STOP Straw Purchases Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1604 To amend title 18, United States Code, to combat straw purchases of firearms. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2021 Mr. BACON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to combat straw purchases of firearms. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STOP Straw Pur- 4 chases Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN PENALTIES FOR STRAW PURCHASERS 6 OF FIREARMS. 7 Section 924(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is 8 amended by inserting ‘‘, except that in the case of a viola- 9 tion of section 922(a)(6) involving deception as to the 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1604.IH H1604 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1604 IH identity of the actual transferee of a firearm, if the viola- 1 tor knows or has reasonable cause to believe the actual 2 transferee intends the firearm to be used to commit a 3 crime of violence (as defined in subsection (c)(3)) or drug 4 trafficking crime (as defined in subsection (c)(2)) or to 5 be disposed of to a person prohibited from receiving the 6 firearm, the violator shall be fined not more than 7 $750,000, imprisoned not more than 25 years, or both’’ 8 before the period. 9 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CONTINUING CRIMINAL ENTER- 10 PRISE INVOLVING STRAW PURCHASES OF 11 FIREARMS; PROHIBITION ON OBTAINING 12 FIREARM BY INDUCING STRAW PURCHASE. 13 (a) PROHIBITIONS.—Section 922 of title 18, United 14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(aa) It shall be unlawful for any person, in or affect- 17 ing interstate or foreign commerce, to— 18 ‘‘(1) induce, or act in concert with, another per- 19 son to engage in a continuing series of violations of 20 subsection (a)(6) involving deception as to the iden- 21 tity of the actual transferee of a firearm, with the 22 intent to obtain the firearm for use in a crime of vi- 23 olence (as defined in section 924(c)(3)) or drug traf- 24 ficking crime (as defined in section 924(c)(2)) or on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1604.IH H1604 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1604 IH behalf of a person prohibited from receiving the fire- 1 arm, from which such person obtains substantial in- 2 come or resources; and 3 ‘‘(2) with respect to such other person, occupy 4 a position of organizer, a supervisory position, or 5 any other position of management. 6 ‘‘(bb) It shall be unlawful for any person, in or affect- 7 ing interstate or foreign commerce, to obtain a firearm 8 by inducing another person to violate subsection (a)(6) by 9 falsely claiming to be the actual transferee of the firearm, 10 with the intent to obtain the firearm for use in a crime 11 of violence (as defined in section 924(c)(3)) or drug traf- 12 ficking crime (as defined in section 924(c)(2)) or on behalf 13 of a person prohibited from receiving the firearm.’’. 14 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of such title is 15 amended by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(8) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(aa) 17 shall be fined not more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not 18 more than 30 years, or both. 19 ‘‘(9) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(bb) 20 shall be fined not more than $750,000, imprisoned not 21 more than 25 years, or both.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1604.IH H1604 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1604 IH SEC. 4. INCLUSION IN FIREARMS TRANSACTION RECORD 1 FORM OF OUTLINE OF PENALTIES FOR THE 2 STRAW PURCHASE OF A FIREARM. 3 The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 4 Firearms and Explosives shall ensure that the Firearms 5 Transaction Record form used by the Bureau includes a 6 statement outlining the penalties for acting as the straw 7 purchaser of a firearm. For purposes of this section, a 8 person acts as the straw purchaser of a firearm if the per- 9 son violates section 922(a)(6) of title 18, United States 10 Code, through deception as to the identity of the actual 11 transferee of the firearm, if the person knows or has rea- 12 sonable cause to believe the actual transferee intends the 13 firearm is to be used to commit a crime of violence (as 14 defined in section 924(c)(3) of such title) or drug traf- 15 ficking crime (as defined in section 924(c)(2) of such title) 16 or to be disposed of to a person prohibited from receiving 17 the firearm. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1604.IH H1604 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS