Sen. Lisa Murkowski and 20 Republican Senate colleagues, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, have introduced the Federal Firearms Licensee Protection Act of 2021 to address a rapid increase in the number of “smash-and-grab” thefts targeted at federally licensed gun dealers.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says there has been a 43 percent increase in the number of these smash-and-grab burglaries.
Also, while the number of robberies, as opposed to burglaries, at gun shops has dropped, the number of firearms taken during robberies increased by 53 percent. In 2020, 6,269 firearms were taken in nationwide FFL burglaries and robberies.
Read: Dozens of guns stolen during smash-and-grab at Granny’s Guns in Anchorage
The FFL Protection Act of 2021:
· Increases the statutory maximum penalty for knowingly stealing any firearm in an FFL’s business inventory from 10 to 20 years.
· Imposes a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years for burglary from an FFL and 5 years for robbery from an FFL.
· Criminalizes the attempted theft of a firearm from a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector.
The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), James Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama).
