[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4251 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4251
To require the Attorney General to report certain revocation and
remedial action data with respect to Federal firearm licenses and to
require the Comptroller General of the United States to study the
effectiveness of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives in investigating and revoking the licenses.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 2025
Ms. Brownley (for herself, Ms. Norton, and Mr. Goldman of New York)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Attorney General to report certain revocation and
remedial action data with respect to Federal firearm licenses and to
require the Comptroller General of the United States to study the
effectiveness of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives in investigating and revoking the licenses.
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 ``Protecting Americans from Reckless
Gun Dealers Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
(a) In General.--Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code is
amended by inserting after section 925D the following:
``Sec. 925E. Annual report to Congress on license inspections.
``(a) In General.--Within 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this section, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a written report on
the actions undertaken by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives in the year covered by the report to issue and revoke
licenses and inspect licensees under section 923, that includes the
following:
``(1) The number of inspections completed each month.
``(2) The number of inspections that identified at least 1
serious violation.
``(3) The number of licenses that were revoked, the number
of licenses that were not renewed in lieu of revocation, and
the number of licenses surrendered after an inspection.
``(4) For each licensee whose license was revoked on the
basis of an inspection, the name and location of the licensee,
the date of revocation, and any serious violation identified by
the inspection.
``(5) For each licensee whose license was not renewed in
lieu of revocation after an inspection, the name and location
of the licensee, the date the license expired, and any serious
violation identified by the inspection.
``(6) For each licensee who surrendered such a license
after an inspection, including a licensee who discontinued
business operations, the name and location of the licensee, the
date of surrender, and any serious violation identified by the
inspection.
``(7) The number of inspections that identified at least 1
serious violation but with respect to which the Attorney
General did not revoke the applicable license, broken down by--
``(A) the Attorney General's decision not to pursue
revocation, further broken down by the Attorney
General's reason for the decision;
``(B) the reversal of an initial decision of the
Attorney General to revoke the license after a hearing
held pursuant to section 923(f)(2); and
``(C) the order of a court to reverse a revocation
after a petition was filed for review of a final agency
determination.
``(8) The reasons of the Attorney General not to pursue
revocation, broken down geographically based on the location of
the field office of the Bureau with responsibility for the area
where the licensee involved is located.
``(9) The number of reports of violations and warning
letters issued and warning conferences held by the Bureau,
broken down geographically based on the location of the field
office of the Bureau involved.
``(b) Publication on Website.--On each date a report required by
subsection (a) is submitted, the Attorney General shall cause to be
published on the website of the Bureau the information contained in the
report.
``(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, the
term `appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives; and
``(2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
``(d) Serious Violation.--In this section, the term `serious
violation' means one of the following:
``(1) Refusing to allow an inspection pursuant to section
923(g).
``(2) Transferring a firearm in violation of section
922(d).
``(3) Failing to wait 3 business days before transferring a
firearm pursuant to section 922(t)(1).
``(4) Failing to comply with any other requirement of
section 922(t)(1) before transferring a firearm.
``(5) Falsifying a record required to be maintained
pursuant to section 923(g).
``(6) Failing to respond to a trace request pursuant to
section 923(g)(7).
``(7) Transferring a firearm to another person with the
knowledge that the person is making a straw purchase of the
firearm in violation of section 932.
``(8) Failing to submit a report of multiple sales or other
dispositions to an unlicensed person pursuant to section
923(g)(3).
``(9) Failing to report a theft or loss of a firearm
pursuant to section 923(g)(6).
``(10) Failing to maintain an accurate record of the
receipt, sale, or other disposition of a firearm pursuant to
section 923(g)(2).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for such chapter is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 925D the
following:
``925E. Annual report to Congress on license inspections.''.
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE BUREAU OF
ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS, AND EXPLOSIVES TO INVESTIGATE
FEDERAL FIREARM LICENSES.
(a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct a study on the operations and procedures used to issue and
revoke licenses under section 923 of title 18, United States Code, and
to investigate and inspect holders of such licenses, that focuses on--
(1) whether systemic failures in the issuance and
revocation of the licenses have resulted in ineffective
enforcement of chapter 44 of such title;
(2) the extent to which the Attorney General has exercised
discretion not to pursue revocation of a license based on the
putative existence of extraordinary circumstances,
notwithstanding a finding by the Attorney General that a
licensee willfully committed a violation that renders the
license eligible for revocation;
(3) geographic variability in the enforcement of such
chapter;
(4) the outcomes related to the revocation of licenses,
including--
(A) the number of licensees who received a notice
of license revocation but whose licenses were not
revoked; and
(B) the average and median periods of time from
inspection to revocation of a license, broken down by--
(i) revocations without hearing or appeal
by the licensee;
(ii) revocations after an administrative
determination without judicial review pursued
by the licensee; and
(iii) revocations after such a judicial
review; and
(5) the policies and practices for providing oversight of
the activities of the licensees during the pendency of
revocation proceedings, including while a licensee seeks
judicial review.
(b) Report to Congress.--Within 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States
shall submit a written report to Congress on the results of the study
required by subsection (a).
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