Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1558 To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to ensure that all firearms are traceable, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2021 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. REED, Mr. CASEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. PADILLA, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to ensure that all firearms are traceable, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Untraceable Firearms 4 Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1558 IS (1) without the enactment of this Act, the Bu- 1 reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 2 has the authority to regulate ghost guns (as defined 3 in section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, as 4 amended by section 3 of this Act) and unfinished 5 frames and receivers; and 6 (2) the purpose of this Act is to clarify and 7 strengthen such authority. 8 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT ALL FIREARMS BE TRACE- 9 ABLE. 10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 11 States Code, is amended— 12 (1) in paragraph (10), by adding at the end the 13 following: ‘‘The term ‘manufacturing firearms’ shall 14 include assembling a functional firearm or molding, 15 machining, or 3D printing a frame or receiver, and 16 shall not include making or fitting special barrels, 17 stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms.’’; 18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol- 19 lowing: 20 ‘‘(30)(A) The term ‘frame or receiver’— 21 ‘‘(i) means a part of a weapon that provides or 22 is intended to provide the housing or structure to 23 hold or integrate 1 or more fire control components, 24 even if pins or other attachments are required to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1558 IS connect those components to the housing or struc- 1 ture; 2 ‘‘(ii) includes a frame or receiver, blank, cast- 3 ing, or machined body, that requires modification, 4 including machining, drilling, filing or molding, to be 5 used as part of a functional firearm, and which is 6 designed and intended to be used in the assembly of 7 a functional firearm, unless the piece of material has 8 had— 9 ‘‘(I) its size or external shape altered solely 10 to facilitate transportation or storage; or 11 ‘‘(II) solely its chemical composition al- 12 tered. 13 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), if a weap- 14 on with more than 1 part that provides the housing or 15 a structure designed to hold or integrate 1 or more fire 16 control or essential components, each such part shall be 17 considered a frame or receiver, unless the Attorney Gen- 18 eral has provided otherwise by regulation with respect to 19 the specific make and model of weapon on or before Janu- 20 ary 1, 2022.’’; and 21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(36) The term ‘ghost gun’— 23 ‘‘(A) means a firearm, including a frame or re- 24 ceiver, that lacks a unique serial number engraved 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1558 IS or cast on the frame or receiver by a licensed manu- 1 facturer or importer in accordance with this chapter; 2 and 3 ‘‘(B) does not include— 4 ‘‘(i) a firearm that has been rendered per- 5 manently inoperable; 6 ‘‘(ii) a firearm identified by means of a 7 unique serial number assigned by a State agen- 8 cy and engraved or cast on the receiver or 9 frame of the weapon before the effective date of 10 the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 in ac- 11 cordance with a State law; 12 ‘‘(iii) a firearm manufactured or imported 13 before December 16, 1968; or 14 ‘‘(iv) a firearm identified as provided for 15 under section 5842 of the Internal Revenue 16 Code of 1986. 17 ‘‘(37) The term ‘fire control component’— 18 ‘‘(A) means a component necessary for the fire- 19 arm to initiate or complete the firing sequence; and 20 ‘‘(B) includes a hammer, bolt or breechblock, 21 cylinder, trigger mechanism, firing pin, striker, and 22 slide rails.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1558 IS (b) PROHIBITION; REQUIREMENTS.—Section 922 of 1 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 2 end the following: 3 ‘‘(aa)(1) The Congress finds and declares the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(A) Firearms tracing is the systematic track- 6 ing of the movement of a firearm recovered by law 7 enforcement officials from the first sale of a firearm 8 by the manufacturer or importer through the dis- 9 tribution chain (including the wholesaler and re- 10 tailer) to the first retail purchaser. 11 ‘‘(B) Law enforcement agencies across the 12 country work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 13 Firearms and Explosives to trace firearms and 14 thereby obtain investigative leads in the fight 15 against violent crime and terrorism. 16 ‘‘(C) The ability of law enforcement agencies to 17 trace a firearm is dependent on the serial number or 18 other marks on the firearm that identify the manu- 19 facturer or importer who manufactured or imported 20 the firearm and that are unique to the firearm. 21 ‘‘(D) Interstate gun trafficking interferes with 22 lawful commerce in firearms and significantly con- 23 tributes to gun crime. Of the 254,700 firearms 24 traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1558 IS and Explosives in 2018, 71,910 of those firearms 1 were originally sold by a licensed firearms dealer in 2 a State other than the State where the firearms 3 were recovered. These guns made up 28.2 percent of 4 all firearm recoveries in 2018. 5 ‘‘(E) Even before the sale of a firearm, the gun, 6 its component parts, and the raw materials from 7 which they are made have considerably moved in 8 interstate commerce. 9 ‘‘(F) If unserialized and untraceable firearms 10 may be constructed and transported freely from 11 State to State, ordinary citizens and foreign visitors 12 may fear to travel to or through certain parts of the 13 country due to concern about violent crime and gun 14 violence, and law enforcement agencies may be un- 15 able to address it. 16 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it 17 shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, offer 18 to sell, transfer, purchase, or receive a ghost gun in or 19 affecting interstate or foreign commerce. 20 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to— 21 ‘‘(i) the manufacture of a firearm by a licensed 22 manufacturer if the licensed manufacturer complies 23 with section 923(i) before selling or transferring the 24 firearm to another person; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1558 IS ‘‘(ii) the offer to sell, sale, or transfer of a fire- 1 arm to, or purchase or receipt of a firearm by, a li- 2 censed manufacturer or importer before the date 3 that is 30 months after the date of enactment of the 4 Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021; or 5 ‘‘(iii) transactions between licensed manufactur- 6 ers and importers on any date. 7 ‘‘(3) It shall be unlawful for a person other than a 8 licensed manufacturer or importer to engrave or cast a 9 serial number on a firearm in or affecting interstate or 10 foreign commerce unless specifically authorized by the At- 11 torney General. 