Protecting Our Communities Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3299 To help reduce gun violence through background checks and the National Firearms Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2021 Mrs. DEMINGS (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. DEUTCH, and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To help reduce gun violence through background checks and the National Firearms Act, 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Com- 4 munities Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3299 IH SEC. 2. FIREARM ASSEMBLY KITS CONSIDERED TO BE 1 FIREARMS. 2 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or (D) any 5 destructive device’’ and inserting ‘‘; (D) any destruc- 6 tive device; or (E) any combination of parts designed 7 or intended for use in converting any device into a 8 firearm and from which a firearm may be readily as- 9 sembled’’; and 10 (2) in paragraph (4)— 11 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub- 12 paragraph (A); 13 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub- 14 paragraph (B) and inserting a period; and 15 (C) by striking subparagraph (C). 16 SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT PROTECTION. 17 (a) ARMOR-PIERCING, CONCEALABLE WEAPONS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5845(a) of the In- 19 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 20 ‘‘and (8)’’ and inserting ‘‘; (8) an armor-piercing, 21 concealable weapon; and (9)’’. 22 (2) ARMOR-PIERCING, CONCEALABLE WEAP- 23 ON.—Section 5845 of such Code is amended by add- 24 ing at the end the following new subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3299 IH ‘‘(n) ARMOR-PIERCING, CONCEALABLE WEAPON.— 1 The term ‘armor-piercing, concealable weapon’ means any 2 weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person 3 and from which can be discharged through the energy of 4 an explosive any of the following rounds of ammunition: 5 ‘‘(1) .450 Bushmaster. 6 ‘‘(2) 5.56mm (including the 5.56x45mm NATO 7 and .223 Remington). 8 ‘‘(3) 7.62mm (including the 7.62x39mm, .308 9 Winchester, 7.62 NATO, 7.62x51mm NATO, .30 10 carbine, 7.62x33mm, or .300 AAC Blackout). 11 ‘‘(4) .50 BMG. 12 ‘‘(5) 5.7x28mm. 13 ‘‘(6) Any other round determined by the Bu- 14 reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 15 to be capable of, when fired by such weapon or de- 16 vice, penetrating the standard body armor worn by 17 law enforcement officers.’’. 18 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 19 (A) Section 921(a) of title 18, United 20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end 21 the following: 22 ‘‘(36) The term ‘armor-piercing, concealable weapon’ 23 has the meaning given such term in section 5845(n) of 24 the National Firearms Act (26 U.S.C. 5845(n)).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3299 IH (B) Section 922 of title 18, United States 1 Code, is amended— 2 (i) in subsection (a)(4), by striking 3 ‘‘or short-barreled rifle,’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘short-barreled rifle, or armor-piercing, 5 concealable weapon,’’; and 6 (ii) in subsection (b)(4) by striking 7 ‘‘or short-barreled rifle,’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘short-barreled rifle, or armor-piercing, 9 concealable weapon,’’. 10 (C) Section 924(c)(1)(B)(i) of title 18, 11 United States Code, is amended by inserting 12 ‘‘armor-piercing, concealable weapon,’’ after 13 ‘‘short-barreled shotgun,’’. 14 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made 16 by this subsection shall take effect on the date 17 of the enactment of this Act. 18 (B) APPLICATION TO POSSESSION ON 19 DATE OF ENACTMENT.—Notwithstanding sub- 20 paragraph (A), any person on the date of the 21 enactment of this Act possessing a device de- 22 scribed in section 5845(a)(8) of the Internal 23 Revenue Code of 1986 (as amended by this sec- 24 tion) shall, not later than the end of the 18th 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3299 IH month beginning after the date of the enact- 1 ment of this Act, register such weapon or device 2 with the Secretary of the Treasury and include 3 with such registration the information required 4 under section 5841(a) of such Code. Such reg- 5 istration shall become a part of the National 6 Firearms Registration and Transfer Record re- 7 quired to be maintained by such section. 8 (b) USE OF NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT TAXES.—Part 9 I of subchapter B of chapter 53 of the Internal Revenue 10 Code of 1986 is amended redesignating section 5849 as 11 section 5850 and by inserting after section 5847 the fol- 12 lowing new section: 13 ‘‘SEC. 5849. USE OF TAXES. 