I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3454 To regulate firearm silencers and firearm mufflers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 24, 2019 Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Ms. HOULAHAN, 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’’ or the ‘‘HEAR Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(C) any fire- 9 arm muffler or firearm silencer; or (D)’’ and insert- 10 ing ‘‘or (C)’’; and 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3454.IH H3454 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3454 IH (2) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(30) The term ‘qualified law enforcement officer’ 3 has the meaning given the term in section 926B.’’. 4 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON FIREARM SILENCERS AND FIRE- 5 ARM MUFFLERS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 7 States Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (u) 8 the following: 9 ‘‘(v)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall 10 be unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, 11 transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign 12 commerce, a firearm silencer or firearm muffler. 13 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— 14 ‘‘(A) the importation for, manufacture for, sale 15 to, transfer to, or possession by the United States 16 or a department or agency of the United States or 17 a State or a department, agency, or political subdivi- 18 sion of a State, or a sale or transfer to or possession 19 by a qualified law enforcement officer employed by 20 the United States or a department or agency of the 21 United States or a State or a department, agency, 22 or political subdivision of a State for purposes of law 23 enforcement (whether on or off duty), or a sale or 24 transfer to or possession by a campus law enforce- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3454.IH H3454 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3454 IH ment officer for purposes of law enforcement (wheth- 1 er on or off duty); 2 ‘‘(B) the importation for, or sale or transfer to 3 a licensee under title I of the Atomic Energy Act of 4 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) for purposes of estab- 5 lishing and maintaining an on-site physical protec- 6 tion system and security organization required by 7 Federal law, or possession by an employee or con- 8 tractor of such licensee on-site for such purposes or 9 off-site for purposes of licensee-authorized training 10 or transportation of nuclear materials; or 11 ‘‘(C) the importation for, manufacture for, sale 12 to, transfer to, or possession by a licensed manufac- 13 turer or licensed importer for the purposes of testing 14 or experimentation authorized by the Attorney Gen- 15 eral. 16 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A), the term 17 ‘campus law enforcement officer’ means an individual who 18 is— 19 ‘‘(A) employed by a private institution of higher 20 education that is eligible for funding under title IV 21 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 22 1070 et seq.); 23 ‘‘(B) responsible for the prevention or investiga- 24 tion of crime involving injury to persons or property, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3454.IH H3454 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3454 IH including apprehension or detention of persons for 1 such crimes; 2 ‘‘(C) authorized by Federal, State, or local law 3 to carry a firearm, execute search warrants, and 4 make arrests; and 5 ‘‘(D) recognized, commissioned, or certified by 6 a government entity as a law enforcement officer.’’. 7 (b) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF FIREARM SILENC- 8 ERS AND FIREARM MUFFLERS.—Section 924(d) of title 9 18, United States Code, is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ and 11 inserting ‘‘(k), or (v)’’; and 12 (2) in paragraph (3)(E), by inserting ‘‘922(v),’’ 13 after ‘‘922(n),’’. 14 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 15 Section 924(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States Code, 16 is amended by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ and inserting ‘‘(q), or 17 (v)’’. 18 SEC. 5. USE OF BYRNE GRANTS FOR BUY-BACK PROGRAMS 19 FOR FIREARM SILENCERS AND FIREARM 20 MUFFLERS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 501(a)(1) of title I of the 22 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 23 U.S.C. 10152(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 24 following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3454.IH H3454 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3454 IH ‘‘(I) Compensation for surrendered firearm 1 silencers and firearm mufflers, as those terms 2 are defined in section 921 of title 18, United 3 States Code, under the buy-back program for 4 firearm silencers and firearm mufflers required 5 under section 5(b) of the lll Act of 2019.’’. 6 (b) REQUIREMENT.—During the 90-day period de- 7 scribed in section 6, the Attorney General shall establish 8 and implement a buy-back program, to be carried out 9 across the United States, to purchase firearm silencers 10 and firearm mufflers (as defined in section 921(a) of title 11 18, United States Code) from individuals seeking to com- 12 ply with the requirements of this Act and the amendments 13 made by this Act. 14 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 15 The amendments made by sections 2, 3, and 4 shall 16 take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of 17 enactment of this Act. 18 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 19 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 20 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend- 21 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti- 22 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 23 by this Act, and the application of such provision or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3454.IH H3454 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3454 IH amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af- 1 fected thereby. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3454.IH H3454 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS