Blumenthal, Murphy & Colleagues Introduce Bicameral Bill to Cut Off Federal Contracts to Gun Dealers Whose Firearms are Consistently Linked to Violent Crime
Legislation would bar government contracts with firearm dealers whose guns are overrepresented in violent crime data
[Hartford, CT] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced a bicameral bill to prevent the federal government from contracting with federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) that have a documented history of selling guns that are frequently used to commit violent crimes.
Existing federal law requires FFLs that have sold 25 or more guns over the course of a single year that are subsequently traced to violent crimes within three years of their sale to report additional information on their sales practices under ATF’s Demand 2 program to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act would leverage this ATF data to identify the small number of FFLs that are consistently and dramatically overrepresented in criminal activity and render them ineligible for federal contracts.
“Irresponsible gun dealers shouldn’t profit from government contracts – funded by taxpayers – if their firearms are regularly being used to commit violent crimes. These repeat offenders fuel the epidemic of gun violence, while simultaneously padding their pockets. I’m proud to support this measure which would ensure the federal government doesn’t do business with dangerous dealers who put profits over people,” said Blumenthal.
“Gun dealers whose weapons are known to be consistently used in violent crime shouldn’t be rewarded with federal contracts. This bill would hold the gun industry to its basic responsibility of keeping the deadly guns it sells out of the hands of dangerous people,” said Murphy.
“Year after year, a small percentage of firearms dealers are the source of the vast majority of guns quickly diverted to crimes, yet some are awarded federal contracts. The Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act will ensure that dealers that supply large numbers of crime guns do not have the privilege of doing business with the federal government, and that only responsible actors in the gun industry receive coveted federal procurement contracts. Brady thanks Representative Raskin and Senator Padilla for introducing this important legislation and for their continued commitment to ending the American gun violence epidemic,” said Mark Collins, Director of Federal Policy for Brady.
The ATF established the Demand 2 Program over two decades ago to improve its clearance rate for tracing firearms used in crimes. Crime gun tracing, administered by the National Tracing Center, establishes the chain of custody of firearms recovered by law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations, from their importer or manufacturer to their first retail purchase at an FFL, creating critical investigative links between a suspect and a recovered firearm.
The Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act is endorsed by the following groups: Brady, Community Justice Action Fund, Everytown, GIFFORDS, Jewish Democratic Council of America, and the National Council of Jewish Women.
The bill is led by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08) and cosponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Blumenthal and Murphy are strong advocates for commonsense, life-saving gun safety reforms. Earlier this year, the senators joined colleagues in reintroducing the Assault Weapons Ban of 2025, legislation to reinstate a nationwide ban on military-style assault weapons. The senators also cosponsored the Age 21 Act, legislation to raise the minimum age to purchase assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines from 18 to 21, the same age requirement that already applies to purchasing handguns from federally licensed dealers. Earlier this year, the senators, alongside U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), led colleagues in reintroducing Ethan’s Law, legislation requiring gun owners to safely and securely store their firearms, in honor of Ethan Song, a teenager from Guilford, Connecticut who was tragically killed in 2018 by an unsecured gun in a neighbor’s home. In June 2022, the senators voted to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety legislation in almost 30 years.
The full text of the bill is available here.
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