Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF): FY2016 Appropriations
William J. Krouse
Specialist in Domestic Security and Crime Policy
September 9, 2015
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R44189
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF): FY2016 Appropriations
Summary
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the lead federal law
enforcement agency charged with administering and enforcing federal laws related to firearms
and explosives commerce. ATF is also responsible for investigating arson cases with a federal
nexus, and criminal cases involving the diversion of alcohol and tobacco from legal channels of
commerce. Congress funds the ATF through an annual appropriation in the Commerce, Justice,
Science (CJS), and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, because it is a component of the
Department of Justice (DOJ).
For FY2016, the Administration requested $1.261 billion for ATF, an increase of 5.3%. This
proposed net increase of $63.4 million over ATF’s FY2015 appropriation includes $8.1 million to
“address deficiencies in Investigative Support Services,” which include increased application
workloads—principally for suppressors—under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 and
increased firearms trace requests under the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968. It also includes
$30.2 million for “staffing restoration” and $25.1 million in other “base adjustments.”
On May 27, 2015, the House Committee on Appropriations reported an FY2016 CJS
appropriations bill (H.R. 2578). This version of the bill would have provided ATF with $1.25
billion for FY2016. Within this amount, House report language indicated that ATF should be able
to:
meet its critical staffing requirements;
improve its capacity to process NFA applications and service requests; and
sustain the updating and expansion of the National Integrated Ballistics
Information Network (NIBIN).
NIBIN is computer system that allows law enforcement agencies to share high definition, digital
images of bullets and shell casings recovered at crime scenes, so that striations on bullets and
hammer and ejector makings on shell casings can be matched microscopically in a manner similar
to latent fingerprint matching. In addition, the report language directs ATF to provide an updated
analysis of gun trafficking patterns, including Internet-based markets, criminal sources of
firearms, and the value of crime gun tracing. During House consideration of H.R. 2578, several
amendments were adopted, two of which reduced the funding in the bill by $10 million ($5
million apiece) to $1.24 billion. Other amendments addressed recent ATF efforts to regulate
“armor piercing” ammunition, NFA trusts, and Southwest border multiple rifle sales reporting.
On June 16, 2015, the Senate Committee on Appropriations reported its version of the FY2016
CJS appropriations bill (H.R. 2578, as amended) that would provide ATF with $1.201 billion for
FY2016, the same amount Congress appropriated for ATF for FY2015 (excluding a $3.2 million
rescission). Senate report language specifically noted that this amount would be adequate to
continue NIBIN, but did not address ATF staffing or application workloads. Senate report
language continued to direct ATF to report to the committee on the number of firearms recovered
by, and traced for, the Government of Mexico. In addition, Senate report language lauded ATF for
co-locating the U.S. Bomb Data Center with the National Center for Explosives Training and
Research (NCETR), and noted that DOJ directed all its component agencies to use the ATF Bomb
Arson Tracking System to document explosives-related incidents.
This report includes an Appendix that provides a legislative history for several ATF funding
limitations related to gun control, most of which included “futurity” language that appears to be
intended to make them permanent law.
Congressional Research Service
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF): FY2016 Appropriations
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF): FY2016 Appropriations
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
FY2016 ATF Request ...................................................................................................................... 1
Curios and Relics, Dealer Inventories, and Appropriations Limitations ............................ 4
Monitoring Increasing Firearms Commerce ....................................................................... 5
National Firearms Act (NFA) and Firearms Suppressor Applications ................................ 6
Firearms Tracing and Appropriations Limitations .............................................................. 7
Violent Firearms-Related Crime Trending Downward ....................................................... 8
Mass Shootings, Mass Murder, and Mass Public Shootings ............................................... 8
House-Passed FY2016 CJS Appropriations Bill ............................................................................ 11
House Floor Amendments Related to Gun Control................................................................. 12
Armor Piercing (AP) Ammunition .................................................................................... 13
National Firearms Act (NFA) Trusts ................................................................................. 13
Firearms Disabilities Relief .............................................................................................. 14
Race or Ethnicity Disclosure and ATF Form 4473 ........................................................... 15
Shotgun Imports and Southwest Border Long Gun Multiple Sales Reporting ................. 16
License Plate Readers and Gun Show Patrons.................................................................. 17
Senate-Reported FY2016 CJS Appropriations Bill ....................................................................... 17
Figures
Figure 1. Net Annual Increases in U.S. Civilian Gun Stock (1980-2011) ....................................... 6
Figure 2. Estimated Firearms-Related Murders and Non-negligent Homicides (1968-
2003) ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Figure 3. Triple and Greater Homicide Incidents and Victims (1980-2011) ................................. 10
Tables
Table 1. ATF FY2015 Enacted Appropriation, FY2016 Base Budget, and FY2016 Budget
Request ......................................................................................................................................... 2
Table 2. ATF Appropriations and Staffing, FY2012-FY2015, and FY2016 Request ...................... 3
Table 3. ATF Permanent Positions by Selected Job Series .............................................................. 4
Appendixes
Appendix. Firearms-Related Appropriations Limitations and Other Provisions ........................... 19
Contacts
Author Contact Information .......................................................................................................... 30
Congressional Research Service
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF): FY2016 Appropriations
Introduction
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the lead federal law
enforcement agency charged with administering and enforcing federal laws related to firearms
and explosives commerce. ATF is also responsible for investigating arson cases with a federal
nexus, and criminal cases involving the diversion of alcohol and tobacco from legal channels of
commerce. Congress funds the ATF through an annual appropriation in the Commerce, Justice,
Science (CJS), and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, because it is a component of the
Department of Justice (DOJ).1
ATF’s relationship with the firearms industry and gun-owning public has been strained, even
adversarial, and this has been a perennial source of controversy.2 In the last several years, ATF has
become embroiled in several controversies related to its mishandling of firearms-related criminal
investigations, such as a Southwest border gun trafficking operation that allowed hundreds of
firearms to be smuggled to Mexico3 and an undercover store front operation in Wisconsin that
allegedly involved the exploitation of disabled individuals in minority communities.4
Gun control advocates, conversely, maintain that Congress has not provided ATF with adequate
funding and has placed undue conditions on the funding it has provided the agency.5 As discussed
in this report, ATF’s FY2016 budget justification asserts that the agency does not have enough
resources to monitor the firearms industry, nor conduct routine firearms traces for other law
enforcement agencies. As one option, Congress may want to assess whether ATF is properly
balancing its administrative (regulatory) and enforcement missions, given recent decreases in
firearms-related violent crime and ongoing budget constraints.
FY2016 ATF Request
In its Congressional Budget Submission, Fiscal Year 2016, ATF enumerated three overarching
challenges to justify its $1.261 billion request. Those challenges include the following:
1ATF was originally established as a separate bureau in the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in 1972 by Treasury
Department Order No. 120-1. As part of the Homeland Security Act, Congress transferred ATF’s enforcement and
regulatory functions for firearms and explosives to Department of Justice from Treasury, adding “explosives” to ATF’s
title. See P.L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, November 25, 2002, §1111 (effective January 24, 2003). The regulatory aspects
of alcohol and tobacco commerce are the domain of the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which encompasses former
components of ATF that remained at Treasury, when other components of ATF described above were transfer to DOJ
on January 24, 2003, under P.L. 107-296.
2 Ted R. Bromund, “Why Firearms Makers Are So Worried Even as the Second Amendment Is Stronger than Ever,”
National Review, January 27, 2015, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/397250/why-firearms-makers-are-so-
worried-even-second-amendment-stronger-ever-ted-r-bromund.
3 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Operation Fast and Furious: Management
Failures at the Department of Justice, 112th Cong., 2nd sess., February 2, 2012, HRG-2012-CGR-0001 (Washington:
GPO, 2012), 219 pp.
4 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Undercover Storefront Operations:
Continued Oversight of ATF’s Reckless Investigative Techniques, 113th Cong., 2nd sess., April 2, 2014, Serial No. 113-
151 (Washington: GPO, 2015), 95 pp.
U.S. Congress, House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and
Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Use of Storefront Operations, 113th Cong., 2nd
sess., February 27, 2014, HRG-2014-HJH-0009 (Washington: GPO, 2014), 29 pp.
5 Alan Berlow, “Current Gun Debate May Not Help Beleaguered ATF: Agency Crippled by Weak Laws, Paltry
Budgets and Congressional Restrictions,” Center for Public Integrity, updated May 19, 2014,
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/02/11/12155/current-gun-debate-may-not-help-beleaguered-atf.
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1. future attrition and retirement of ATF special agents and support staff;
2. maintaining productivity in the face of increased workloads in both areas, ATF
“law enforcement operations” and “investigative support services”; and
3. an urgent need to provide accurate intelligence data and to expand law
enforcement capabilities to combat violent crime, including active/mass shooter
incidents.6
As shown in Table 1, the Administration requested $1.261 billion for ATF for FY2016, an
increase of 5.3%. This proposed net increase of $63.4 million over ATF’s FY2015 appropriation
includes $8.1 million to “address deficiencies in Investigative Support Services,” which include
increased application workloads under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 and increased
firearms trace requests under the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968.7 It also includes $30.2 million
for “staffing restoration” and $25.1 million in other “base adjustments.”
Table 1. ATF FY2015 Enacted Appropriation, FY2016
Base Budget, and FY2016 Budget Request
(Dollars in thousands)
FY2015 Enacted
FY2016 Base Budget
Appropriation
(Estimated Current Services)
FY2016 Budget Request
Positionsa
FTEb Amount Positionsa
FTEb
Amount
Positionsa
FTEb
Amount
LEOc
4,305
4,118 1,013,524
4,305
4,305 1,064,291
4,305
4,305 1,064,291
ISSd
796
762 187,476
796
796 188,732
806
801 196,867
Subtotal
5,101
4,880 1,201,000
5,101
5,101 1,253,023
5,111
5,106 1,261,158
Res-
-3,200
cission
Total
5,101
4,880 1,197,800
5,101
5,101 1,253,023
5,111
5,106 1,261,158
Source: CRS presentation of ATF funding and staffing data presented in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives, Congressional Budget Submissions, Fiscal Year 2016.
a. Positions are “permanent positions.”
b. FTE=Ful -Time Equivalents. A ful -time equivalent (FTE) is the total number of regular, straight-time hours
worked (i.e., not including overtime or holiday hours worked) by employees divided by the number of
compensable hours applicable to each fiscal year.
c. LEO=Law Enforcement Operations.
d. ISS=Investigative Support Services.
Table 1 also shows breakouts for the ATF FY2015 enacted budget, FY2016 base budget (current
services), and FY2016 request by two budget decision units. Those decision units include “law
enforcement operations (LEO)” and “investigative support services (ISS).” These two budget
decision units include the amounts of resources and staff allocated to the agency’s enforcement
and regulatory operations, respectively. ATF adopted this budget decision unit structure during
the FY2015 budget request and appropriations cycle.
6 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Congressional Budget
Submission, Fiscal Year 2016, February 2016, p. 10.
7 These statutes are codified as amended at 26 U.S.C. §5801 et seq. and 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44, §921 et seq.
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Prior to the FY2015 budget decision unit realignment, the ATF budget structure included three
budget decision units: (1) firearms, (2) explosives and arson, and (3) alcohol and tobacco. While
not shown in Table 1, the majority of resources in terms of dollars, positions, and full-time
equivalents (FTE) were and are still allocated principally for firearms-related enforcement and
regulatory operations.8 In prior years, those operations accounted for over three-quarters of the
ATF budget. Arson and Explosives accounted for one-fifth of the ATF budget.9
Table 1 and Table 2 also show that the anticipated FY2015 FTE level funded through
appropriations is 4,880 and the requested FY2016 FTE level is 5,106, or a net increase of 226
FTEs. Table 1 and Table 2 show the permanent positions associated with the funded FTE, of
which five FTEs are associated with the requested additional 10 permanent positions for FY2016.
The $30.2 million for “staffing restoration” includes funding to “restore” another 221 FTEs not
associated with new positions, for a net increase of 226 FTE, but only 10 permanent positions.
According to ATF, the need to restore the 221 FTEs was exacerbated by a three-year, DOJ-wide
hiring freeze.10
The $25.1 million for “base adjustments” essentially represents the estimated level of resources
that ATF projects would be needed for upcoming fiscal year (FY2016) to provide the same level
of services that it anticipates providing during the current fiscal year (FY2015).
Table 2. ATF Appropriations and Staffing, FY2012-FY2015, and FY2016 Request
(Dollars in thousands)
Fiscal Year
Appropriation(s)
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)a
Permanent Positions
2012 Enacted
$1,152,000
5,025
5,101
2013 Enacted
$1,071,568
4,654
4,937
2014 Enacted
$1,179,000
4,658
5,101
2015 Enacted
$1,197,800
4,880
5,101
2016 Request
$1,261,158
5,106
5,111
Source: CRS presentation of ATF funding and staffing data presented in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives, Congressional Budget Submissions, Fiscal Years 2012-2016.
a. A ful -time equivalent (FTE) is the total number of regular, straight-time hours worked (i.e., not including
overtime or holiday hours worked) by employees divided by the number of compensable hours applicable
to each fiscal year.
In addition, for FY2016, the Administration requests that ATF’s authority to participate in a
personnel management demonstration project be terminated.11 This demonstration project has
allowed ATF to provide some employees with retention pay to compensate them for pay caps that
8 See CRS Report R43509, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies: FY2015 Appropriations, coordinated by
Nathan James, Jennifer D. Williams, and John F. Sargent Jr., p. 40.
9 According to the Government Accountability Office, from 2003 to 2013, ATF data showed that firearms
investigations accounted for 87% of all agency investigations; arson and explosives accounted for 11%; criminal
organizations accounted for almost 1%, but have only been tracked since 2010; and alcohol and tobacco investigations
accounted for less than half of 1%. Over that time period, ATF data showed the agency conducting 302,859
investigations. See U.S. Government Accountability Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives:
Enhancing Data Collection Could Improve Management of Investigations, GAO-14-553, June 2014, p. 9.
10 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Congressional Budget Submission, Fiscal Year 2016,
February 2016, p. 6.
11 Ibid, pp. 16-17. See 28 U.S.C. §599B.
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are otherwise required under federal law.12 In lieu of the demonstration project, ATF is seeking
permanent legislative authority to compensate several of those employees.13
Table 3 shows ATF permanent positions by selected Office of Personnel Management (OPM) job
series for fiscal years 2012-2015, for which Congress appropriated funding, and the
Administration’s FY2016 request. For example, special agents (criminal investigators—OPM job
series 1811), who are authorized to make arrests and carry firearms, would account for nearly half
of the permanent positions under the FY2016 request. Industry Operations Investigators
(inspectors—OPM job series 1801), who are not authorized to make arrests or carry a firearm,
would account for 16.3% of the permanent positions under the FY2016 request. Besides a
FY2013 reduction, the level of funded positions for these two job series discussed above has not
changed. According to ATF, the FY2013 reduction in permanent positions was due to
sequestration14 and the three-year DOJ hiring freeze noted above. The level of funded positions
for Intelligence Analysts (OPM job series 132) and Attorneys (OPM job series 905) has also
remained level, but those job series did not see an FY2013 reduction. Nor did “other” positions
see an FY2013 reduction. The requested 10 additional positions for FY2016 are for “other”
positions.
Table 3. ATF Permanent Positions by Selected Job Series
Industry
Special
Operations
Intelligence
Agents
Investigators
Analysts
Attorneys
Fiscal Year
(1811s)
(1801s)
(132s)
(905s)
Other
Total
FY2012 Enacted
2,485
834
180
81
1,521
5,101
FY2013 Enacted
2,451
797
180
81
1,428
4,937
FY2014 Enacted
2,485
834
180
81
1,521
5,101
FY2015 Enacted
2,485
834
180
81
1,521
5,101
FY2016 Request
2,485
834
180
81
1,531
5,111
Source: CRS presentation of ATF staffing data presented in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, Congressional Budget Submissions, Fiscal Years 2012-2016.
Curios and Relics, Dealer Inventories, and Appropriations Limitations
For FY2016, the Administration requests the elimination of two long-standing provisos, included
previously in the ATF salaries and expenses appropriations language, that prohibit the use of
appropriations by ATF to
alter the regulatory definition of “curios and relics,”15 and
12 See 5 U.S.C. §5304(g)(1).
13 The Senate-reported FY2016 CJS appropriations bill (H.R. 2578) includes a provision to grant ATF such authority
(§206). The House-passed H.R. 2578 does not. Instead, the House provision is identical to the provision included in the
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235) and would extend ATF’s authority to
participate in the existing personnel management demonstration project through FY2016 (§206).
14 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Congressional Budget
Submission, Fiscal Year 2015, March 2014, Exhibit B—Summary of Resources.
15 Congress included this proviso in the ATF salaries and expenses appropriations language, for FY1996 and every year
thereafter, through FY2013, in response to an ATF regulatory proposal to amend the definition of “curios or relics,”
because of concerns about the volume of surplus military firearms—particularly World War II era firearms—that could
(continued...)
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require federally licensed gun dealers to conduct physical inventories.16
Under the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (P.L. 113-6), Congress
included futurity language (“in the current fiscal year and any fiscal year thereafter”) that appears
to be intended to make those provisos permanent law.
In the Appendix to this report, there is a comprehensive list of gun control-related spending
limitations that Congress has placed on ATF. Like the limitations described above, some, but not
all, of these provisos no longer appear in the ATF salaries and expenses appropriations language,
because Congress included “futurity” language in either FY2012 or FY2013, after gun control
advocacy groups called for their elimination, because these provisos were viewed by some as
unduly constraining ATF efforts to monitor firearms-related commerce.
Monitoring Increasing Firearms Commerce
ATF has maintained that the agency cannot meet its goal of inspecting every federal firearms
licencee (FFL) for compliance on a three-year cycle.17 The Administration, moreover, has
maintained that the ATF has been hamstrung by appropriations limitations listed in the Appendix
to this report, an increase in the number of FFLs, and a surge in firearms-related commerce.18 For
FY2014, for example, ATF reported that it could only conduct 10,000 FFL compliance
inspections, a 24% decrease from the previous year, and only 7% of the FFL population.19
Meanwhile, for FY2015, ATF reports that it has allocated $1.014 billion (84.6%) of its $1.198
billion appropriation under its “law enforcement operations” budget decision unit. ATF proposes
allocating a similar percentage (84.4%) for FY2016 for this budget decision unit. This means that
less that 16% of ATF appropriated funding would be allocated for its other budget decision unit,
“investigative support services,” which funds other mission-critical activities, including FFL
qualification and compliance inspections, administrative actions, and firearms traces, as well as
other firearms and explosives regulatory efforts.
While ATF has traditionally allocated a greater share of its resources towards its enforcement
mission over its regulatory (administrative) mission, the emphasis on enforcement over
(...continued)
be potentially imported into the United States. For the definition of “curios or relics,” see 27 C.F.R. §478.11, which
generally include firearms that are 50 years old, of museum interest, or derive a substantial amount of their value from
the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or because they are associated with some historical figure, period, or event.
For a list of “curios and relics,” go to http://www.atf.gov/publications/firearms/curios-relics/. Federally licensed
firearms collectors are authorized to engage in limited interstate transfers of “curios and relics,” whereas in nearly all
cases an unlicensed person must engage the services of a federally licensed gun dealer to facilitate interstate firearms
transfers to another unlicensed person.
16 Congress included this proviso in the ATF salaries and expenses appropriations language, for FY2004 and every year
thereafter, through FY2013, which prohibits that agency from using any appropriated funding to require federally
licensed gun dealers (otherwise referred to as federal firearms licensees, or FFLs) to conduct inventories prior to an
ATF inspection. This provision was originally part of the FY2004 Tiahrt amendment, known for its sponsor in CJS
appropriations subcommittee markup, Representative Todd Tiahrt. The Tiahrt amendment included three other provisos
that limit ATF’s authority to release unexpurgated firearms trace data publically, require that certain caveats about the
limitations of trace data be appended to any such public data releases, and requires the FBI to destroy records on
approved firearms-related background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System within
24 hours.
17 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Congressional Budget Submission, Fiscal Year 2016,
February 2016, p. 11.
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid.
