Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform Act Introduced

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform Act Introduced
H.R. 1093

FAIRFAX, Va. –-(Ammoland.com)- Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) have introduced H.R. 1093, the “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform Act.”

The bill would roll back unnecessary restrictions, correct errors, and codify longstanding congressional policies in the firearms arena. This bipartisan bill is a vital step to modernize and improve BATFE operations.

Of highest importance, H.R. 1093 totally rewrites the system of administrative penalties for licensed dealers, manufacturers and importers of firearms. Today, for most violations, BATFE can only give a federal firearms license (FFL) holder a warning, or totally revoke his license.

H.R. 1093 would allow fines or license suspensions for less serious violations, while still allowing license revocation for the kind of serious violations that would block an investigation or put guns in the hands of criminals. This prevents the all-too-common situations where BATFE has revoked licenses for insignificant technical violations — such as improper use of abbreviations, or filing records in the wrong order.

Among its other provisions, H.R. 1093 would:

• Clarify the standard for “willful” violations — allowing penalties for intentional, purposeful violations of the law, but not for simple paperwork mistakes.
• Improve the process for imposing penalties, notably by allowing FFLs to appeal BATFE penalties to a neutral administrative law judge, rather than to an employee of BATFE itself.
• Allow a licensee a period of time to liquidate inventory when he goes out of business. During this period, all firearms sold would be subject to a background check by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
• Allow a grace period for people taking over an existing firearms business to correct problems in the business’s records — so if a person inherited a family gun store (for example), the new owner couldn’t be punished for the previous owner’s recordkeeping violations.
• Reform the procedures for consideration of federal firearms license applications. Under H.R. 1093, denial of an application would require notification to the applicant, complete with reasons for the denial. Additionally, an applicant would be allowed to provide supplemental information and to have a hearing on the application.
• Require BATFE to establish clear investigative guidelines.
• Clarify the licensing requirement for gunsmiths, distinguishing between repair and other gunsmith work and manufacture of a firearm. This would stop BATFE from arguing that minor gunsmithing or refinishing activities require a manufacturer’s license.
• Eliminate a provision of the Youth Handgun Safety Act that requires those under 18 to have written permission to use a handgun for lawful purposes (such as competitive shooting or safety training) — even when the parent or guardian is present.
• Permanently ban creation of a centralized electronic index of out of business dealers’ records — a threat to gun owners’ privacy that Congress has barred through appropriations riders for more than a decade.
• Allow importation and transfer of new machineguns by firearm and ammunition manufacturers for use in developing or testing firearms and ammunition, and training customers. In particular, ammunition manufacturers fulfilling government contracts need to ensure that their ammunition works reliably. H.R. 1093 would also provide for the transfer and possession of new machineguns by professional film and theatrical organizations.
• Repeal the Brady Act’s “interim” waiting period provisions, which expired in 1998.
• Give BATFE sole responsibility for receiving reports of multiple handgun sales. (Currently, dealers also have to report multiple sales to state or local agencies, a requirement that has shown little or no law enforcement value.) State and local agencies could receive these reports upon request to BATFE, but would have to comply strictly with current requirements to destroy these records after 20 days, unless the person buying the guns turns out to be prohibited from receiving firearms.
• Restore a policy that allowed importation of barrels, frames and receivers for non-importable firearms, when they can be used as repair or replacement parts.
• Prohibit BATFE from requiring multiple sales reports on the sale of long guns by limiting BATFE’s authority to collect data that is not specifically allowed by statute.
• Provide greater protection of gun owners’ privacy by strengthening the ban on creation of any complete or partial gun registration system.
• Authorize payment of attorneys’ fees to licensees who prevail before an administrative law judge.
• Restrict the use of “demand letters” by BATFE to compel FFLs to turn over information outside what is allowed by statute.

The House passed similar legislation (H.R. 5092) in the 109th Congress, by a 277-131 vote. Supporters included 63 Democrats. In the 111th Congress, a majority of the House — 243 congressmen, including 63 Democrats–cosponsored H.R. 2296. Similar BATFE reform legislation was introduced in the Senate for the first time in the 111th Congress.

Please be sure to contact your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121 and urge him or her to cosponsor and support H.R. 1093. Additional contact information can be found using the “Write Your Representatives” feature at www.NRAILA.org.

About:
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