Federal government stops buying guns from dealers linked to crime
H.R. 4198 — Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act · Filed by Jamie Raskin (D-MD) · Introduced Jun 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the federal government to publish an annual list of licensed firearms dealers who have sold 25 or more guns that were recovered at crime scenes within 3 years of sale (in at least 2 of the past 3 years). Federal agencies are then prohibited from contracting with these dealers, unless the Secretary of Defense or Homeland Security requests a national-security waiver from the Attorney General. The goal is to reduce federal procurement from dealers with patterns of selling firearms that end up used in crimes.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a procurement restriction tied to a measurable crime-tracing metric. It is not a ban on dealers or firearms; it is a federal purchasing policy designed to reduce government contracts with dealers whose sales patterns correlate with crime-scene recovery.
What the text implies
- The 25-firearm threshold and 3-year time-to-crime window are specific metrics that may exclude dealers with lower-volume crime-linked sales, potentially creating a loophole for dealers just below the threshold.
- The waiver authority granted to SecDef and SecDHS is broad and classified-notice eligible, meaning Congress may not learn the full scope of national-security exemptions until after the fact.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
firearms dealers with lower crime-tracing rates (competitive advantage in federal contracts); law enforcement and ATF (expanded tracing data use and public visibility)