Through new legislation led by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a total of 23 Republican senators are pushing to inflict greater penalties on those who steal firearms from federally licensed gun dealers and dissuade others from trying.
The Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) Protection Act has been attempted before, without success. However, it’s supporters point to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reports that showed a 5,395 theft incidents reported between 2017 and 2021, resulting in a total of 34,339 firearms stolen in that time. They claimed that many of these firearms end up utilized in other crimes, and that at this point, theft from FFLs make up 3 percent of all firearms stolen in the United States.
“I am proud to reintroduce this important legislation to make ‘smash-and-grabs’ more costly for criminals, especially when crime is rising under the Biden Administration. I believe in responsible gun ownership – not criminals stealing firearms,” Graham said.
Among its stipulations, the FFL Protection Act of 2023 would increase the statutory maximum penalty for knowingly stealing a firearm from an FFL business’s inventory from 10 to 20 years. On the other side, it would slap a mandatory minimum sentence of three years on burglaries and five years for robberies from these dealers. At the same time, it would officially criminalize the attempted theft of firearms from licensed importers, manufacturers, dealers or collectors.
The bill is also backed by the National Sports Shooting Foundation (NSSF)