Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1531 To increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General to deny the transfer of a firearm or the issuance of firearms or explosives licenses to a known or suspected dangerous terrorist. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 5, 2019 Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LAMB, and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General to deny the transfer of a firearm or the issuance of firearms or explosives licenses to a known or suspected dangerous terrorist. 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 ‘‘Denying Firearms and 4 Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1531 IH SEC. 2. GRANTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE AUTHOR- 1 ITY TO DENY THE SALE, DELIVERY, OR 2 TRANSFER OF A FIREARM OR THE ISSUANCE 3 OF A FIREARMS OR EXPLOSIVES LICENSE OR 4 PERMIT TO DANGEROUS TERRORISTS. 5 (a) STANDARD FOR EXERCISING ATTORNEY GEN- 6 ERAL DISCRETION REGARDING TRANSFERRING FIRE- 7 ARMS OR ISSUING FIREARMS PERMITS TO DANGEROUS 8 TERRORISTS.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United States 9 Code, is amended— 10 (1) by inserting the following new section after 11 section 922: 12 ‘‘§ 922A. Attorney General’s discretion to deny trans- 13 fer of a firearm 14 ‘‘The Attorney General may deny the transfer of a 15 firearm pursuant to section 922(t)(1)(B)(ii) if the Attor- 16 ney General determines that the transferee is known (or 17 appropriately suspected) to be or have been engaged in 18 conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or re- 19 lated to terrorism, or providing material support thereof, 20 and the Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the 21 prospective transferee may use a firearm in connection 22 with terrorism.’’; 23 (2) by inserting the following new section after 24 section 922A: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1531 IH ‘‘§ 922B. Attorney General’s discretion regarding ap- 1 plicants for firearm permits which would 2 qualify for the exemption provided under 3 section 922(t)(3) 4 ‘‘The Attorney General may determine that an appli- 5 cant for a firearm permit which would qualify for an ex- 6 emption under section 922(t)(3) is known (or appro- 7 priately suspected) to be or have been engaged in conduct 8 constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to 9 terrorism, or providing material support thereof, and the 10 Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the appli- 11 cant may use a firearm in connection with terrorism.’’; 12 and 13 (3) in section 921(a), by adding at the end the 14 following: 15 ‘‘(36) The term ‘terrorism’ means ‘international ter- 16 rorism’ as defined in section 2331(1), and ‘domestic ter- 17 rorism’ as defined in section 2331(5). 18 ‘‘(37) The term ‘material support’ means ‘material 19 support or resources’ within the meaning of section 2339A 20 or 2339B. 21 ‘‘(38) The term ‘responsible person’ means an indi- 22 vidual who has the power, directly or indirectly, to direct 23 or cause the direction of the management and policies of 24 the applicant or licensee pertaining to firearms.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1531 IH (b) EFFECT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRE- 1 TIONARY DENIAL THROUGH THE NATIONAL INSTANT 2 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM (NICS) ON 3 FIREARMS PERMITS.—Section 922(t) of such title is 4 amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or 6 State law, or that the Attorney General has deter- 7 mined to deny the transfer of a firearm pursuant to 8 section 922A’’ before the semicolon; 9 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting after ‘‘or 10 State law’’ the following: ‘‘or if the Attorney General 11 has not determined to deny the transfer of a firearm 12 pursuant to section 922A’’; 13 (3) in paragraph (3)(A)(i)— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub- 15 clause (I); and 16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(III) was issued after a check of the system 18 established pursuant to paragraph (1);’’; 19 (4) in paragraph (3)(A)— 20 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause 21 (ii); and 22 (B) by adding after and below the end the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1531 IH ‘‘(iii) the State issuing the permit 1 agrees to deny the permit application if 2 such other person is the subject of a deter- 3 mination by the Attorney General pursuant 4 to section 922B;’’; 5 (5) in paragraph (4), by inserting after ‘‘or 6 State law,’’ the following: ‘‘or if the Attorney Gen- 7 eral has not determined to deny the transfer of a 8 firearm pursuant to section 922A,’’; and 9 (6) in paragraph (5), by inserting after ‘‘or 10 State law,’’ the following: ‘‘or if the Attorney Gen- 11 eral has determined to deny the transfer of a fire- 12 arm pursuant to section 922A,’’. 13 (c) UNLAWFUL SALE OR DISPOSITION OF FIREARM 14 BASED ON ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DE- 15 NIAL.—Section 922(d) of such title is amended— 16 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 17 (8); 18 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 19 graph (9) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘(10) has been the subject of a determination 23 by the Attorney General pursuant to section 922A, 24 922B, 923(d)(1)(H), or 923(e) of this title.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1531 IH (d) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL 1 AS PROHIBITOR.—Section 922(g) of such title is amend- 2 ed— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 4 (8); 5 (2) by striking the comma at the end of para- 6 graph (9) and inserting; ‘‘; or’’; and 7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(10) who has received actual notice of the At- 10 torney General’s determination made pursuant to 11 section 922A, 922B, 923(d)(1)(H), or 923(e) of this 12 title,’’. 13 (e) ATTORNEY GENERAL DISCRETIONARY DENIAL 14 OF FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSES.—Section 923(d)(1) of 15 such title is amended— 16 (1) by striking ‘‘Any’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 17 provided in subparagraph (H), any’’; 18 (2) in subparagraph (F)(iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 19 at the end; 20 (3) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period 21 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 22 (4) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(H) The Attorney General may deny a li- 24 cense application if the Attorney General deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1531 IH mines that the applicant (including any respon- 1 sible person) is known (or appropriately sus- 2 pected) to be or have been engaged in conduct 3 constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or re- 4 lated to terrorism, or providing material sup- 5 port thereof, and the Attorney General has a 6 reasonable belief that the applicant may use a 7 firearm in connection with terrorism.’’