[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7471 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7471
To provide firearm licensees an opportunity to correct statutory and
regulatory violations, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 28, 2024
Mr. Issa introduced the following bill; which was 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.
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 ``Fighting Irrational Regulatory
Enforcement to Avert Retailers' Misfortune Act'' or the ``FIREARM
Act''.
SEC. 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.''.
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