What This Bill Does
This bill requires gun dealers, manufacturers and importers to report firearm sales to the Federal Bureau of Investigation within 24 hours when they transfer a gun before the background check is completed. The bill also requires the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to publish yearly reports about these early transfers to the public.
Who It Affects
- Federally licensed firearms importers, manufacturers and dealers
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation
- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- State and local law enforcement agencies
- The public (who will receive annual reports)
Key Provisions
- Licensed gun dealers must report firearm transfers to the FBI within 24 hours if they complete the sale before receiving a unique identification number from the background check system (Sec. 2(a))
- The Attorney General must create an online portal and telephone hotline for reporting these transfers within 180 days of the law's enactment (Sec. 2(a))
- The FBI must prioritize completing background checks for these early transfers (Sec. 2(b))
- Background check records for these transfers cannot be destroyed before the background check is completed (Sec. 2(c))
- The FBI must publish a yearly public report showing the number of early transfers by state and what happened with each transfer (Sec. 3(a))
- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives must publish a yearly public report on how long it takes to recover illegal firearms and which states those firearms were found in (Sec. 3(b))
What Changes
Gun dealers will be required to report early firearm transfers to the FBI within 24 hours instead of operating without this reporting requirement. The background check system will prioritize checking these cases faster. Records related to these transfers cannot be deleted before the background check finishes. The public will now have access to annual reports showing how many guns were transferred before background checks were complete and what happened to those guns.
Important Definitions
- Default firearm transfer: A firearm transfer that happens before the background check system provides a unique identification number to complete the transaction
- Licensed importer, manufacturer or dealer: A business federally licensed to sell or transfer firearms
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 817
To improve the procedures of the national instant criminal background check
system in the case of firearm transfers by federally licensed firearms
importers, manufacturers, and dealers before the completion of the re-
lated criminal background check, and to provide for annual reports
on default firearm transfers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 2, 2023
Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. PANETTA) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To improve the procedures of the national instant criminal
background check system in the case of firearm transfers
by federally licensed firearms importers, manufacturers,
and dealers before the completion of the related criminal
background check, and to provide for annual reports
on default firearm transfers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Default Proceed Sale
4
Transparency Act’’.
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•HR 817 IH
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF NICS PROCEDURES IN THE CASE
1
OF DEFAULT FIREARM TRANSFERS.
2
(a) REQUIREMENT THAT FEDERALLY LICENSED
3
FIREARM IMPORTERS, MANUFACTURERS, AND DEALERS
4
REPORT DEFAULT FIREARM TRANSFERS.—
5
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 922(t) of title 18,
6
United States Code, is amended by adding at the
7
end the following:
8
‘‘(7) A licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or
9
licensed dealer who transfers a firearm in compliance with
10
paragraph (1), but before the national instant criminal
11
background check system provides the licensee with a
12
unique identification number, shall report the transfer to
13
the Federal Bureau of Investigation within 24 hours. If
14
a State or local law enforcement authority is conducting
15
the related background check, the Federal Bureau of In-
16
vestigation shall transmit the report to that authority.’’.
17
(2) CREATION OF ONLINE PORTAL AND TELE-
18
PHONE HOTLINE.—Within 180 days after the date
19
of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General
20
shall create an online portal and telephone hotline,
21
that are to be used exclusively for the purpose of re-
22
porting sufficient information to allow the Federal
23
Bureau of Investigation to prioritize background
24
checks in accordance with section 40901 of title 34,
25
United States Code.
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•HR 817 IH
(b) PRIORITIZATION OF NICS BACKGROUND CHECKS
1
RELATING TO DEFAULT FIREARM TRANSFERS.—Section
2
103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34
3
U.S.C. 40901) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
4
lowing:
5
‘‘(m) PRIORITIZATION OF BACKGROUND CHECKS RE-
6
LATED TO DEFAULT FIREARM TRANSFERS.—In the case
7
of a transfer referred to in section 922(t)(7) of title 18,
8
United States Code, the system established under this sec-
9
tion shall give priority to completing the background check
10
relating to the transfer.’’.