14 ‘‘To carry out the purposes of this chapter and to 15 supplement appropriations otherwise made available for 16 such purposes, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 17 and Explosives may spend the amounts collected under 18 subchapter A for fiscal years 2021 and thereafter.’’. 19 SEC. 4. REPORTING OF BACKGROUND CHECK DENIALS. 20 (a) REPORTING TO STATE AUTHORITIES.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, 22 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 23 section 925A the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3299 IH ‘‘§ 925B. Reporting of background check denials to 1 State authorities 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If the national instant criminal 3 background check system established under section 103 4 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 5 922 note) provides a notice pursuant to section 922(t) of 6 this title that the receipt of a firearm by a person would 7 violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of this title 8 or State law, the Attorney General shall, in accordance 9 with subsection (b) of this section— 10 ‘‘(1) report to the law enforcement authorities 11 of the State where the person sought to acquire the 12 firearm and, if different, the law enforcement au- 13 thorities of the State of residence of the person— 14 ‘‘(A) that the notice was provided; 15 ‘‘(B) of the specific provision of law that 16 would have been violated; 17 ‘‘(C) of the date and time the notice was 18 provided; 19 ‘‘(D) of the location where the firearm was 20 sought to be acquired; and 21 ‘‘(E) of the identity of the person; and 22 ‘‘(2) where practicable, report the incident to 23 local law enforcement authorities and State and local 24 prosecutors in the jurisdiction where the firearm was 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3299 IH sought and in the jurisdiction where the person re- 1 sides. 2 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORT.—A report is 3 made in accordance with this subsection if the report is 4 made within 24 hours after the provision of the notice de- 5 scribed in subsection (a), except that the making of the 6 report may be delayed for so long as is necessary to avoid 7 compromising an ongoing investigation. 8 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub- 9 section (a) shall be construed to require a report with re- 10 spect to a person to be made to the same State authorities 11 that originally issued the notice with respect to the per- 12 son.’’. 13 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 14 tions for such chapter is amended by inserting after 15 the item relating to section 925A the following: 16 ‘‘925B. Reporting of background check denials to State authorities.’’. (b) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, 18 United States Code, as amended by subsection 19 (a)(1) of this section, is amended by inserting after 20 section 925B the following: 21 ‘‘§ 925C. Annual report to Congress 22 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact- 23 ment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Attorney 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3299 IH General shall submit to the Congress a report detailing 1 the following, broken down by Federal judicial district: 2 ‘‘(1) With respect to each category of persons 3 prohibited by section 922(g) from receiving or pos- 4 sessing a firearm who are so denied a firearm— 5 ‘‘(A) the number of cases referred to the 6 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex- 7 plosives; 8 ‘‘(B) the number of cases with respect to 9 which an investigation was opened by a field di- 10 vision of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire- 11 arms and Explosives; 12 ‘‘(C) the number of arrests made; and 13 ‘‘(D) the number of convictions obtained 14 by Federal authorities in connection with the 15 denial. 16 ‘‘(2) The number of background check notices 17 reported to State authorities pursuant to section 18 925B (including the number of the notices that 19 would have been so reported but for section 20 925B(c)).’’. 21 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 22 tions for such chapter, as amended by subsection 23 (a)(2) of this section, is amended by inserting after 24 the item relating to section 925B the following: 25 ‘‘925C. Annual report to Congress.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3299 IH SEC. 5. CODIFICATION OF REGULATIONS CLASSIFYING 1 BUMP STOCKS AS MACHINEGUNS. 2 The amendments to parts 447, 478, and 479 of title 3 27, Code of Federal Regulations, made by the final rule 4 promulgated by the Department of Justice, entitled 5 ‘‘Bump-Stock-Type Devices’’, and published December 26, 6 2018 (83 Fed. Reg. 66514), shall have the force and effect 7 of law. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS