GAO study and report on the effectiveness of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to investigate Federal firearm licenses

(a) Study The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study on the operations and procedures used to issue and revoke licenses under section 923 of title 18, United States Code, and to investigate and inspect holders of such licenses, that focuses on— (1) whether systemic failures in the issuance and revocation of the licenses have resulted in ineffective enforcement of chapter 44 of such title; (2) the extent to which the Attorney General has exercised discretion not to pursue revocation of a license based on the putative existence of extraordinary circumstances, notwithstanding a finding by the Attorney General that a licensee willfully committed a violation that renders the license eligible for revocation; (3) geographic variability in the enforcement of such chapter; (4) the outcomes related to the revocation of licenses, including— (A) the number of licensees who received a notice of license revocation but whose licenses were not revoked; and (B) the average and median periods of time from inspection to revocation of a license, broken down by— (i) revocations without hearing or appeal by the licensee; (ii) revocations after an administrative determination without judicial review pursued by the licensee; and (iii) revocations after such a judicial review; and (5) the policies and practices for providing oversight of the activities of the licensees during the pendency of revocation proceedings, including while a licensee seeks judicial review. (b) Report to Congress Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a written report to Congress on the results of the study required by subsection (a).