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administration might have arguably been increased by ATF’s transfer from the Department of the
Treasury to DOJ. If firearms-related violent crime should continue to decrease nationally,
Congress could consider whether ATF should allocate a greater share of its resources towards it
regulatory mission, particularly the monitoring of FFLs and explosives licensees and permit
holders.
In addition, Figure 1 illustrates the net annual increase in the U.S. civilian gun stock, which has
fluctuated over the 32-year period (1980-2011). Nevertheless, in 2003, the net annual increase in
the U.S. civilian gun stock was a little less than 5 million additional firearms. Since 2003, the net
annual increase has generally grown. By 2011, the net annual increase in the civilian gun stock
was more than 9 million firearms. These increases in the civilian gun stock could be viewed as
one possible measure for ATF’s correspondingly increasing responsibilities to regulate and
monitor the domestic firearms industry and commerce.
Figure 1. Net Annual Increases in U.S. Civilian Gun Stock (1980-2011)
(Firearms in thousands)
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Handguns
Rifles
Shotguns
Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives publications: Commerce in Firearms in the United
States (February 2000); Firearms Commerce Reports, 2012; and Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Exportation
Report, 2013.
Notes: Does not include certain pistol grip firearms, starter guns, and firearms frames and receivers, which
generally fall under a category labeled “miscellaneous” by ATF.
National Firearms Act (NFA) and Firearms Suppressor Applications
Under the NFA, as amended, the ATF regulates non-military commerce in machine guns, short-
barreled rifles and shotguns, silencers, a “catch-all” class of other “concealable” firearms
identified as “any other weapon,” and destructive devices. Many of these weapons were
considered particularly lethal and often the weapons of choice of “gangsters” during the
prohibition era (1919-1933).
In its Congressional Budget Submission, Fiscal Year 2016, ATF reports that 39 states have
recently relaxed laws on silencers (suppressors), and 32 states now allow the use of suppressors
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for hunting and other forms of recreational shooting.20 According to the American Suppressor
Association, since 2011:
15 states have legalized suppressors for hunting, bringing the total number of
states allowing such activities to 37;
13 states have passed “shall sign” or “shall certify” legislation that requires the
presiding chief law enforcement officers in a community where an applicant lives
to sign off on federal NFA applications for suppressors; and
two states have legalized suppressor ownership.21
Nine states currently prohibit civilian ownership of suppressors.22 These changes in state law
governing suppressors have led to an increase in workload for ATF.23
Firearms Tracing and Appropriations Limitations
Under the GCA, ATF regulates the manufacturing, importing, and selling of firearms as a
business to be federally licensed. Federally licensed gun dealers are commonly referred to as
federal firearms licensees, or FFLs. The GCA prohibits the interstate mail-order transfer of all
firearms and interstate transfer of handguns generally (except by FFLs). It sets forth categories of
persons to whom firearms or ammunition may not be sold, such as persons under a specified age
or with criminal records. It also requires FFLs to maintain records of all commercial gun sales.
Although the United States does not maintain a registry of firearms or firearm owners (except for
NFA weapons, like machineguns, short-barreled shotguns, and silencers), under ATF direction,
FFLs maintain a decentralized system of transaction records, through which ATF can sometimes
trace a firearm from its manufacturer or importer to its first private owner of record. Over the
years, successful firearm traces have generated leads in criminal investigations and have
generated data that illustrate wider illegal trafficking trends and patterns. During 2004, ATF
processed about 259,000 trace requests.24 During FY2012, ATF processed about 341,000 trace
requests for domestic and international law enforcement agencies.25
The release of raw, unfiltered firearms trace data to the public has been the source of controversy
in the past, especially when the identities of federally licensed gun dealers who might not have
broken any law are released. Congress has placed a limitation on ATF concerning the release of
firearms trace data through legislative language in the salaries and expenses account and in a
stand-alone provision that requires ATF to include data caveats in any trace data reports. As
described in the Appendix to this report, Congress included “futurity” language in those
provisions for FY2012 in the former case and for FY2013 in the latter case that appears to make
those provisos permanent law.
20 Ibid, p. 12.
21 American Suppressor Association, http://americansuppressorassociation.com/education/.
22 Ibid.
23 Under 18 U.S.C. §921(a)(24), the terms “firearm silencer” and “firearm muffler” mean any device for silencing,
muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned,
and intended for use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for
use in such assembly or fabrication.
24 Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives, Congressional Budget Submission, Fiscal Year 2016,
February 2016, p. 26.
25 Ibid.
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Violent Firearms-Related Crime Trending Downward
In its Congressional Budget Submission, Fiscal Year 2016, ATF cited incidents of murder and
non-negligent homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault committed with a firearm in calendar
year 2012.26 As Figure 2 shows, two-thirds of murders are committed with firearms and one-half
of homicides are committed with handguns. Yet homicide rates, whether with or without firearms,
were lower from about 1999 through 2013 than they were in 1968. During the same years,
estimated firearms-related robberies and aggravated assaults have decreased similarly. If violent
crime committed with firearms should continue to trend downward, Congress could consider
whether ATF should allocate greater resources towards its regulatory mission as one cost-saving
measure. In this way, ATF would be better positioned to regulate and monitor legitimate firearms
and explosives commerce, while possibly producing improved intelligence on gun trafficking,
criminal use of explosives, and related violent crime.
Figure 2. Estimated Firearms-Related Murders and Non-negligent Homicides
(1968-2003)
Rates per 100,000
Total Homicides
of the Population
30,000
12.0
Murders and
Non-Negligent
25,000
10.0
Homicides
Firearms-
Related Murders
20,000
8.0
Handgun-
15,000
6.0
Related Murders
Murder and
10,000
4.0
Non-Negligent
Homicide Rates
Firearm Murder
5,000
2.0
Rates
Handgun
0
0.0
Murder Rates
68
71
74
77
80
83
86
89
92
95
98
01
04
07
10
13
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports.
Mass Shootings, Mass Murder, and Mass Public Shootings27
ATF also called attention to “mass shootings” in public spaces such as movie theaters, shopping
malls, government facilities, schools, and universities.28 ATF underscored that mass shootings
26 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Congressional Budget
Submission, Fiscal Year 2016, February 2016, p. 10.
27 For further information, see CRS Report R44126, Mass Murder with Firearms: Incidents and Victims, 1999-2013, by
William J. Krouse and Daniel J. Richardson.
28 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Congressional Budget
(continued...)
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have become a preeminent public safety concern and have increased the need for its core law
enforcement competencies.29
In the wake of the tragedy in 2012 in Newtown, CT, Congress defined “mass killings” to mean “3
or more killings in a single incident” (P.L. 112-265; January 14, 2013). Although that definition
does not make reference to a weapon, homicides have been traditionally classified by victim
counts (or thresholds) as follows:30
A single homicide is one victim slain in one event.
A double homicide is two victims slain, in one event, in one location.
A triple homicide is three victims slain, in one event, in one location.
A mass murder is four or more victims slain, in one event, in one location.31
A spree murder is two or more murder victims slain, in one event, in two or more
locations, without the offender “cooling-off” emotionally between murders. The event,
however, can be of short or long duration.
A serial murder is three or more separate homicidal events, with the offender cooling-off
emotionally between homicidal events.32
With the exception of the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), no federal agency has
compiled longitudinal data on multiple victim homicide incidents. Based on the FBI’s Uniform
Crime Reports and Supplementary Homicide Reports (UCR-SHR),33 BJS estimated that there
(...continued)
Submission, Fiscal Year 2016, February 2016, p. 10.
29 Ibid.
30 Douglas, Burgess, Burgess, and Ressler, Crime Classification Manual, 2006, pp. 12-13.
31 In a 2008 report on “serial murder,” the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime and Behavioral
Sciences Unit summarized a common understanding of the nature of “mass murder” that was held by many of the
attendees at a 2005 national crime symposium:
Generally, mass murder was described as a number of murders (four or more) occurring during the
same incident, with no distinctive time period between the murders. These events typically
involved a single location, where the killer murdered a number of victims in an ongoing incident
(e.g. the 1984 San Ysidro McDonalds incident in San Diego, California; the 1991 Luby’s
Restaurant massacre in Killeen, Texas; and the 2007 Virginia Tech murders in Blacksburg,
Virginia).
See U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime,
Behavioral Analysis Unit, Serial Murder: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators (July 2008), p. 8,
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder/serial-murder-july-2008-pdf.
32 Ibid, pp. 138-139. In the Protection of Children from Sexual Predator Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-314; October 30, 1998;
112 Stat. 2974, 2987), Congress defined “serial killings” to mean “a series of three or more killings, not less than one
of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable
possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors” (28 U.S.C. §540B(b)(2)). This provision
authorizes the Attorney General and the FBI Director to investigate serial killings in violation of the laws of a state or
political subdivision, if such investigation is requested by the head of a law enforcement agency with investigative or
prosecutorial jurisdiction over the offense (see 28 U.S.C. §540B(a)).
33 The FBI began collecting monthly crime reports from city, county, and state law enforcement agencies in 1930.
Today, as part of the UCR program, the FBI collects incident, victim, property, offender, and arrestee data for 22 crime
categories. In 1976, the FBI began collecting SHRs to capture greater data on homicides, including the method of
murder. For a discussion of “Data for Measuring Firearms Violence and Ownership,” see National Research Council,
Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review, National Academies Press, 2005, p. 26. For a more in-depth discussion of
the data, see James Alan Fox, Uniform Crime Reports (United States): Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-2002,
Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research, 2005, http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/
icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/4179.
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were 987 four or more victim homicide incidents from 1980 to 2011, or an average 31 incidents
per year.34 While the bulk of those incidents were mass murders, it is probable that some of those
incidents were serial murders committed over extended time periods, or spree murders that lasted
longer than roughly 24 hours. Some researchers have categorized spree murders that have
occurred within a 24-hour window as “mass/spree homicides.”35
BJS also estimated that there were 2,355 triple homicides for the same years, or an average of 74
incidents per year. As a result, a comprehensive dataset of mass killings could include as many as
105 incidents per year on average for that 32-year period (1980-2011). These incidents accounted
for 0.64% of an estimated 523,007 incidents of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter.
As Figure 3 shows, triple or greater victim homicide incidents have hovered with some yearly
variation at about the 100 incident level. While the associated victim counts have fluctuated
sporadically from year to year, over the 32-year period, there were an estimated 7,065 victims of
triple homicides and 4,797 victims of quadruple or greater victim homicides. These victims
combined (11,862) accounted for 2.16% of the estimated 548,455 victims of murder and non-
negligent manslaughter incidents.
