Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3088 To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to ensure that all firearms are traceable, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 11, 2021 Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. TRONE, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. COO- PER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. MENG, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. PETERS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. POR- TER, Mr. CARSON, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. DEAN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. JONES, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. EVANS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. SWALWELL, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. JACOBS of California, Mr. LIEU, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. HIMES, Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Mr. KIL- DEE) introduced the following bill; which was 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3088 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Untraceable Firearms 2 Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4 It is the sense of Congress that— 5 (1) without the enactment of this Act, the Bu- 6 reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 7 has the authority to regulate ghost guns (as defined 8 in section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, as 9 amended by section 3 of this Act) and unfinished 10 frames and receivers; and 11 (2) the purpose of this Act is to clarify and 12 strengthen such authority. 13 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT ALL FIREARMS BE TRACE- 14 ABLE. 15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 16 States Code, is amended— 17 (1) in paragraph (10), by adding at the end the 18 following: ‘‘The term ‘manufacturing firearms’ shall 19 include assembling a functional firearm or molding, 20 machining, or 3D printing a frame or receiver, and 21 shall not include making or fitting special barrels, 22 stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms.’’; 23 (2) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol- 24 lowing: 25 ‘‘(30)(A) The term ‘frame or receiver’— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3088 IH ‘‘(i) means a part of a weapon that provides or 1 is intended to provide the housing or structure to 2 hold or integrate 1 or more fire control components, 3 even if pins or other attachments are required to 4 connect those components to the housing or struc- 5 ture; 6 ‘‘(ii) includes a frame or receiver, blank, cast- 7 ing, or machined body, that requires modification, 8 including machining, drilling, filing or molding, to be 9 used as part of a functional firearm, and which is 10 designed and intended to be used in the assembly of 11 a functional firearm, unless the piece of material has 12 had— 13 ‘‘(I) its size or external shape altered solely 14 to facilitate transportation or storage; or 15 ‘‘(II) solely its chemical composition al- 16 tered. 17 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), if a weap- 18 on with more than 1 part that provides the housing or 19 a structure designed to hold or integrate 1 or more fire 20 control or essential components, each such part shall be 21 considered a frame or receiver, unless the Attorney Gen- 22 eral has provided otherwise by regulation with respect to 23 the specific make and model of weapon on or before Janu- 24 ary 1, 2022.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3088 IH (3) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(36) The term ‘ghost gun’— 2 ‘‘(A) means a firearm, including a frame or re- 3 ceiver, that lacks a unique serial number engraved 4 or cast on the frame or receiver by a licensed manu- 5 facturer or importer in accordance with this chapter; 6 and 7 ‘‘(B) does not include— 8 ‘‘(i) a firearm that has been rendered per- 9 manently inoperable; 10 ‘‘(ii) a firearm identified by means of a 11 unique serial number assigned by a State agen- 12 cy and engraved or cast on the receiver or 13 frame of the weapon before the effective date of 14 the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 in ac- 15 cordance with a State law; 16 ‘‘(iii) a firearm manufactured or imported 17 before December 16, 1968; or 18 ‘‘(iv) a firearm identified as provided for 19 under section 5842 of the Internal Revenue 20 Code of 1986. 21 ‘‘(37) The term ‘fire control component’— 22 ‘‘(A) means a component necessary for the fire- 23 arm to initiate or complete the firing sequence; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3088 IH ‘‘(B) includes a hammer, bolt or breechblock, 1 cylinder, trigger mechanism, firing pin, striker, and 2 slide rails.’’. 3 (b) PROHIBITION; REQUIREMENTS.—Section 922 of 4 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 5 end the following: 6 ‘‘(aa)(1) The Congress finds and declares the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(A) Firearms tracing is the systematic track- 9 ing of the movement of a firearm recovered by law 10 enforcement officials from the first sale of a firearm 11 by the manufacturer or importer through the dis- 12 tribution chain (including the wholesaler and re- 13 tailer) to the first retail purchaser. 14 ‘‘(B) Law enforcement agencies across the 15 country work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 16 Firearms and Explosives to trace firearms and 17 thereby obtain investigative leads in the fight 18 against violent crime and terrorism. 19 ‘‘(C) The ability of law enforcement agencies to 20 trace a firearm is dependent on the serial number or 21 other marks on the firearm that identify the manu- 22 facturer or importer who manufactured or imported 23 the firearm and that are unique to the firearm. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3088 IH ‘‘(D) Interstate gun trafficking interferes with 1 lawful commerce in firearms and significantly con- 2 tributes to gun crime. Of the 254,700 firearms 3 traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 4 and Explosives in 2018, 71,910 of those firearms 5 were originally sold by a licensed firearms dealer in 6 a State other than the State where the firearms 7 were recovered. These guns made up 28.2 percent of 8 all firearm recoveries in 2018. 9 ‘‘(E) Even before the sale of a firearm, the gun, 10 its component parts, and the raw materials from 11 which they are made have considerably moved in 12 interstate commerce. 13 ‘‘(F) If unserialized and untraceable firearms 14 may be constructed and transported freely from 15 State to State, ordinary citizens and foreign visitors 16 may fear to travel to or through certain parts of the 17 country due to concern about violent crime and gun 18 violence, and law enforcement agencies may be un- 19 able to address it. 20 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it 21 shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, offer 22 to sell, transfer, purchase, or receive a ghost gun in or 23 affecting interstate or foreign commerce. 24 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3088 IH ‘‘(i) the manufacture of a firearm by a licensed 1 manufacturer if the licensed manufacturer complies 2 with section 923(i) before selling or transferring the 3 firearm to another person; 4 ‘‘(ii) the offer to sell, sale, or transfer of a fire- 5 arm to, or purchase or receipt of a firearm by, a li- 6 censed manufacturer or importer before the date 7 that is 30 months after the date of enactment of the 8 Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021; or 9 ‘‘(iii) transactions between licensed manufactur- 10 ers and importers on any date. 11 ‘‘(3) It shall be unlawful for a person other than a 12 licensed manufacturer or importer to engrave or cast a 13 serial number on a firearm in or affecting interstate or 14 foreign commerce unless specifically authorized by the At- 15 torney General. 16 ‘‘(4) Beginning on the date that is 30 months after 17 the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act 18 of 2021, it shall be unlawful for any person other than 19 a licensed manufacturer or importer to knowingly possess 20 a ghost gun in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce. 21 ‘‘(5) Beginning on the date that is 30 months after 22 the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act 23 of 2021, it shall be unlawful for any person other than 24 a licensed manufacturer or importer to possess a ghost 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3088 IH gun in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce with 1 the intent to sell or transfer the ghost gun with or without 2 further manufacturing or to manufacture a firearm with 3 the ghost gun. 4 ‘‘(6)(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, 5 offer to sell, or transfer, in or affecting interstate or for- 6 eign commerce, to any person other than a licensed manu- 7 facturer a machine that has the sole or primary function 8 of manufacturing firearms. 9 ‘‘(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (A), begin- 10 ning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enact- 11 ment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021, it shall 12 be unlawful for any person other than a licensed manufac- 13 turer to possess, purchase, or receive, in or affecting inter- 14 state or foreign commerce, a machine that has the sole 15 or primary function of manufacturing firearms. 16 ‘‘(C) Subparagraph (B) shall not apply to a person 17 who is engaged in the business of selling manufacturing 18 equipment to a licensed manufacturer who possesses a ma- 19 chine with the intent to sell or transfer the machine to 20 a licensed manufacturer.’’. 21 (c) REQUIREMENTS.— 22 (1) REMOVAL OF SERIAL NUMBERS.—Section 23 922(k) of title 18, United States Code, is amend- 24 ed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3088 IH (A) by striking ‘‘importer’s or manufactur- 1 er’s’’ each place it appears; and 2 (B) by inserting ‘‘authorized by this chap- 3 ter or under State law’’ before ‘‘removed’’. 4 (2) LICENSED IMPORTERS AND MANUFACTUR- 5 ERS.—Section 923(i) of title 18, United States 6 Code, is amended— 7 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Licensed’’; 8 and 9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘The serial number shall be engraved or cast 11 on the frame or receiver in a manner sufficient 12 to identify the firearm and the manufacturer or 13 importer that put the serial number on the fire- 14 arm. 15 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of 16 enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021, the 17 Attorney General shall prescribe regulations for engraving 18 a unique serial number onto a ghost gun. 19 ‘‘(B) The regulations prescribed under subparagraph 20 (A) shall— 21 ‘‘(i) allow an owner of a firearm described in 22 subparagraph (A) to have a unique serial number 23 engraved on the firearm by a licensed manufacturer 24 or importer; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3088 IH ‘‘(ii) require that a serial number be engraved 1 on the frame or receiver in a manner sufficient to 2 identify the firearm and the manufacturer or im- 3 porter that put the serial number on the firearm. 4 ‘‘(C) The regulations authorized under this para- 5 graph shall expire on the date that is 30 months after 6 the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act 7 of 2021.’’. 8 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 924 of title 18, United 9 States Code, is amended— 10 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ 11 and inserting ‘‘(q), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or 12 (aa)(6)’’; 13 (2) in subsection (c) 14 (A) in paragraph (1)— 15 (i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 16 preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘func- 17 tional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’ each place it ap- 18 pears; 19 (ii) in subparagraph (B), in the mat- 20 ter preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘func- 21 tional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’; and 22 (iii) in subparagraph (D)(ii), by in- 23 serting ‘‘functional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3088 IH (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘all or 1 part of the firearm’’ and all that follows 2 through ‘‘person.’’ and inserting the following: 3 ‘‘all or part of the functional firearm, or other- 4 wise make the presence of the functional fire- 5 arm known to another person, in order to in- 6 timidate that person, regardless of whether the 7 functional firearm is directly visible to that per- 8 son.’’; 9 (3) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ 10 and inserting ‘‘(k), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or 11 (aa)(6)’’; 12 (4) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting ‘‘through 13 the possession of a functional firearm’’ before ‘‘and 14 has three’’; and 15 (5) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(q) A person who violates section 922(aa)(4) shall— 17 ‘‘(1) in the case of the first violation by the per- 18 son, be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 19 than 1 year, or both; or 20 ‘‘(2) in the case of any subsequent violation by 21 the person, be fined under this title, imprisoned not 22 more than 5 years, or both.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3088.IH H3088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3088 IH SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION OF THE PROHIBITION ON UNDE- 1 TECTABLE FIREARMS. 2 Section 922(p) of title 18, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (1)— 5 (A) in the matt [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]