Gary Ackerman

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Ackerman Introduces His Bill: HR 263

January 14, 2011 by

Gary Ackerman introduced his bill yesterday that, in his words, would require recently unlicensed gun dealers to conduct background checks as they disperse their inventory. However, the Government Printing Office only has the title and no text for the bill as of this morning.

H.R.263
Latest Title: To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to restrict the ability of a person whose Federal license to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms has been revoked, whose application to renew such a license has been denied, or who has received a license revocation or renewal denial notice, to transfer business inventory firearms, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] (introduced 1/12/2011)
Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 1/12/2011 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

From the article in The Hill, Ackerman has introduced this bill in every session for the past few and it has gone nowhere. It was also endorsed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

UPDATE: The text of the bill is now available.

H.R.263 — Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act (Introduced in House – IH)

HR 263 IH

112th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 263
To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to restrict the ability of a person whose Federal license to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms has been revoked, whose application to renew such a license has been denied, or who has received a license revocation or renewal denial notice, to transfer business inventory firearms, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 12, 2011
Mr. ACKERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

——————————————————————————–

A BILL
To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to restrict the ability of a person whose Federal license to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms has been revoked, whose application to renew such a license has been denied, or who has received a license revocation or renewal denial notice, to transfer business inventory firearms, 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 `Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act’.

SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON THE ABILITY OF A PERSON WHOSE FEDERAL LICENSE TO IMPORT, MANUFACTURE, OR DEAL IN FIREARMS HAS BEEN REVOKED, WHOSE APPLICATION TO RENEW SUCH A LICENSE HAS BEEN DENIED, OR WHO HAS RECEIVED A LICENSE REVOCATION OR RENEWAL DENIAL NOTICE, TO TRANSFER BUSINESS INVENTORY FIREARMS.

(a) Restrictions- Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(aa)(1)(A) It shall be unlawful for a person who has been notified by the Attorney General that the Attorney General has made a determination to revoke a license issued to the person under this chapter to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms, or to deny an application of the person to renew such a license, to–

`(i) transfer a business inventory firearm of the person–

`(I) into a personal collection of the person; or

`(II) to an employee of the person, or to an individual described in section 923(d)(1)(B) with respect to the person; or

`(ii) receive a firearm that was a business inventory firearm of the person as of the date the person received the notice.

`(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to a license revocation or denial determination that is rescinded.

`(2)(A) It shall be unlawful for a person, on or after the effective date of the revocation of a license issued to the person under this chapter to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms, or (in the case that the application of the person to renew such a license is denied) on or after the date the license expires, to–

`(i) engage in conduct prohibited by paragraph (1); or

`(ii) transfer to any other person (except a person licensed under this chapter or a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency) a firearm that was a business inventory firearm of the person as of the effective date or expiration date, as the case may be.

`(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to a license revocation or denial determination that is reversed.’.

(b) Business Inventory Defined- Section 921(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(36) Business Inventory Firearm- The term `business inventory firearm’ means, with respect to a person, a firearm required by law to be recorded in the acquisition and disposition logs of any firearms business of the person.’.

(c) Conforming Amendment- Section 923(c) of such title is amended in the 2nd sentence by inserting `section 922(aa) and to’ after `subject only to’.

(d) Penalties- Section 924(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following:.

`(8) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(aa) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year (or, if the violation was willful, 5 years), or both.’.

(e) Requirement That License Revocation or Application Denial Notice Include Text of Law Prohibiting Dealing in Firearms Without a Federal Firearms License and Restricting Transfer of Firearms After Receipt of Official License Revocation or Renewal Application Denial Notice- Section 923(f)(1) of such title is amended in the last sentence by inserting `, and shall set forth the provisions of Federal law and regulation which prohibit a person not licensed under this chapter from engaging in the business of dealing in firearms or are relevant in determining whether a person is doing so, and the provisions of section 922(aa)’ before the period.

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Is There Something Toxic In Long Island’s Water?

January 12, 2011 by

Something must be in the water of Long Island that causes politicians to say and do stupid things when it comes to firearms.

First, we have the Queen Bee of gun control, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY-4), saying that standard capacity magazines must be banned so we don’t have a repeat of the Tucson shooting. She goes on to say that if the “Assault Weapons Ban” (sic) had still been in place fewer people might have been shot. This is despite the AWB only banned the manufacture and/or importation of new magazines. Existing magazines were easy to find and buy.

Next we have Rep. Peter King (R-NY-3) whose district adjoins Mrs. McCarthy’s. He wants to create a gun-free zone of 1,000 feet around all high-ranking government officials. No word on how this could be done nor just who is considered a high-ranking government official. Speaker Boehner has indicated he would not support such a bill.

Finally, we have news today that Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY-5) has introduced a bill to close the “fire-sale loophole.” According to The Hill, the bill would require recently unlicensed gun dealers – that is those who have surrendered or lost their FFL – to still conduct background checks on all buyers as if they were still licensed. Ackerman, the story notes, has introduced this bill every session for a number of years. He says:

“After this weekend’s tragedy, it’s clear that Congress must close troubling loopholes in federal gun control laws that let firearms fall into the hands of convicted felons, fugitives, domestic violence perpetrators and severely emotionally disturbed individuals,” Ackerman said in a statement. “Every gun sold should require a background check, period.”

The story on this bill in The Hill does say that Jared Lee Loughner purchased his firearm through a licensed dealer and would not have been prevented from purchasing it with what this bill proposes. This does not prevent NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg from endorsing Ackerman’s bill.

“Pharmacists who lose their licenses can’t sell prescription drugs to people without prescriptions, yet gun dealers who lose their licenses can sell off their inventory — without even conducting background checks,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement endorsing Ackerman’s bill.

As I said earlier I don’t know what is in the water of Long Island that causes politicians to say and do stupid things when it comes to firearms. One thing I do know is that all three are engaging in shameless pandering to the press and to the gun control lobby. None of these bills would have stopped the tragedy in Tucson and none will keep either criminals or lunatics from obtaining a means to injure innocent people.