Figure 3. Triple and Greater Homicide Incidents and Victims (1980-2011)
800
Triple and Greater
Homicide Incident
700
Victims
600
Triple and Greater
Homicide Incidents
500
400
300
200
100
0
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
00
02
04
06
08
10
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Notes: All homicide incidents in this figure are either murders or non-negligent manslaughter incidents, as
opposed to justifiable homicides. A triple homicide is three victims slain, in one event, in one location. A mass
murder is four or more victims slain, in one event, in one location.
34 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Homicide in the U.S. Known to
Law Enforcement, 2011, December 2013, NCJ 243055, by Erica L. Smith and Alexia Cooper, p. 14.
35 Some researchers have chosen to categorize spree murders that occur within a 24-hour window as “mass murders,”
or “mass/spree murders.” See Hannah Scott and Katie Fleming, “The Female Family Annihilator: An Exploratory
Study,” Homicide Studies, vol. 18(1), 2013, p. 63.
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By comparison, the current public understanding generally of what constitutes a “mass public
shooting” was conceptualized arguably by Grant Duwe in his book, Mass Murder in the United
States: A History (2007).36 Duwe observed:
The mass murders that often capture the public’s imagination are those in which an
offender publically guns down victims for no apparent rhyme or reason. Of the 250
incidents that took place from 1900 through 1999, 191 involved offenders who used
firearms. Excluding those that occurred in connection with criminal activity such as
robbery, drug dealing, and organized crime, there were 116 mass public shootings during
the twentieth century.37
Duwe defined mass public shooting as “any incident in which four or more victims are killed
publicly in a workplace, school, restaurant, or other public place with guns and within 24
hours.”38
With data provided by Duwe, CRS also compiled a 44-year (1970-2013) dataset of firearms-
related mass murders that could arguably be characterized as “mass public shootings.” These data
show that there were on average:
one (1.1) incident per year during the 1970s (5.5 victims murdered, 2.0 wounded
per incident),
nearly three (2.7) incidents per year during the 1980s (6.1 victims murdered, 5.3
wounded per incident),
four (4.0) incidents per year during the 1990s (5.6 victims murdered, 5.5
wounded per incident),
four (4.1) incidents per year during the 2000s (6.4 victims murdered, 4.0
wounded per incident), and
four (4.5) incidents per year from 2010 through 2013 (7.4 victims murdered, 6.3
wounded per incident).
These decade-long averages suggest that the prevalence, if not the deadliness, of “mass public
shootings” increased in the 1970s and 1980s, and continued to increase, but not as steeply, during
the 1990s, 2000s, and first four years of the 2010s.
As one possible oversight issue, Members of Congress could query ATF as to how it proposes to
address “mass shootings” through leveraging its core law enforcement competencies. Congress
could also query whether the agency has any plans to address data gaps on such incidents,
particularly with regard to the offender acquisition of firearms (legally or illegally), the types of
firearms used, magazines and ammunition carried, shots fired, reloads made, as well as killed and
wounded victim counts per incident.
House-Passed FY2016 CJS Appropriations Bill
On May 27, 2015, the House Committee on Appropriations reported an FY2016 CJS
appropriations bill that would have provided ATF with $1.25 billion for FY2016. This amount
would be a 4.1% increase over the amount Congress appropriated for FY2015 ($1.201 billion).39
36 Grant Duwe, Mass Murder in the United States: A History, 2007, 213 pp.
37 Ibid, p. 27.
38 See Glenn Kessler, “Clinton’s Gun Remark Is off the Mark,” Washington Post, January 13, 2013, p. A02.
39 The FY2016 appropriation amount of $1.201 billion does not reflect a rescission of $3.2 million for that fiscal year.
(continued...)
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At the same time, this amount is $11.2 million less than the Administration’s FY2015 request
($1.261 billion). It is also $3.0 million less than the ATF projected FY2016 base budget. Within
these funding constraints, House report language indicated that ATF should: 40
meet its critical staffing requirements;
improve its capacity to process National Firearms Act (NFA)41 applications and
service requests; and
sustain the updating and expansion of the National Integrated Ballistics
Information Network (NIBIN).42
In addition, the report language directed ATF to provide an updated analysis of gun trafficking
patterns, including Internet-based markets, criminal sources of firearms, and value of crime gun
tracing.43 On June 3, 2015, the House considered and passed H.R. 2578 by a recorded vote (242
to 183, Roll no. 297). During House consideration, the House adopted two amendments that each
reduced the appropriation for ATF by $5 million to $1.24 billion for FY2016 (H.Amdt. 299 and
H.Amdt. 300). The House rejected another amendment that would have further reduced the ATF
appropriations by $250 million (H.Amdt. 301).
House Floor Amendments Related to Gun Control
During floor consideration, on June 2 and 3, 2015, the House adopted several other gun control-
related amendments that would prohibit the use of appropriations for certain ATF-proposed
frameworks or regulations related to administering a statutory armor piercing ammunition
prohibition and waivers thereto under a sporting purposes test and legal trusts to hold NFA
firearms. The House adopted another amendment that would overturn a long-standing
appropriations limitation that bans ATF from using appropriations to consider applications from
prohibited persons for firearms rights restoration (disabilities relief). The House rejected an
amendment that would have stripped two other gun control-related limitations from the bill. One
of those provisions has prohibited ATF from using appropriations to ban the importation of
certain shotguns. The other provision, yet to be enacted, would prohibit the ATF from using
(...continued)
If the rescission is taken into account, the FY2016 appropriation amount would be $1.198 billion as reflected in Table 1
of this report. The House Committee FY2016 recommendation would be a $4.2% increase over the FY2015
appropriation of $1.198 billion.
40 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related
Agencies, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2016 (H.R. 2578), 114th Cong., 1st
sess., May 27, 2015, H.Rept. 114-130, p. 43.
41 The NFA (26 U.S.C. §5801 et seq.) regulates types of firearms considered to be especially lethal, most notably
machine guns and short-barreled shotguns and rifles. This law also regulates firearms, other than pistols and revolvers,
which can be more easily concealed on a person (e.g., pen, cane, and belt buckle guns), as well as firearms
silencers/suppressors. It taxes all aspects of the manufacture and distribution of such weapons, and it compels the
disclosure (through registration with the Attorney General) of the production and distribution system from
manufacturer to buyer.
42 In the late 1990s, ATF developed NIBIN to enable law enforcement agencies to share computerized images of
bullets and cartridge casings recovered by law enforcement, including crime scene evidence. Those images are
uploaded into several regional computer networks under the NIBIN program. For further information, see Daniel L.
Cork et al., Ballistic Imaging, Committee to Assess the Feasibility, Accuracy, and Technical Capability of a National
Ballistic Database, National Research Council, 2008, p. 133.
43 H.Rept. 114-130, p. 44. House report language cites a 2000 ATF report entitled Following the Gun: Enforcing
Federal Laws Against Firearms Traffickers, which available on the ATF website, https://www.atf.gov/file/11876/
download.
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appropriations to collect multiple rifle sales reports in Southwest border states. A point of order
was sustained against another amendment that would have prohibited the use of license plate
readers to collect information on individuals attending gun shows.
Armor Piercing (AP) Ammunition
On February 13, 2015, ATF proposed a framework for determining whether certain rifle
cartridges, like the NATO M855 5.56x45mm, should be considered “armor piercing” due to the
metallic composition of the projectile (bullet), and whether the Attorney General should waive
such cartridges from an armor piercing ammunition ban, because they are “intended primarily to
be used for sporting purposes.”44 ATF justified the framework and its re-interpretation of the Law
Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1986 (LEOPA; P.L. 99-409), which was enacted to ban
“cop killer” bullets that may be used in a handgun, because certain semiautomatic pistols based
on M16 and AK-47 receivers have become available through ordinary commercial channels in the
United States. However, the House and Senate Chairs of the Judiciary Committees,
Representative Bob Goodlatte and Senator Charles Grassley, sent letters to the ATF Director and
objected strongly to the reasoning behind the framework, under which ATF might have
potentially banned a range of other rifle cartridges that had previously either been exempted from,
or not subject to, the armor piercing ammunition ban. On March 10, 2015, ATF withdrew its
framework from further consideration due ostensibly to a strong, negative public response.
Representative Richard Hudson offered an amendment (H.Amdt. 329; §553) that would prohibit
the use of any funding provided under the bill to be used to classify M855 or SS109 (5.56x45mm)
ammunition as armor piercing under P.L. 99-409. The amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
Representative Thomas Massie offered an amendment (H.Amdt. 341; §568) that would prohibit
the use of funding provided under the bill to be used to ban any ammunition as armor piercing
unless it had been “designed and intended for use in a handgun.” This amendment was agreed to
by roll call vote: 250-171 (Roll No. 289).
Representative Paul A. Gosar offered an amendment (H.Amdt. 343; §562) that would prohibit the
use of any funding provided under the bill to be used to continue a ban on the importation of
5.45x39mm ammunition as armor piercing. This amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
National Firearms Act (NFA) Trusts
Representative John R. Carter offered an amendment (H.Amdt. 320; §548) that would prohibit
the use of any funding under the bill to implement a proposed 2013 regulation that would change
certain NFA regulations that require a sign-off by a chief law enforcement officer (CLEO) and
NFA Trusts.45 ATF requires an individual person applying for an NFA tax stamp (transfer
authorization) to gain the signature and permission of the CLEO who has jurisdiction in the
community in which the individual resides. As part of the Internal Revenue Code, NFA weapons
may also be registered to corporations and trusts under limited cases. Under such circumstances,
the “responsible person” administering the trust undergoes the background check, but a CLEO
44 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Framework for Determining
Whether Certain Projectiles Are “Primarily Intended for Sporting Purposes” Within the Meaning of 18 U.S.C.
§921(a)(17)(C), February 13, 2015, 17 pp., http://www.atf.gov/sites/default/files/assets/Library/Notices/
atf_framework_for_determining_whether_certain_projectiles_are_primarily_intended_for_sporting_purposes.pdf.
