H.R. 4271 · 117th Congress

Keeping Gun Dealers Honest Act of 2021

Introduced on Jun 30, 2021 by James R. Langevin (D-RI-2). 14 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Nov 1, 2022): Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Jun 30, 2021
Cosponsors
14
0 from the other party
Policy area
Crime and Law Enforcement
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers.

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Jun 30, 2021). Public domain.

Keeping Gun Dealers Honest Act of 2021

This bill modifies the requirements and penalties applicable to an individual who engages in the business of dealing, importing, or manufacturing firearms (i.e., a federal firearms licensee, or FFL).

Among other things, the bill does the following:

  • increases the allowable number of annual compliance inspections;
  • authorizes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to hire at least 80 additional personnel to conduct additional inspections;
  • increases the maximum prison term for an FFL or licensed collector who knowingly makes a false statement or representation in required firearms records;
  • allows the ATF to require an FFL to conduct physical inventories if the FFL unlawfully transfers a firearm or if 10 or more crime guns are traced back to the FFL;
  • allows the ATF to deny an application for a federal firearms license if it would endanger public safety or if the applicant is unlikely to comply with the law; and
  • modifies the liability standard for an FFL who fails to comply with laws or regulations.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

James R. LangevinD-RI-2Sponsor

Democrats · 14

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jun 30, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Jun 30, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Jun 30, 2021 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  4. Nov 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.