12 ‘‘(4) Beginning on the date that is 30 months after 13 the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act 14 of 2021, it shall be unlawful for any person other than 15 a licensed manufacturer or importer to knowingly possess 16 a ghost gun in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce. 17 ‘‘(5) Beginning on the date that is 30 months after 18 the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act 19 of 2021, it shall be unlawful for any person other than 20 a licensed manufacturer or importer to possess a ghost 21 gun in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce with 22 the intent to sell or transfer the ghost gun with or without 23 further manufacturing or to manufacture a firearm with 24 the ghost gun. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1558 IS ‘‘(6)(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, 1 offer to sell, or transfer, in or affecting interstate or for- 2 eign commerce, to any person other than a licensed manu- 3 facturer a machine that has the sole or primary function 4 of manufacturing firearms. 5 ‘‘(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (A), begin- 6 ning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enact- 7 ment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021, it shall 8 be unlawful for any person other than a licensed manufac- 9 turer to possess, purchase, or receive, in or affecting inter- 10 state or foreign commerce, a machine that has the sole 11 or primary function of manufacturing firearms. 12 ‘‘(C) Subparagraph (B) shall not apply to a person 13 who is engaged in the business of selling manufacturing 14 equipment to a licensed manufacturer who possesses a ma- 15 chine with the intent to sell or transfer the machine to 16 a licensed manufacturer.’’. 17 (c) REQUIREMENTS.— 18 (1) REMOVAL OF SERIAL NUMBERS.—Section 19 922(k) of title 18, United States Code, is amend- 20 ed— 21 (A) by striking ‘‘importer’s or manufactur- 22 er’s’’ each place it appears; and 23 (B) by inserting ‘‘authorized by this chap- 24 ter or under State law’’ before ‘‘removed’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1558 IS (2) LICENSED IMPORTERS AND MANUFACTUR- 1 ERS.—Section 923(i) of title 18, United States 2 Code, is amended— 3 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Licensed’’; 4 and 5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘The serial number shall be engraved or cast 7 on the frame or receiver in a manner sufficient 8 to identify the firearm and the manufacturer or 9 importer that put the serial number on the fire- 10 arm. 11 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of 12 enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021, the 13 Attorney General shall prescribe regulations for engraving 14 a unique serial number onto a ghost gun. 15 ‘‘(B) The regulations prescribed under subparagraph 16 (A) shall— 17 ‘‘(i) allow an owner of a firearm described in 18 subparagraph (A) to have a unique serial number 19 engraved on the firearm by a licensed manufacturer 20 or importer; and 21 ‘‘(ii) require that a serial number be engraved 22 on the frame or receiver in a manner sufficient to 23 identify the firearm and the manufacturer or im- 24 porter that put the serial number on the firearm. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1558 IS ‘‘(C) The regulations authorized under this para- 1 graph shall expire on the date that is 30 months after 2 the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act 3 of 2021.’’. 4 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 924 of title 18, United 5 States Code, is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘(q), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or 8 (aa)(6)’’; 9 (2) in subsection (c) 10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 11 (i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 12 preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘func- 13 tional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’ each place it ap- 14 pears; 15 (ii) in subparagraph (B), in the mat- 16 ter preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘func- 17 tional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’; and 18 (iii) in subparagraph (D)(ii), by in- 19 serting ‘‘functional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’; and 20 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘all or 21 part of the firearm’’ and all that follows 22 through ‘‘person.’’ and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘all or part of the functional firearm, or other- 24 wise make the presence of the functional fire- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1558 IS arm known to another person, in order to in- 1 timidate that person, regardless of whether the 2 functional firearm is directly visible to that per- 3 son.’’; 4 (3) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘(k), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or 6 (aa)(6)’’; 7 (4) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting ‘‘through 8 the possession of a functional firearm’’ before ‘‘and 9 has three’’; and 10 (5) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(q) A person who violates section 922(aa)(4) shall— 12 ‘‘(1) in the case of the first violation by the per- 13 son, be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 14 than 1 year, or both; or 15 ‘‘(2) in the case of any subsequent violation by 16 the person, be fined under this title, imprisoned not 17 more than 5 years, or both.’’. 18 SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION OF THE PROHIBITION ON UNDE- 19 TECTABLE FIREARMS. 20 Section 922(p) of title 18, United States Code, is 21 amended— 22 (1) in paragraph (1)— 23 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 24 (A), by striking ‘‘any firearm’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1558.IS S1558 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1558 IS (B) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 1 as follows: 2 ‘‘(A) an undetectable firearm; or’’; and 3 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘any 4 major component of which, when subjected to 5 inspection by the types of x-ray machines com- 6 monly used at airports, does not generate’’ and 7 inserting the following: ‘‘a major component of 8 a firearm which, if subjected to inspection by 9 the types of detection devices commonly used at 10 airports for security screening, would not gen- 11 erate’’; 12 (2) in paragraph (2)— 13 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 14 as follows: 15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘undetectable firearm’ means a 16 firearm, as [Text truncated for display. 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