45 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “Machine Guns, Destructive Devices and Certain Firearms;
Background Checks for Responsible Persons of a Corporation, Trust or Other Legal Entity With Respect to Making or
Transferring a Firearm,” 78 Federal Register 55014-55029, September 9, 2015.
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signature is not required. The September 9, 2013, ATF proposed rule that is the object of this
amendment would make all parties to the trust “responsible persons,” so that all persons would
have to undergo a background check. Although some parties to the trust may be minors (even
infants), ATF maintains that, in this way, a prohibited person could not use a trust as a mechanism
to own an NFA weapon. The amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
Firearms Disabilities Relief
Representative Ken Buck offered an amendment (H.Amdt. 302) to the proviso for FY2016 that
would require ATF to consider firearms disabilities relief applications. This amendment was
agreed to by voice vote. For FY1993 and every year thereafter, a proviso has been included in the
ATF salaries and expenses language that has prevented that agency from using appropriated funds
to consider applications for disabilities relief (i.e., reinstatement of an applicant’s right to gun
ownership) from individuals who are otherwise ineligible to be transferred a firearm.
Under current law, there are nine classes of persons prohibited from shipping, transporting,
receiving, or possessing firearms or ammunition:
persons convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term
exceeding one year;
fugitives from justice;
unlawful users or addicts of any controlled substance as defined in Section 102 of
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. §802);
persons adjudicated as “mental defective” or committed to mental institutions;46
unauthorized immigrants and nonimmigrant visitors (with exceptions in the latter
case, which have changed—effective July 9, 2012—as described below);
persons dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces;
persons who have renounced their U.S. citizenship;
persons under court-order restraints related to harassing, stalking, or threatening
an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner; and
persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.47
In addition, there is a 10th class of persons prohibited from shipping, transporting, or receiving
firearms or ammunition:
46 Under 27 C.F.R. Section 478.11, the term “adjudicated as a mental defective” is defined to include
a determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of
marked subnormal intelligence or a mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease, (1) is a
danger to himself or others, or (2) lacks the mental capacity to manage his own affairs. The term
also includes (1) a finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case and (2) those persons found
incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility pursuant to
articles 50a and 72b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. Sections 850a, 876(b).
This definition was promulgated by an ATF final rule (Federal Register, vol. 62, no. 124, June 27, 1997, p. 34634).
It is noteworthy that it is possible for individuals to become eligible after being disqualified under Section 922(g)(4).
For example, under the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-180), veterans beneficiaries who have
been determined to be mental defectives could appeal for administrative relief and possibly have their gun rights
restored if they could demonstrate that they were no longer afflicted by a disqualifying condition. Such appeals,
however, are made to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
47 18 U.S.C. §922(g).
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persons under indictment in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for
a term exceeding one year.48
It also unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of a firearm or ammunition to any of
the prohibited persons enumerated above, if the transferor (seller) has reasonable cause to believe
that the transferee (buyer) is prohibited from receiving those items.49
Under the GCA, there is a provision that allows the Attorney General (previously, the Secretary
of the Treasury) to consider petitions from a prohibited person for “relief from disabilities” and
have his firearms transfer and possession eligibility restored.50 Since FY1993, however, the
limitation on the ATF annual appropriations for salaries and expenses noted has prohibited the use
of any appropriations to process such petitions.51 While a prohibited person arguably could
petition the Attorney General, bypassing ATF, such an alternative has never been successfully
tested. As a result, the only way a person can reacquire his lost firearms eligibility is to have his
civil rights restored or disqualifying criminal record(s) expunged or set aside, or to be pardoned
for his crime. According to ATF, the agency processed 22,969 applications for firearms
disabilities relief from 1968 through 1982, restoring firearms privileges to 7,581 applicants and
denying restoration to 4,251 applicants.52 For further information, see the Appendix to this
report.
Race or Ethnicity Disclosure and ATF Form 4473
Representative Diane Black offered an amendment to H.R. 2578 to prohibit the use of
appropriations to require any person to disclose their race or ethnicity in connection with a
firearms transfer under federal law, pursuant to Section 478.124 of Title 27, or Section 25.7 of
Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, or the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, “Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and
Administrative Reporting.” The House adopted this amendment by voice vote.
In April 2012, the ATF modified its Form 4473 to include a question (number 10) that requires
persons seeking to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed gun dealer to disclose their race
or ethnicity.53 According to ATF:
Ethnicity refers to a person’s heritage and persons of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto
Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless
of race, are considered Hispanic or Latino; and
Race refers to one or more of the following:
American Indian or Alaska Native, a person having origins in any of the
original peoples of North and South America (including Central America),
and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment;
48 18 U.S.C. §922(n).
49 18 U.S.C. §922(d).
50 18 U.S.C. §925(c). See also Relief from Disabilities Under the Act, 27 C.F.R. §478.144.
51 For FY1993, see P.L. 102-393; 106 Stat. 1732 (1992). For FY2012, see P.L. 112-55; 125 Stat. 552, 609 (November
18, 2011). The FY2012 limitation provides: “That none of the funds appropriated herein shall be available to
investigate or act upon applications for relief from Federal firearms disabilities under 18 U.S.C. 925(c).”
52 These data were provided to CRS by the ATF Office of Legislative Affairs in January 2003.
53 This form is available electronically on the ATF website, https://www.atf.gov/file/61446/download.
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Asian, a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East,
Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia,
China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands,
Thailand, and Vietnam;
Black or African American, a person having origins in any of the Black racial
groups of Africa;
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, a person having origins in any of
the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands, or
White, a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the
Middle East, or North Africa.54
ATF directs any person of other ethnicity, who does not fall within those categories, to select the
closest representation.
Current law requires that the gun dealer and prospective firearms purchaser (transferee) complete
an ATF Form 4473 and sign it under penalty of law.55 This completed form essentially serves as
the legal authorization for the federally licensed gun dealer to submit a background check on the
prospective firearms purchaser to the Federal Bureau of Investigation through a computer system
known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Some opponents of
greater gun control have asserted that this administrative change serves no purpose, but to allow
the federal government to discern “what subdivided ethnicity owns guns versus the single [w]hite
category.”56 ATF maintains that this change in Form 4473 was made simply in compliance to the
OMB Directive Statistical Policy Directive No. 15. (For related legislation, see H.R. 1739/S.
1385).57
Shotgun Imports and Southwest Border Long Gun Multiple Sales Reporting
Representative Elizabeth Esty offered an amendment (H.Amdt. 307) that would have struck two
provisions in the bill related to shotgun imports (§532) and a Southwest border state multiple
rifles sales reporting (§537), but the amendment was withdrawn.
Section 532 of H.R. 2578 would prohibit ATF from banning the importation of certain shotguns
that the agency characterized as “non-sporting,” because they include certain “military-style”
features (e.g., pistol grips, folding or collapsible stocks, laser sights, as well as the ability to
accept large capacity ammunition feeding devices). For FY2012 and every year thereafter, such
language has been included in enacted appropriations laws for ATF. For further information, see
the Appendix to this report.
Section 537 of H.R. 2578 would prohibit the use of any funding provided under the bill to
continue implementing a 2011 information collection initiative, under which ATF has required
federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to report to ATF whenever they make multiple sales or other
dispositions of more than one rifle within five consecutive business days to an unlicensed person.
Such reporting is limited to firearms that are (1) semiautomatic, (2) chambered for ammunition of
54 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “Questions and Answers Revised F4473,” April 2012 edition,
https://www.atf.gov/file/61841/download.
55 Making a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer in connection with a firearms transfer is illegal under
two provisions of a Gun Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. §924(a)(1)(D) and18 U.S.C. §924(a)(2)).
56 Raquel Okyay, “Pratt, Advocates for Gun Rights Blast Obama’s New Racial Reporting on Gun Forms,” Human
Events Online, September 28, 2014, downloaded from Nexis on August 20, 2015.
57 CRS conversation with the ATF Office of Legislative Affairs, August 21, 2015.
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greater than .22 caliber, and (3) capable of accepting a detachable magazine. For FY2011 and
every year thereafter, the House CJS appropriations bills have included similar language to block
this initiative, but such language has yet to be enacted.
License Plate Readers and Gun Show Patrons
Representative Doug Lamborn offered an amendment (H.Amdt. 348) to prohibit the use of
appropriations to collect information about individuals attending gun shows with electronic
automobile license plate readers. Representative Lamborn stated that the American Civil Liberties
Union had uncovered an email which revealed that the Drug Enforcement Administration and
ATF had considered using such an investigative surveillance technique in the Phoenix, AZ, area
in the 2009 timeframe. Representative Sam Farr raised a point of order that the amendment
changed existing law and was a violation of House Rule XXI, clause 2.58 The point of order was
sustained and therefore further consideration of the amendment could not occur.
Senate-Reported FY2016 CJS Appropriations Bill
On June 16, 2015, the Senate Committee on Appropriations reported its version of the FY2016
CJS appropriations bill (H.R. 2578, as amended) that would provide ATF with $1.201 billion, the
same amount Congress appropriated for ATF for FY2015 (excluding a $3.2 million rescission).
Senate report language addressed four areas of ATF operations:
Combating Gun Violence and Enforcing Gun Laws,
United States-Mexico Firearms Trafficking,
United States Bomb Data Center, and
National Center for Explosives Training and Research.
While the Senate Committee amendment would provide no additional funding for ATF for
FY2016, report language maintained that the recommendation is adequate to allow ATF to
administer and enforce existing federal firearms laws and programs. For example, report language
specifically noted that the amount would be adequate to continue the National Integrated
Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN), which allows federal, state, local, and tribal law
enforcement agencies to share ballistic images of bullets and shell casings recovered at crime
scenes, so that striations on bullets and hammer and ejector makings on shell casings can be
matched microscopically in a manner similar to latent fingerprint matching. Senate report
language did not address ATF staffing issues or increases in NFA applications or firearms tracing
requests.
With regard to United States-Mexico firearms trafficking, report language directed ATF to
continue reporting back to the committee on the number of firearms recovered by the
Government of Mexico. And, of those firearms:
How many has ATF attempted to trace?
How many were successfully traced? and
How many were found to have originated in the United States prior to being
recovered in Mexico?
58 See CRS Report R41634, Limitations in Appropriations Measures: An Overview of Procedural Issues, by Jessica
Tollestrup.
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The Senate version of the bill also includes a provision (§216) that would continue to ban any
DOJ agency from using appropriations to transfer an operable firearm to a known or suspected
“drug cartel” agent without continuously monitoring and controlling such firearm. As described
in the Appendix of this report, this provision was first sponsored as an amendment offered by
Senator John Cornyn for FY2012. It has been included in every DOJ appropriation since then. It
was also included in the House-passed bill for FY2016 (H.R. 2578, §215). This provision is a
response to a flawed Southwest border gun trafficking investigation known as “Operation Fast
and Furious.”
In addition, report language lauded ATF for co-locating the U.S. Bomb Data Center with the
National Center for Explosives Training and Research (NCETR), and noted that DOJ had directed
all its component agencies to use the ATF Bomb Arson Tracking System to document explosives-
related incidents. Report language directed ATF to make space available for Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security’s Office Bombing Prevention analysts
at the U.S. Bomb Data Center. Finally, report language directed ATF to maintain its FY2015 level
of operations at NCETR to train federal, state, local, and tribal technicians in advanced fire
investigations and advanced explosives disposal techniques.
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Appendix. Firearms-Related Appropriations
Limitations and Other Provisions
Congress has placed nine provisos related to domestic gun control on Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) appropriations for salaries and expenses (S&E) and
included another six provisos in either the Department of Justice (DOJ) general provisions or the
general provisions for the entire Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) and Related Appropriations
Act.59 Congress has included “futurity” language (e.g., “in each fiscal year thereafter”) in several
of these provisos that appears to be intended to make them permanent law. One proviso—the
“Tiahrt amendment”—has included futurity language since FY2005, but was included in
subsequent appropriations acts through FY2012. This proviso restricts ATF from using
appropriations to release unfiltered firearms trace data, and prohibits the use of such data for the
purposes of supporting civil lawsuits.60 Gun control advocates have argued that the Tiahrt
amendment and other limitations on the ATF appropriations have unduly hampered that agency
from enforcing the law, and consequently have called for their repeal.61 Supporters of gun rights,
on the other hand, maintain that these limitations prevent ATF from overreaching its statutory and
regulatory authority.62
For FY2012, Congress included futurity language in four of those provisos that appears to be
intended to make them permanent law. Those FY2012 provisos are:
S&E Proviso One: Firearms Acquisition/Disposition Data Collection;
S&E Proviso Six: Trace Data and Tiahrt Amendment;
S&E Proviso Eight: Out-of-Business Dealers’ Records Searches; and
NICS Fee Prohibition and Next-Day Destruction of Records.
For FY2013, Congress included futurity language in several additional provisos. Those FY2013
provisions are:
S&E Proviso Two: Curios or Relics Definition;
S&E Proviso Seven: Dealer Inventory;
S&E Proviso Nine: Dealer License Denials for Lack of Business; and
Trace Data Caveats.
59 In January 2003, the ATF was transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Justice. Because
ATF domestic gun control-related gun control provisions date back to 1978, they have been carried over the years in
Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government (Treasury-Postal) Appropriations Acts; in a Science, State, Justice,
Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Acts; and in Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) and Related Agencies
Appropriations Acts. For further information on how appropriations subcommittee jurisdictions have changed over this
period, see CRS Report RL31572, Appropriations Subcommittee Structure: History of Changes from 1920 to 2013, by
Jessica Tollestrup.
60 Joanna Anderson and Tamar Hallerman, “C-J-S Bill Advances After Democratic Gun Provisions Turned Back,” Roll
Call, May 8, 2014. John Gramlich, “Permanent Gun Law Changes in Senate CR Irk Gun Control Advocates,
Democrats,” Roll Call, March 14, 2013.
61 Erica Goode and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Legal Curbs Said to Hamper A.T.F. in Gun Inquiries,” The New York Times,
December 26, 2012, p. 1.
62 National Rifle Association, “Elections Matter: Pro-Second Amendment House Stands Up for Your Rights in Funding
Bill,” June 5, 2015, https://www.nraila.org/articles/20150605/elections-matter-pro-second-amendment-house-stands-
up-for-your-rights-in-funding-bill.
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As discussed in the text of this report and below in this Appendix, the Administration has
requested for FY2014, FY2015, and FY2016 that two of those provisos be repealed. Those
provisos include:
S&E Proviso Two: Curios or Relics Definition; and
S&E Proviso Seven: Dealer Inventory.
For FY2013, FY2014, and FY2015, the House CJS appropriations bills included futurity
language in two other provisions. While these provisos were included in the enacted
appropriations laws, the futurity language was not. Those provisos include:
Firearms Parts Exports to Canada; and
Curios and Relics Imports.
There are five other provisos for which Congress has not included futurity language. Those
provisos include:
S&E Proviso Three: Relief from Firearms Disabilities for Individuals;
S&E Proviso Four: Relief from Firearms Disabilities for Corporations;
S&E Proviso Five: ATF Reorganization and Dismantlement;
Anti-Gun Walking Amendment; and
Shotgun Imports.
In the 114th Congress, legislation has been introduced to repeal several of these provisos (see H.R.
1449 and H.R. 2939). A more detailed legislative history of all these provisos discussed above
along with their language is provided below.
Salaries and Expenses (S&E) Provisos
ATF S&E Proviso One: Firearms Acquisition/Disposition Data Collection
For FY1979 through FY2012, Congress included a proviso in the ATF S&E appropriations
language in response to an administrative proposal made during the Carter Administration that
would have required firearms manufacturers, importers, and dealers to submit quarterly reports on
the sale and disposition of firearms.63 House and Senate report language expressed the view that
this proposed regulation exceeded ATF’s authority under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (H.R.
12930; H.Rept. 95-1259 and S.Rept. 95-939). In addition, a proviso was enacted that prohibits
ATF from using appropriations for the purposes of creating what has often been characterized as a
“registry of firearms or firearms owners.”64 For FY2012, futurity language (“hereafter”) was
included in this proviso, which appears to be intended to make it permanent law. The proviso
reads as follows:
Provided, That no funds appropriated herein or hereafter shall be available for salaries or
administrative expenses in connection with consolidating or centralizing, within the
63 43 Federal Register 11800-11810, March 21, 1978.
64 Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1979; P.L. 95-429; October 10, 1978; 92
Stat. 1001, 1002.
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Department of Justice, the records, or any portion thereof, of acquisition and disposition
of firearms maintained by [F]ederal firearms licensees.65
ATF S&E Proviso Two: Curios or Relics Definition
For FY1996 through FY2013, Congress included a proviso in the ATF S&E appropriations
language that prohibits ATF from using appropriated funding for the purposes of changing the
definition of “curios or relics.”66 This provision was in response to an ATF proposal to amend the
definition of “curios or relics,”67 because of concerns about the volume of surplus military
firearms that could be imported into the United States. ATF has consistently opposed the
importation of certain World War II era, surplus military firearms. The language of this proviso is
as follows:
Provided further, That no funds appropriated herein shall be used to pay administrative
expenses or the compensation of any officer or employee of the United States to
implement an amendment or amendments to 27 CFR 478.118 or to change the definition
of “Curios or relics” in 27 CFR 478.11 or remove any item from ATF Publication
5300.11 as it existed on January 1, 1994.68
For FY2013, Congress included futurity language (“the current fiscal year and any fiscal year
thereafter”) in this proviso, which appears to have made it permanent law.69 For each fiscal year
thereafter, FY2014 through FY2016, the Administration has requested as part of its annual
congressional budget submissions that this proviso be repealed.
ATF S&E Proviso Three: Relief from Firearms Disabilities for Individuals
For FY1993 and every year thereafter, Congress included a proviso in the ATF S&E
appropriations language that prevents that agency from using appropriations to consider
applications for disabilities relief (i.e., reinstatement of an applicant’s right to gun ownership)
from individuals who are otherwise ineligible to be transferred a firearm.70 In the 102nd Congress,
House report language (H.R. 5488; H.Rept. 102-618) included the following justification: “the
Committee believes that the $3.75 million and the 40 man-years annually spent investigating and
acting upon these applications for relief would be better utilized by ATF in fighting violent
crime.” Senate and Conference report language were silent on this issue. The language of this
proviso is as follows:
65 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
609; 18 U.S.C. 923 note.
66 Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1996; P.L. 104-52; November 19, 1995; 109
Stat. 468, 471.
67 See 27 C.F.R. §478.11 for the definition of “curios or relics,” which generally include firearms that are 50 years old,
of museum interest, or derive a substantial amount of their value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or
because they are associated with some historical figure, period, or event. For a list of “curios and relics,” go to
http://www.atf.gov/publications/firearms/curios-relics/. Federally licensed firearms collectors are authorized to engage
in limited interstate transfers of “curios and relics,” whereas in nearly all cases an unlicensed person must engage the
services of a federally licensed gun dealer to facilitate interstate firearms transfers to another unlicensed person.
68 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
609.
69 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013; P.L. 113-6; March 26, 2013; 127 Stat. 248.
70 Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1993; P.L. 102-393; October 6, 1992; 106
Stat. 1729, 1731.
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Provided further, That none of the funds appropriated herein shall be available to
investigate or act upon applications for relief from Federal firearms disabilities under 18
U.S.C. 925(c).
For FY2015, these provisos were included in the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235). For FY2016, the Senate Committee on Appropriations
included identical language in its reported CJS appropriations bill (H.R. 2578, as amended). The
House-passed version of H.R. 2578, however, reflects a floor amendment that would require ATF
to process disability relief applications for individuals.
ATF S&E Proviso Four: Relief from Firearms Disabilities for Corporations
For FY1994 and every year thereafter, Congress added a related proviso explicitly stating that
appropriated funds could be used to process disability relief applications for corporations.71
Provided further, That such funds shall be available to investigate and act upon
applications filed by corporations for relief from Federal firearms disabilities under
section 925(c) of title 18, United States Code.72
For FY2015, this proviso was included in the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235). For FY2016, an identical proviso was included in the
House-passed CJS appropriations bill (H.R. 2578) and Senate-reported bill (H.R. 2578, as
amended).