11
(c) PROHIBITION
ON DESTRUCTION
OF RECORDS
12
RELATING TO FIREARM TRANSFER BEFORE COMPLETION
13
OF BACKGROUND CHECK.—Section 103 of the Brady
14
Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901), as
15
amended by subsection (b) of this section, is amended by
16
adding at the end the following:
17
‘‘(n) PROHIBITION ON DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS
18
RELATING TO FIREARM TRANSFER BEFORE COMPLETION
19
OF RELATED BACKGROUND CHECK.—The system estab-
20
lished under this section may not destroy any records of
21
the system relating to a proposed or completed firearm
22
transfer, before completion of the criminal background
23
check with respect to the prospective or actual trans-
24
feree.’’.
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•HR 817 IH
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORTS ON DEFAULT FIREARM TRANS-
1
FERS.
2
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 300 days after the date
3
of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the
4
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall
5
make accessible to the public a written report on—
6
(1) the number of firearms transferred as de-
7
scribed in section 922(t)(7) of title 18, United
8
States Code, during the period covered by the re-
9
port, disaggregated by State;
10
(2) the number of the firearms described in
11
paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to
12
which the national instant criminal background
13
check system established under section 103 of the
14
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act completed
15
the background check;
16
(3) of the number described by paragraph (2)
17
of this subsection—
18
(A) the number with respect to which the
19
system provided the unique identification num-
20
ber under subparagraph (B)(i) or (C)(i) of sec-
21
tion 922(t)(1) of such title;
22
(B) the number with respect to which in-
23
formation available to the system demonstrated
24
that transfer of a firearm to, or receipt of a
25
firearm by, the transferee would violate sub-
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•HR 817 IH
section (d), (g), or (n) of section 922 of such
1
title or State, local, or tribal law; and
2
(C) in each case described by subpara-
3
graph (B) of this paragraph, the reason for in-
4
dicating that the receipt would be a violation re-
5
ferred to in such subparagraph (B), including
6
any specific prohibiting criteria that would bar
7
the transferee from receipt of a firearm or a li-
8
censee from transferring a firearm;
9
(4) of the number described by paragraph
10
(3)(B) of this subsection, the number of firearms
11
that were retrieved from the transferee, and the
12
number of firearms that were not retrieved from the
13
transferee, with each number disaggregated by the
14
field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
15
Firearms and Explosives and the State involved;
16
(5) in the case of the first report under this
17
section, the number of requests for criminal back-
18
ground checks received by the system in the pre-
19
ceding 5 years the records of which were purged
20
from the system without resolution; and
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(6) the number of licensed importers, licensed
22
manufacturers, or licensed dealers who transferred
23
firearms as described in section 922(t)(7) of such
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•HR 817 IH
title during the period covered by the report,
1
disaggregated by the State of sale.
2
(b) IN GENERAL.—Within 300 days after the date
3
of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the
4
Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
5
Explosives shall make accessible to the public a written
6
report on—
7
(1) the average time between receipt and recov-
8
ery of a firearm transferred as described in section
9
922(t)(7) of title 18, United States Code, during the
10
period covered by the report, where the transfer to,
11
or receipt by, the transferee violated subsection (d),
12
(g), or (n) of section 922 of such title or State, local,
13
or tribal law;
14
(2) the number of firearms transferred as de-
15
scribed in such section 922(t)(7) during the period
16
covered by the report, that were recovered as part of
17
a criminal investigation, where receipt by the trans-
18
feree violated such subsection (d), (g), or (n) or
19
State, local, or tribal law, disaggregated by State;
20
and
21
(3) of the number described by paragraph (2)
22
of this subsection—
23
(A) the total number of firearms that were
24
recovered by law enforcement in States other
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•HR 817 IH
than the State the firearm was transferred by
1
a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or
2
licensed dealer as described in such section
3
922(t); and
4
(B) the information outlined in subpara-
5
graph (A) of this paragraph, disaggregated
6
by—
7
(i) the State where the firearm was
8
recovered; and
9
(ii) the State where the firearm was
10
transferred as described in such section
11
922(t).
12
(c) RULE
OF INTERPRETATION.—A report under
13
subsection (a) shall be considered an annual statistical re-
14
port and statistical aggregate data for purposes of the
15
sixth proviso under the heading ‘‘BUREAU OF ALCOHOL,
16
TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES—SALARIES AND
17
EXPENSES’’ in the Department of Justice Appropriations
18
Act, 2012 (title II of division B of Public Law 112–55).
19
Æ
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