# Firearm Industry Crime and Trafficking Accountability Act

This bill would require gun manufacturers and importers to set up systems to track and prevent their products from being sold to criminals or traffickers. Right now, manufacturers have no legal obligation to monitor where their guns end up after they leave the factory, even when they have data showing certain dealers are selling unusually high numbers of guns that later turn up in crimes.

The bill's core requirement is that manufacturers must create a database to track suspicious sales patterns and information about dealers who might be selling guns illegally. They'd be prohibited from knowingly supplying guns to dealers they have reason to believe are selling to criminals, straw purchasers (people who buy guns for others who can't legally own them), or in quantities that seem way too high for a particular area. Manufacturers would also have to report to federal authorities any patterns they notice of dealers selling guns that end up being used in crimes. The bill cites research showing that just 5 percent of gun dealers account for about 90 percent of guns recovered at crime scenes, and manufacturers often have access to this trace data.

The penalties for violations would be significant civil fines—starting at $150,000 to 1 percent of annual revenue for a first offense, and escalating to $1 million to 6 percent of revenue for repeat violations. For knowing violations, the ATF could place a manufacturer under special monitoring for up to five years, and repeat violations while under monitoring could result in a three-month suspension of their federal license. Small manufacturers making fewer than 3,000 guns annually would be exempt, though the ATF director could waive requirements for manufacturers making up to 6,000 guns per year—except those making semiautomatic weapons.

Firearm Industry Crime and Trafficking Accountability Act

Maloney, Carolyn B.

Firearm Industry Crime and Trafficking Accountability Act This bill outlines certain requirements (and establishes related penalties for failure to comply with these requirements) for manufacturers or importers of firearms. For example, the bill generally requires each manufacturer or importer to create a monitoring database to retain essential facts about the criminal diversion or potential misuse of their firearms.