. 8 (f) DISCRETIONARY REVOCATION OF FEDERAL FIRE- 9 ARMS LICENSES.—Section 923(e) of such title is amend- 10 ed— 11 (1) in the first sentence— 12 (A) by inserting after ‘‘revoke’’ the fol- 13 lowing: ‘‘—(1)’’; and 14 (B) by striking the period and inserting a 15 semicolon; 16 (2) in the second sentence— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General 18 may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, 19 revoke’’ and insert ‘‘(2)’’; and 20 (B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 21 or’’; and 22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(3) any license issued under this section if the 24 Attorney General determines that the holder of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1531 IH license (including any responsible person) is known 1 (or appropriately suspected) to be or have been en- 2 gaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in 3 aid of, or related to terrorism, or providing material 4 support thereof, and the Attorney General has a rea- 5 sonable belief that the applicant may use a firearm 6 in connection with terrorism.’’. 7 (g) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD 8 INFORMATION IN FIREARMS LICENSE DENIAL AND REV- 9 OCATION SUIT.—Section 923(f) of such title is amended— 10 (1) in the first sentence of paragraph (1), by 11 inserting ‘‘, except that if the denial or revocation is 12 pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(H) or (e)(3), then any 13 information on which the Attorney General relied for 14 this determination may be withheld from the peti- 15 tioner if the Attorney General determines that dis- 16 closure of the information would likely compromise 17 national security’’ before the period; and 18 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting after the 19 third sentence the following: ‘‘With respect to any 20 information withheld from the aggrieved party under 21 paragraph (1), the United States may submit, and 22 the court may rely on, summaries or redacted 23 versions of documents containing information the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1531 IH disclosure of which the Attorney General has deter- 1 mined would likely compromise national security.’’. 2 (h) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ABILITY TO WITHHOLD 3 INFORMATION IN RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES LAW- 4 SUITS.—Section 925(c) of such title is amended by insert- 5 ing after the third sentence the following: ‘‘If receipt of 6 a firearm by the person would violate section 922(g)(10), 7 any information which the Attorney General relied on for 8 this determination may be withheld from the applicant if 9 the Attorney General determines that disclosure of the in- 10 formation would likely compromise national security. In 11 responding to the petition, the United States may submit, 12 and the court may rely on, summaries or redacted versions 13 of documents containing information the disclosure of 14 which the Attorney General has determined would likely 15 compromise national security.’’. 16 (i) PENALTIES.—Section 924(k) of such title is 17 amended— 18 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 19 (2); 20 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, or’’ and in- 21 serting ‘‘; or’’; and 22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1531 IH ‘‘(4) constitutes an act of terrorism (as defined 1 in section 921(a)(36)), or material support thereof 2 (as defined in section 921(a)(37)); or’’. 3 (j) REMEDY FOR ERRONEOUS DENIAL OF FIREARM 4 OR FIREARM PERMIT EXEMPTION.—Section 925A of such 5 title is amended— 6 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘Rem- 7 edy for erroneous denial of firearm’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘Remedies’’; 9 (2) by striking ‘‘Any person denied a firearm 10 pursuant to subsection (s) or (t) of section 922’’ and 11 inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), any person 13 denied a firearm pursuant to section 922(t) or pursuant 14 to a determination made under section 922B,’’; and 15 (3) by adding after and below the end the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(b) In any case in which the Attorney General has 18 denied the transfer of a firearm to a prospective transferee 19 pursuant to section 922A or has made a determination 20 regarding a firearm permit applicant pursuant to section 21 922B, an action challenging the determination may be 22 brought against the United States. The petition must be 23 filed not later than 60 days after the petitioner has re- 24 ceived actual notice of the Attorney General’s determina- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1531 IH tion made pursuant to section 922A or 922B. The court 1 shall sustain the Attorney General’s determination on a 2 showing by the United States by a preponderance of evi- 3 dence that the Attorney General’s determination satisfied 4 the requirements of section 922A or 922B. To make this 5 showing, the United States may submit, and the court 6 may rely on, summaries or redacted versions of documents 7 containing information the disclosure of which the Attor- 8 ney General has determined would likely compromise na- 9 tional security. On request of the petitioner or the court’s 10 own motion, the court may review the full, undisclosed 11 documents ex parte and in camera. The court shall deter- 12 mine whether the summaries or redacted versions, as the 13 case may be, are fair and accurate representations of the 14 underlying documents. The court shall not consider the 15 full, undisclosed documents in deciding whether the Attor- 16 ney General’s determination satisfies the requirements of 17 section 922A or 922B.’’. 18 (k) PROVISION OF GROUNDS UNDERLYING INELIGI- 19 BILITY DETERMINATION BY THE NATIONAL INSTANT 20 CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM.—Section 103 21 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Public 22 Law 103–159) is amended— 23 (1) in subsection (f)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1531.IH H1531 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1531 IH (A) by inserting after ‘‘is ineligible to re- 1 ceive a firearm,’’ the following: ‘‘or the Attorney 2 General has made a determination regarding an 3 applicant for a firearm permit pursuant to sec- 4 tion 922B of title 18, United States Code’’; and 5 (B) by inserting after ‘‘the system shall 6 provide such reasons to the individual,’’ the fol- 7 lowing: ‘‘except for any information the disclo- 8 sure of which the Attorney General has deter- 9 mined would likely compromise national secu- 10 rity’’; and 11 (2) in subsection (g)— 12 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting after 13 ‘‘su [Text truncated for display. 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