ATF S&E Proviso Five: ATF Reorganization or Dismantlement
For FY1994 and every year thereafter, Congress included a proviso in the ATF S&E
appropriations language that prevents the use of appropriations to dismantle that agency. That
provision was a response to Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review report
released on September 7, 1993, which called for the transfer of ATF’s law enforcement functions
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).73 Under this recommendation, ATF’s regulatory and
revenue functions were to remain at the Department of the Treasury, but be transferred to the
Internal Revenue Service. The language of this proviso is as follows:
Provided further, That no funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to
transfer the functions, missions, or activities of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives to other agencies or Departments.74
71 Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1994; P.L. 103-123; October 28, 1993; 107
Stat. 1226, 1228-1229. For example, ATF granted Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (NGSC) relief for
violations of a TRW Electronic Products, Inc., which was convicted in federal court for a violation of 18 U.S.C. §371
(Conspiracy to commit offense or defraud the United States) on June 30, 1999, in U.S. District Court for the Central
District of California (Case No. CR99-673). On September 23, 2014, ATF granted NGSC relief pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
§925(c) as the successor to TRW Electronic Products, Inc. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives, “Granting of Relief; Federal Firearms Privileges,” 79 Federal Register 73906, December 12,
2014.
72 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
609.
73 Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1994; P.L. 103-123; October 28, 1993; 107
Stat. 1226, 1229.
74 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
609.
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For FY2015, this proviso was included in the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235). For FY2016, identical language was included in the
House-passed and Senate-reported versions of H.R. 2578.75
ATF S&E Proviso Six: Trace Data and the Tiahrt Amendment
For FY2004 through FY2012, Congress included a proviso in the ATF S&E appropriations
language that is known for the Member who originally offered the amendment, Representative
Todd Tiahrt.76 For FY2003, Congress had previously included a related provision in the Treasury-
Postal appropriations act, which was reportedly included in the bill at the request of
Representative George R. Nethercutt.77 As shown below, the Nethercutt provision is arguably less
restrictive than the Tiahrt proviso.
The Tiahrt amendment prohibits ATF from using appropriations to make unfiltered trace data
available to any parties other than domestic and foreign law enforcement (with greater restrictions
in the latter case) and national security agencies. The proviso exempts trace reports, which ATF
has traditionally produced for statistical purposes and firearms trafficking trend analysis. Unlike
other ATF appropriations provisions, this one has been substantively altered several times. The
last substantive revision was for FY2010. Nevertheless, it has included some form of futurity
language (“in each fiscal year thereafter”) since its inception, most recently for FY2012.78 The
language of this proviso is as follows:
Provided further, That, during the current fiscal year and in each fiscal year thereafter, no
funds appropriated under this or any other Act may be used to disclose part or all of the
contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center
of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or any information required
to be kept by licensees pursuant to section 923(g) of title 18, United States Code, or
required to be reported pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (7) of such section, except to: (1) a
Federal, State, local, or tribal law enforcement agency, or a Federal, State, or local
prosecutor; or (2) a foreign law enforcement agency solely in connection with or for use
in a criminal investigation or prosecution; or (3) a Federal agency for a national security
or intelligence purpose; unless such disclosure of such data to any of the entities
described in (1), (2) or (3) of this proviso would compromise the identity of any
undercover law enforcement officer or confidential informant, or interfere with any case
under investigation;
and no person or entity described in (1), (2) or (3) shall knowingly and publicly disclose
such data;
and all such data shall be immune from legal process, shall not be subject to subpoena or
other discovery, shall be inadmissible in evidence, and shall not be used, relied on, or
disclosed in any manner, nor shall testimony or other evidence be permitted based on the
75 In the 113th and 114th Congresses, Representative F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. introduced legislation to abolish ATF
and transfer its firearms, explosives, and arson enforcement and regulatory missions to the FBI, and its alcohol and
tobacco regulatory and enforcement missions to the Drug Enforcement Administration. See H.R. 5522 and H.R. 1329,
respectively.
76 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004; P.L. 108-199; January 23, 2004; 118 Stat. 3, 53.
77 James V. Grimaldi and Sari Horwitz, “After Gun Industry Pressure, Veil Was Dropped over Tracing Data,”
Washington Post, October 24, 2010, p. A11.
78 At the request of Congress, the Comptroller General examined the futurity language for FY2008 and issued an
opinion that it made the limitation permanent law. U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives—Prohibition in the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act,” July 15, 2008,
http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/316510.pdf.
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data, in a civil action in any State (including the District of Columbia) or Federal court or
in an administrative proceeding other than a proceeding commenced by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to enforce the provisions of chapter 44 of
such title, or a review of such an action or proceeding;
except that this proviso shall not be construed to prevent: (A) the disclosure of statistical
information concerning total production, importation, and exportation by each licensed
importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of such title) and licensed manufacturer (as
defined in section 921(a)(10) of such title); (B) the sharing or exchange of such
information among and between Federal, State, local, or foreign law enforcement
agencies, Federal, State, or local prosecutors, and Federal national security, intelligence,
or counterterrorism officials; or (C) the publication of annual statistical reports on
products regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,
including total production, importation, and exportation by each licensed importer (as so
defined) and licensed manufacturer (as so defined), or statistical aggregate data regarding
firearms traffickers and trafficking channels, or firearms misuse, felons, and trafficking
investigations.79
After FY2012, this proviso has not appeared in any subsequent ATF appropriations. It appears
that the futurity language discussed above was considered to make this proviso permanent law.80
Congress included a related provision in the FY2003 Treasury-Postal appropriations act. This
provision arguably has prohibited, and possibly would continue to prohibit, ATF from using
appropriated funding for the purposes of processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
for trace data.81 Report language stated:
The need to maintain these databases [firearms trace data and multiple handgun sales
reports] on a limited confidential basis that has been in place at ATF for several years for
tracing records derives from the long-term nature of criminal investigations. In addition
to jeopardizing criminal investigations and officer safety, such information, once
released, might easily be disseminated through the Internet. This would not only pose a
risk to law enforcement and homeland security, but also to the privacy of innocent
citizens (H.Rept. 107-575).
The language of this provision is as follows:
SEC. 644. No funds appropriated under this Act or any other Act with respect to any
fiscal year shall be available to take any action based upon any provision of 5 U.S.C. 552
with respect to records collected or maintained pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 846(b), 923(g)(3) or
923(g)(7), or provided by Federal, State, local, or foreign law enforcement agencies in
connection with arson or explosives incidents or the tracing of a firearm, except that such
records may continue to be disclosed to the extent and in the manner that records so
collected, maintained, or obtained have been disclosed under 5 U.S.C. 552 prior to the
date of the enactment of this Act.82
This provision was not included in subsequent appropriations laws. However, it too includes
futurity language (“with respect to any fiscal year”), which appears to be intended to make it
permanent law. It is noteworthy that the scope of subsequent Tiahrt amendments would have also
prohibited all FOIA disclosures.
79 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
609-610; 18 U.S.C. 923 note.
80 Ibid.
81 Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003; P.L. 108-7; February 20, 2003; 117 Stat. 11, 473.
82 Ibid.
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ATF S&E Proviso Seven: Dealer Inventory
For FY2004 through FY2013, Congress included a proviso in the ATF S&E appropriations
language that prohibits the agency from using any appropriations to require federal firearms
licensees to conduct inventories before an inspection.83 This provision was also part of the
FY2004 Tiahrt amendment. The language of this proviso is as follows:
Provided further, That no funds made available by this or any other Act shall be
expended to promulgate or implement any rule requiring a physical inventory of any
business licensed under section 923 of title 18, United States Code.84
For FY2013, Congress included futurity language (“for any fiscal year thereafter”) in this
provision, which appears to have been intended to make it permanent law.85 As part of its
FY2014, FY2015, and FY2016 budget request, the Administration requested that this proviso be
repealed.
ATF S&E Proviso Eight: Out-of-Business Dealers’ Records Searches
For FY1997 through FY2012, Congress included a proviso in the ATF S&E appropriations
language that prohibits ATF from using appropriations to search computerized records of out-of-
business FFLs.86 Such records—the bound logs of firearms acquisitions and dispositions and ATF
Form 4473s—are digitized for storage purposes and kept in a microform format for evidentiary
purposes.87 For FY2012, futurity language (“hereafter”) was included in this proviso, which
appears to be intended to make it permanent law (P.L. 112-55). The language of this provision is
as follows:
Provided further, That, hereafter, no funds made available by this or any other Act may
be used to electronically retrieve information gathered pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 923(g)(4) by
name or any personal identification code.88
ATF S&E Proviso Nine: Dealer License Denials for Lack of Business
For FY2004 and through FY2013, Congress included a proviso in the ATF S&E appropriations
language that prohibits ATF from using appropriations to deny or renew a dealer license for lack
of business.89 This proviso was in response to ATF efforts during the Clinton administration to
reduce the number of individuals who arguably held federal firearms licenses simply for the sake
of convenience, as opposed to the means to pursue their principal source of livelihood. Pro-gun
control groups referred to such dealers as “kitchen table top dealers.” It too was part of the
FY2004 Tiahrt amendment. The language of this provision is as follows:
83 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004; P.L. 108-199; January 23, 2004; 118 Stat. 3, 53.
84 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
610.
85 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013; P.L. 113-6; March 26, 2013; 127 Stat. 248.
86 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997; P.L. 104-208; September 30, 1996; 110 Stat. 3009, 3009-319; 18
U.S.C. 923 note.
87 As part of any firearms transfer from a federal firearms licensee (FFL) to a private person, the Gun Control Act of
1968 (18 U.S.C. § 921 et al.) requires them to fill out jointly an ATF Form 4473. In addition, the FFL is required to
verify the purchaser’s name, address, date of birth, and other information by examining a government-issued piece of
identification, most often a driver’s license. Among other things, the buyer (transferee) attests on the ATF Form 4473
that he is not a prohibited person, and that he is the “actual transferee/buyer.”
88 Ibid.
89 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004; P.L. 108-199; January 23, 2004; 118 Stat. 3, 53.
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Provided further, That no funds authorized or made available under this or any other Act
may be used to deny any application for a license under section 923 of title 18, United
States Code, or renewal of such a license due to a lack of business activity, provided that
the applicant is otherwise eligible to receive such a license, and is eligible to report
business income or to claim an income tax deduction for business expenses under the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986.90
After 2013, this provision was not included in any subsequent appropriation, possibly because of
the futurity language (“for any fiscal year thereafter”) in P.L. 113-6, which appears to have been
intended to make it permanent law.91
Other Stand-Alone Appropriations Provisions
Anti-Gun Walking Amendment
For FY2012 through FY2015, Congress has included a provision in the annual CJS
appropriations acts that prohibits an investigative tactic known as “gun walking.” As part of a
flawed investigation known as “Operation Fast and Furious,” the DOJ Office of the Inspector
General found that ATF special agents did not act in a timely manner to arrest, or at least
confront, suspected “straw purchasers” and interdict the firearms they had purchased in multiple
transactions from federally licensed gun dealers, when the agents arguably had a reasonable
suspicion or probable cause to believe that they, the straw purchasers, were trafficking firearms
illegally to known associates of Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Senator John Cornyn
sponsored an amendment to the FY2012 CJS appropriations act that included a related provision
to prevent “gun walking.” While the language of the Cornyn amendment was modified, the
related FY2012 provision reads as follows:
Sec. 219. None of the funds made available under this Act, other than for the national
instant criminal background check system established under section 103 of the Brady
Handgun Violence Prevention Act, may be used by a Federal law enforcement officer to
facilitate the transfer of an operable firearm to an individual if the Federal law
enforcement officer knows or suspects that the individual is an agent of a drug cartel,
unless law enforcement personnel of the United States continuously monitor or control
the firearm at all times.92
For FY2015, Congress included this provision in the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235; §215). For FY2016, the House included this provision in
the CJS appropriations bill (H.R. 2578; §215). The Senate Committee on Appropriations included
it in its version of the bill (H.R. 2578, as amended; §216).
NICS Fee Prohibition and Next-Day Destruction of Records
For FY1999 through FY2012, Congress has included a provision in the annual CJS
appropriations acts that prohibits the Department of Justice from using appropriations to levy a
fee for firearms-related background checks under the National Instant Criminal Background
Check System (NICS). This provision was crafted to counter a Clinton Administration proposal to
levy a $5 fee for such checks. For FY2004 and every year thereafter, along with the fee
prohibition, Congress has included a provision that requires the FBI to destroy background check
90 Ibid.
91 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013; March 26, 2013; 127 Stat. 248.
92 Ibid.
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records within 24 hours on persons who are eligible to receive firearms. This provision was
originally part of the FY2004 Tiahrt amendment and was crafted in response to a 90-day audit log
that was maintained by the FBI during the Clinton Administration for audit and other purposes.
For FY2012, Congress inserted futurity language (“hereafter”) in this provision. The language of
this provision is as follows:
Sec. 511. Hereafter, none of the funds appropriated pursuant to this Act or any other
provision of law may be used for—
(1) the implementation of any tax or fee in connection with the implementation of
subsection 922(t) of title 18, United States Code; and
(2) any system to implement subsection 922(t) of title 18, United States Code, that does
not require and result in the destruction of any identifying information submitted by or on
behalf of any person who has been determined not to be prohibited from possessing or
receiving a firearm no more than 24 hours after the system advises a Federal firearms
licensee that possession or receipt of a firearm by the prospective transferee would not
violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code, or State law.93
After FY2012, this provision was not included in any subsequent CJS appropriations, possibly
because of the futurity language in P.L. 112-55, which appears to have been intended to make this
provision permanent law.
Trace Data Limitations and Caveats
This provision was first included in the FY2004 CJS appropriations bill as part of the Tiahrt
amendment presented earlier.94 The language of this provision (originally number §516) is as
follows:
(a) Tracing studies conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives are released without adequate disclaimers regarding the limitations of the
data.
(b) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shall include in all such
data releases, language similar to the following that would make clear that trace data
cannot be used to draw broad conclusions about firearms-related crime:
(1) Firearm traces are designed to assist law enforcement authorities in conducting
investigations by tracking the sale and possession of specific firearms. Law enforcement
agencies may request firearms traces for any reason, and those reasons are not necessarily
reported to the Federal Government. Not all firearms used in crime are traced and not all
firearms traced are used in crime.
(2) Firearms selected for tracing are not chosen for purposes of determining which types,
makes, or models of firearms are used for illicit purposes. The firearms selected do not
constitute a random sample and should not be considered representative of the larger
universe of all firearms used by criminals, or any subset of that universe. Firearms are
normally traced to the first retail seller, and sources reported for firearms traced do not
necessarily represent the sources or methods by which firearms in general are acquired
for use in crime.95
93 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
632; 18 U.S.C. 922 note.
94 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004; P.L. 108-199; January 23, 2004; 118 Stat. 3, 53.
95 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
633.
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For FY2013, Congress included futurity language (“for FY2013 and thereafter”) in this provision
that appears to have been intended to make it permanent law.96
Firearms Parts Exports to Canada
Congress first included this provision in the FY2006 Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act to prohibit the use of funds provided under this act to
require certain export licenses.97 This provision was a congressional response to new regulations
promulgated during the Clinton Administration (1999) that were based on the Organization of
American States (OAS) Model Regulations for the Control of the International Movement of
Firearms. As a result of the export licensing provisions in these regulations, it arguably became
cost prohibitive for a Canadian resident to acquire certain firearms parts from U.S gun dealers.
Hence, this provision (originally number §520) makes certain firearms parts exempt from some,
but not all export licensing requirements.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or treaty, none of the funds appropriated
or otherwise made available under this Act or any other Act may be expended or
obligated by a department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States to pay
administrative expenses or to compensate an officer or employee of the United States in
connection with requiring an export license for the export to Canada of components,
parts, accessories or attachments for firearms listed in Category I, section 121.1 of title
22, Code of Federal Regulations (International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR),
part 121, as it existed on April 1, 2005) with a total value not exceeding $500 wholesale
in any transaction, provided that the conditions of subsection (b) of this section are met
by the exporting party for such articles.
(b) The foregoing exemption from obtaining an export license—
(1) does not exempt an exporter from filing any Shipper’s Export Declaration or
notification letter required by law, or from being otherwise eligible under the laws of the
United States to possess, ship, transport, or export the articles enumerated in subsection
(a); and
(2) does not permit the export without a license of–(A) fully automatic firearms and
components and parts for such firearms, other than for end use by the Federal
Government, or a Provincial or Municipal Government of Canada; (B) barrels, cylinders,
receivers (frames) or complete breech mechanisms for any firearm listed in Category I,
other than for end use by the Federal Government, or a Provincial or Municipal
Government of Canada; or (C) articles for export from Canada to another foreign
destination.
(c) In accordance with this section, the District Directors of Customs and postmasters
shall permit the permanent or temporary export without a license of any unclassified
articles specified in subsection (a) to Canada for end use in Canada or return to the
United States, or temporary import of Canadian-origin items from Canada for end use in
the United States or return to Canada for a Canadian citizen.
(d) The President may require export licenses under this section on a temporary basis if
the President determines, upon publication first in the Federal Register, that the
Government of Canada has implemented or maintained inadequate import controls for
96 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013; P.L. 113-6 (§514); November 26, 2013; 127 Stat.
271.
97 Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006; P.L. 109-108; November 22,
2005; 119 Stat. 2290, 2343-2344.
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the articles specified in subsection (a), such that a significant diversion of such articles
has and continues to take place for use in international terrorism or in the escalation of a
conflict in another nation. The President shall terminate the requirements of a license
when reasons for the temporary requirements have ceased.98
This provision was included in the Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L.
113-235, §517). For FY2013 through FY2015, the House Committee on Appropriations included
futurity language in its versions of that provision, but such language was not included in any of
the enacted appropriations laws for those fiscal years. For FY2016, identical provisions are
included in the House-passed and Senate-reported versions of H.R. 2578 (§516 and §517,
respectively). For FY2016, the House version of the provision does not include futurity language.
Curios and Relics Imports
Congress first included this provision in the FY2006 Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act to prohibit the use of funds in this Act to deny certain
import applications.99 The language of this provision (originally numbered §521) is as follows:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no department, agency, or instrumentality of
the United States receiving appropriated funds under this Act or any other Act shall
obligate or expend in any way such funds to pay administrative expenses or the
compensation of any officer or employee of the United States to deny any application
submitted pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 2778(b)(1)(B) and qualified pursuant to 27 CFR section
478.112 or .113, for a permit to import United States origin “curios or relics” firearms,
parts, or ammunition.100
This provision was included in the Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L.
113-235; §517). For FY2013 through FY2015, the House Committee on Appropriations included
futurity language in its version of that provision, but such language was not included in any of the
enacted appropriations laws for those fiscal years. For FY2016, identical provisions were
included in the House-passed and Senate-reported versions of H.R. 2578 (§517 and §518,
respectively). For FY2016, the House version of the provision does not include futurity language.
Shotgun Imports
Congress first included this provision in the FY2012 CJS appropriations law in response to an
ATF study, which characterized certain shotguns as “non-sporting,” because they include certain
“military-style” features (e.g., pistol grips, folding or collapsible stocks, laser sights, as well as
the ability to accept large capacity ammunition feeding devices).101 The language of this provision
(originally number §541) is as follows:
None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to pay the salaries or expenses
of personnel to deny, or fail to act on, an application for the importation of any model of
shotgun if—
98 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
634-635.
99 Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006; P.L. 109-108; November 22,
2005; 119 Stat. 2290, 2344.
100 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
635.
101 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Firearms and Explosives
Industry Division, ATF Study on the Importability of Certain Shotguns, January 2011, http://www.atf.gov/firearms/
industry/january-2011-importability-of-certain-shotguns.pdf.
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(1) all other requirements of law with respect to the proposed importation are met; and
(2) no application for the importation of such model of shotgun, in the same
configuration, had been denied by the Attorney General prior to January 1, 2011, on the
basis that the shotgun was not particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting
purposes.102
This provision was included in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act,
2015 (P.L. 113-235; §533). For FY2013 through FY2015, the House Committee on
Appropriations included futurity language in its version of this provision, but such language was
not included in any of the enacted appropriations laws for those fiscal years. For FY2016,
identical provisions were included in the House-passed and Senate-reported versions of H.R.
2578 (§532 in both bills).
Author Contact Information
William J. Krouse
Specialist in Domestic Security and Crime Policy
wkrouse@crs.loc.gov, 7-2225
102 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-55; November 18, 2011, 125 Stat. 552,
639-640.
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