Help Empower Americans to Respond Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2544 To regulate firearm silencers and firearm mufflers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 14, 2021 Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CARSON, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. MCCOL- LUM, Mr. NEGUSE, and Mr. RUSH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To regulate firearm silencers and firearm mufflers. 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 ‘‘Help Empower Ameri- 4 cans to Respond Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘HEAR Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2544.IH H2544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2544 IH (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(C) any fire- 1 arm muffler or firearm silencer; or (D)’’ and insert- 2 ing ‘‘or (C)’’; and 3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(30) The term ‘qualified law enforcement officer’ 6 has the meaning given the term in section 926B.’’. 7 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON FIREARM SILENCERS AND FIRE- 8 ARM MUFFLERS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 10 States Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (u) 11 the following: 12 ‘‘(v)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall 13 be unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, 14 transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign 15 commerce, a firearm silencer or firearm muffler. 16 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— 17 ‘‘(A) the importation for, manufacture for, sale 18 to, transfer to, or possession by the United States 19 or a department or agency of the United States or 20 a State or a department, agency, or political subdivi- 21 sion of a State, or a sale or transfer to or possession 22 by a qualified law enforcement officer employed by 23 the United States or a department or agency of the 24 United States or a State or a department, agency, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2544.IH H2544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2544 IH or political subdivision of a State for purposes of law 1 enforcement (whether on or off-duty), or a sale or 2 transfer to or possession by a campus law enforce- 3 ment officer for purposes of law enforcement (wheth- 4 er on or off-duty); 5 ‘‘(B) the importation for, or sale or transfer to 6 a licensee under title I of the Atomic Energy Act of 7 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) for purposes of estab- 8 lishing and maintaining an on-site physical protec- 9 tion system and security organization required by 10 Federal law, or possession by an employee or con- 11 tractor of such licensee on-site for such purposes or 12 off-site for purposes of licensee-authorized training 13 or transportation of nuclear materials; or 14 ‘‘(C) the importation for, manufacture for, sale 15 to, transfer to, or possession by a licensed manufac- 16 turer or licensed importer for the purposes of testing 17 or experimentation authorized by the Attorney Gen- 18 eral. 19 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A), the term 20 ‘campus law enforcement officer’ means an individual who 21 is— 22 ‘‘(A) employed by a private institution of higher 23 education that is eligible for funding under title IV 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2544.IH H2544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2544 IH of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1 1070 et seq.); 2 ‘‘(B) responsible for the prevention or investiga- 3 tion of crime involving injury to persons or property, 4 including apprehension or detention of persons for 5 such crimes; 6 ‘‘(C) authorized by Federal, State, or local law 7 to carry a firearm, execute search warrants, and 8 make arrests; and 9 ‘‘(D) recognized, commissioned, or certified by 10 a government entity as a law enforcement officer.’’. 11 (b) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF FIREARM SILENC- 12 ERS AND FIREARM MUFFLERS.—Section 924(d) of title 13 18, United States Code, is amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ and 15 inserting ‘‘(k), or (v)’’; and 16 (2) in paragraph (3)(E), by inserting ‘‘922(v),’’ 17 after ‘‘922(n),’’. 18 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 19 Section 924(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States Code, 20 is amended by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ and inserting ‘‘(q), or 21 (v)’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2544.IH H2544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2544 IH SEC. 5. USE OF BYRNE GRANTS FOR BUY-BACK PROGRAMS 1 FOR FIREARM SILENCERS AND FIREARM 2 MUFFLERS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 501(a)(1) of title I of the 4 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 5 U.S.C. 10152(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(I) Compensation for surrendered firearm 8 silencers and firearm mufflers, as those terms 9 are defined in section 921 of title 18, United 10 States Code, under the buy-back program for 11 firearm silencers and firearm mufflers required 12 under section 5(b) of the Help Empower Ameri- 13 cans to Respond Act of 2021.’’. 14 (b) REQUIREMENT.—During the 90-day period de- 15 scribed in section 6, the Attorney General shall establish 16 and implement a buy-back program, to be carried out 17 across the United States, to purchase firearm silencers 18 and firearm mufflers (as defined in section 921(a) of title 19 18, United States Code) from individuals seeking to com- 20 ply with the requirements of this Act and the amendments 21 made by this Act. 22 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 23 The amendments made by sections 2, 3, and 4 shall 24 take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of 25 enactment of this Act. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2544.IH H2544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2544 IH SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 1 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 2 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend- 3 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti- 4 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 5 by this Act, and the application of such provision or 6 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af- 7 fected thereby. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2544.IH H2544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS