Untraceable Firearms Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3553 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 JUNE 27, 2019 Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. NOR- TON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. ROSE of New York, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. SHALALA, Ms. HILL of Cali- fornia, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. CASE, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. MENG, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. SIRES, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MOORE, and Ms. BROWNLEY of California) 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Untraceable Firearms 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3553 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT ALL FIREARMS BE TRACE- 1 ABLE. 2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 3 States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (3)— 5 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including an unfinished 6 frame or receiver’’ after ‘‘such weapon’’; and 7 (B) by striking ‘‘or (D) any destructive de- 8 vice’’ and inserting ‘‘; (D) any destructive de- 9 vice; or (E) any combination of parts designed 10 or intended for use in converting any device 11 into a firearm and from which a firearm may 12 be readily assembled’’; 13 (2) in paragraph (10), by adding at the end the 14 following: ‘‘The term ‘manufacturing firearms’ shall 15 include assembling a functional firearm from a 16 frame or receiver or molding, machining, or 3D 17 printing a frame or receiver, and shall not include 18 making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger 19 mechanisms to firearms.’’; 20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘(30) The term ‘frame or receiver’— 23 ‘‘(A) means the part of a firearm that can pro- 24 vide the action or housing for the hammer, bolt, or 25 breechblock and firing mechanism; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3553 IH ‘‘(B) includes a frame or lower receiver blank, 1 casting, or machined body that requires further ma- 2 chining or molding to be used as part of a functional 3 firearm, and which is designed and intended to be 4 used in the assembly of a functional firearm; and 5 ‘‘(C) does not include a piece of material that 6 has had— 7 ‘‘(i) its size or external shape altered solely 8 to facilitate transportation or storage; or 9 ‘‘(ii) solely its chemical composition al- 10 tered.’’; and 11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(36) The term ‘ghost gun’— 13 ‘‘(A) means a firearm, including a frame or re- 14 ceiver, that lacks a unique serial number engraved 15 or cast in metal or metal alloy on the frame or re- 16 ceiver by a licensed manufacturer or importer in ac- 17 cordance with this chapter; and 18 ‘‘(B) does not include a firearm that has been 19 rendered permanently inoperable.’’. 20 (b) PROHIBITION; REQUIREMENTS.—Section 922 of 21 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 22 end the following: 23 ‘‘(aa)(1) The Congress finds and declares the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3553 IH ‘‘(A) Firearms tracing is the systematic track- 1 ing of the movement of a firearm recovered by law 2 enforcement officials from the first sale of a firearm 3 by the manufacturer or importer through the dis- 4 tribution chain (including the wholesaler and re- 5 tailer) to the first retail purchaser. 6 ‘‘(B) Law enforcement agencies across the 7 country work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 8 Firearms, and Explosives to trace firearms and 9 thereby obtain investigative leads in the fight 10 against violent crime and terrorism. 11 ‘‘(C) The ability of law enforcement agencies to 12 trace a firearm is dependent on the serial number or 13 other marks on the firearm that identify the manu- 14 facturer or importer who manufactured or imported 15 the firearm and that are unique to the firearm. 16 ‘‘(D) Interstate gun trafficking interferes with 17 lawful commerce in firearms and significantly con- 18 tributes to gun crime. Of the 211,384 firearms 19 traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 20 and Explosives in 2016, 60,936 of those firearms 21 were originally sold by a licensed firearms dealer in 22 a State other than the State where the firearms 23 were recovered. These guns made up 28.8 percent of 24 all firearm recoveries in 2016. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3553 IH ‘‘(E) Even before the sale of a firearm, the gun, 1 its component parts, and the raw materials from 2 which they are made have considerably moved in 3 interstate commerce. 4 ‘‘(F) If unserialized and untraceable firearms 5 may be constructed and transported freely from 6 State to State, ordinary citizens and foreign visitors 7 may fear to travel to or through certain parts of the 8 country due to concern about violent crime and gun 9 violence, and law enforcement agencies may be un- 10 able to address it. 11 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it 12 shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, offer 13 to sell, transfer, purchase, or receive a ghost gun in or 14 affecting interstate or foreign commerce. 15 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to— 16 ‘‘(i) the manufacture of a firearm by a licensed 17 manufacturer if the licensed manufacturer complies 18 with section 923(i) before selling or transferring the 19 firearm to another person; 20 ‘‘(ii) the offer to sell, sale, or transfer of a fire- 21 arm to, or purchase or receipt of a firearm by, a li- 22 censed manufacturer or importer before January 1, 23 2020; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3553 IH ‘‘(iii) transactions between licensed manufactur- 1 ers and importers on any date. 2 ‘‘(bb) It shall be unlawful for a person other than 3 a licensed manufacturer or importer to engrave or cast 4 a serial number on a firearm in or affecting interstate or 5 foreign commerce. 6 ‘‘(cc) Beginning on January 1, 2020, it shall be un- 7 lawful for any person other than a licensed manufacturer 8 or importer to possess a ghost gun in or affecting inter- 9 state or foreign commerce with the intent to sell or trans- 10 fer the ghost gun with or without further manufacturing 11 or to manufacture a firearm with the ghost gun.’’. 12 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 923(i) of title 18, 13 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 14 following: ‘‘The serial number shall be engraved or cast 15 in metal or metal alloy and sufficient to identify the fire- 16 arm and the manufacturer or importer that put the serial 17 number on the firearm.’’. 18 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 924 of title 18, United 19 States Code, is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ 21 and inserting ‘‘(q), (aa), (bb), or (cc)’’; and 22 (2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘(k), (aa), (bb), or (cc)’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3553 IH SEC. 3. 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 the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 5 striking ‘‘any firearm’’; 6 (2) in paragraph (1)— 7 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 8 as follows: 9 ‘‘(A) an undetectable firearm; or’’. 10 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘ any 11 major component of which, when subjected to 12 inspection by the types of x-ray machines com- 13 monly used at airports, does not generate’’ and 14 inserting the following: ‘‘a major component of 15 a firearm which, if subjected to inspection by 16 the types of detection devices commonly used at 17 airports for security screening, would not gen- 18 erate’’; 19 (3) in paragraph (2)— 20 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 21 as follows: 22 ‘‘(A) the term ‘undetectable firearm’ means a 23 firearm, as defined in section 921(a)(3)(A), of which 24 no major component is wholly made of detectable 25 material;’’; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3553 IH (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in- 1 serting the following: 2 ‘‘(B) the term ‘major component’, with respect 3 to a firearm— 4 ‘‘(i) means the slide or cylinder or the 5 frame or receiver of the firearm; and 6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a rifle or shotgun, in- 7 cludes the barrel of the firearm; and’’; and 8 (C) by striking subparagraph (C) and all 9 that follows through the end of the undesig- 10 nated matter following subparagraph (C) and 11 inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(C) the term ‘detectable material’ means any 13 material that creates a magnetic field equivalent to 14 or more than 3.7 ounces of 17–4 PH stainless 15 steel.’’; 16 (4) in paragraph (3)— 17 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting 18 ‘‘, including a prototype,’’ after ‘‘of a fire- 19 arm’’; and 20 (B) by striking the second sentence; 21 and 22 (5) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘shall not 23 apply to any firearm which’’ and all that follows and 24 inserting the following: ‘‘shall not apply to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3553 IH ‘‘(A) any firearm received by, in the possession 1 of, or under the control of the United States; or 2 ‘‘(B) the manufacture, importation, possession, 3 transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm 4 by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer pur- 5 suant to a contract with the United States.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3553.IH H3553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS