited or directed
one of the other individuals to commit the violation--
``(A) the maximum term of imprisonment shall be 25
years; and
``(B) if a firearm involved in the violation is a
machinegun or destructive device, or is equipped with a
firearm silencer or muffler, the maximum term of
imprisonment shall be 35 years.
``(3) Licensees.--
``(A) Criminal penalties for knowing facilitation
of trafficking through sale or delivery of firearms.--
If a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, licensed
collector, or licensed dealer knowingly facilitates a
violation of subsection (b), the licensee shall be
fined $20,000 per trafficked firearm sold or delivered
by the licensee, imprisoned for not more than 10 years,
or both.
``(B) Civil penalties for sale or delivery of
firearms with reckless disregard of trafficking.--In
the case of any licensed manufacturer, licensed
importer, licensed collector, or licensed dealer who
recklessly disregards that a person is acquiring 2 or
more firearms from the licensee in violation of or with
intent to violate subsection (b), the Attorney General
shall, after notice and opportunity for a hearing,
impose a civil penalty that is not less than $5,000 and
not more than $10,000 per trafficked firearm sold or
delivered by the licensee.
``(C) License suspension or revocation.--If the
Attorney General determines, after notice and
opportunity for a hearing, that firearms were acquired
by or from a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer,
licensed collector, or licensed dealer in violation of
subsection (b) and the licensee knew, had reasonable
cause to believe, or recklessly disregarded that the
firearms were acquired in violation of that subsection,
the Attorney General--
``(i) may suspend or revoke the license
issued to the licensee under this chapter for
not more than 1 year; and
``(ii) if the license issued to the
licensee under this chapter has previously been
suspended or revoked under clause (i), may
revoke the license for not more than 5
years.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for
chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``932. Trafficking in firearms.''.
(c) Directive to Sentencing Commission.--
(1) In general.--Pursuant to its authority under section
994(p) of title 28, United States Code, the United States
Sentencing Commission shall review and, if appropriate, amend
the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements
applicable to persons convicted of offenses under section 932
of title 18, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)).
(2) Requirements.--In carrying out this subsection, the
Commission shall--
(A) review the penalty structure that the Federal
sentencing guidelines currently provide based on the
number of firearms involved in the offense; and
(B) determine whether any changes to that penalty
structure are appropriate in order to carry out the
intent of Congress that those penalties reflect--
(i) the gravity of the offense;
(ii) the number of trafficked firearms
purchased by or from the defendant;
(iii) the extent of the defendant's
knowledge about the overall scheme to traffic
firearms;
(iv) the amount of money or value of
nonmonetary compensation provided to the
defendant for the defendant's participation;
and
(v) the defendant's culpability,
including--
(I) as mitigating factors, whether
the defendant--
(aa) is a relative or
current or former intimate
partner of another individual
involved in a conspiracy to
traffic firearms;
(bb) is a domestic violence
survivor; or
(cc) has been otherwise
exploited by personal
affection, fear of reprisals,
or economic need to commit an
offense under section 932 of
title 18, United States Code
(as added by subsection (a));
and
(II) as aggravating factors,
whether--
(aa) the trafficked
firearms were used in
additional crimes;
(bb) a person was injured
or killed with the trafficked
firearms; or
(cc) the defendant was
previously convicted of a
firearms-related offense.
(d) Directive to the Attorney General.--Not later than 2 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives a report containing the following information:
(1) For the prior 12-month period--
(A) the number of investigations initiated for
violations of section 932 of title 18, United States
Code (as added by subsection (a));
(B) the number of Federal firearm licensees or
other individuals or entities--
(i) that were criminally charged with a
violation described in subparagraph (A); or
(ii) against whom a civil penalty case was
initiated for a violation described in
subparagraph (A); and
(C) the number of investigations described in
subparagraph (A) referred to the Attorney General from
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or any
other Federal law enforcement agency that did not
result in criminal charges or the initiation of a civil
penalty case.
(2) To the extent the information is available, the average
length of the sentences of imprisonment and average fines
imposed on individuals, entities, and Federal firearm licensees
convicted of violations of section 932 of title 18, United
States Code, (as added by subsection (a)) during the prior 12-
month period.
(3) A narrative describing the firearm trafficking schemes
prosecuted under section 932 of title 18, United States Code,
(as added by subsection (a)) during the prior 12-month period,
including--
(A) the sources of firearms;
(B) the roles of various defendants in the scheme;
(C) the number of firearms trafficked; and
(D) a description of any trafficking practices or
trends common among various firearm trafficking
schemes.
SEC. 3. REMOVING RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES EXCEPTION FOR LICENSEES
INDICTED FOR FIREARMS TRAFFICKING.
Section 925(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
inserting ``other than firearms trafficking under section 932,'' after
``indicted for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding
one year,''.
SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF OBLIGATORY STAY OF EFFECTIVE DATE OF LICENSE
REVOCATION.
Section 923(f)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
striking the period at the end of the second sentence and inserting the
following: ``unless the revocation is based in whole or in part on a
violation of section 932, in which case, the Attorney General may only
stay the effective date of the revocation upon a showing by the holder
that good cause exists to do so.''.
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