Untraceable Firearms Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3743 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 14, 2020 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLI- BRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. REED, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following 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 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3743 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 (3), by striking ‘‘or (D) any 13 destructive device’’ and inserting ‘‘; (D) any destruc- 14 tive device; or (E) any combination of parts designed 15 or intended for use in converting any device into a 16 firearm and from which a firearm may be readily as- 17 sembled’’; 18 (2) in paragraph (10), by adding at the end the 19 following: ‘‘The term ‘manufacturing firearms’ shall 20 include assembling a functional firearm from a 21 frame or receiver or molding, machining, or 3D 22 printing a frame or receiver, and shall not include 23 making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger 24 mechanisms to firearms.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3743 IS (3) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(30) The term ‘frame or receiver’— 3 ‘‘(A) means the part of a firearm that provides 4 or is intended to provide the housing for the trigger 5 group, regardless of the stage of manufacture; 6 ‘‘(B) includes a frame or lower receiver, includ- 7 ing blank, casting, or machined body, that requires 8 modification, including machining, drilling, filing or 9 molding, to be used as part of a functional firearm, 10 and which is designed and intended to be used in the 11 assembly of a functional firearm; and 12 ‘‘(C) does not include a piece of material that 13 has had— 14 ‘‘(i) its size or external shape altered solely 15 to facilitate transportation or storage; or 16 ‘‘(ii) solely its chemical composition al- 17 tered.’’; and 18 (4) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(36) The term ‘ghost gun’— 20 ‘‘(A) means a firearm, including a frame or re- 21 ceiver, that lacks a unique serial number engraved 22 or cast on the frame or receiver by a licensed manu- 23 facturer or importer in accordance with this chapter; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3743 IS ‘‘(B) does not include a firearm that has been 1 rendered permanently inoperable.’’. 2 (b) PROHIBITION; REQUIREMENTS.—Section 922 of 3 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 4 end the following: 5 ‘‘(aa)(1) The Congress finds and declares the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(A) Firearms tracing is the systematic track- 8 ing of the movement of a firearm recovered by law 9 enforcement officials from the first sale of a firearm 10 by the manufacturer or importer through the dis- 11 tribution chain (including the wholesaler and re- 12 tailer) to the first retail purchaser. 13 ‘‘(B) Law enforcement agencies across the 14 country work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 15 Firearms and Explosives to trace firearms and 16 thereby obtain investigative leads in the fight 17 against violent crime and terrorism. 18 ‘‘(C) The ability of law enforcement agencies to 19 trace a firearm is dependent on the serial number or 20 other marks on the firearm that identify the manu- 21 facturer or importer who manufactured or imported 22 the firearm and that are unique to the firearm. 23 ‘‘(D) Interstate gun trafficking interferes with 24 lawful commerce in firearms and significantly con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3743 IS tributes to gun crime. Of the 254,700 firearms 1 traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 2 and Explosives in 2018, 71,910 of those firearms 3 were originally sold by a licensed firearms dealer in 4 a State other than the State where the firearms 5 were recovered. These guns made up 28.2 percent of 6 all firearm recoveries in 2018. 7 ‘‘(E) Even before the sale of a firearm, the gun, 8 its component parts, and the raw materials from 9 which they are made have considerably moved in 10 interstate commerce. 11 ‘‘(F) If unserialized and untraceable firearms 12 may be constructed and transported freely from 13 State to State, ordinary citizens and foreign visitors 14 may fear to travel to or through certain parts of the 15 country due to concern about violent crime and gun 16 violence, and law enforcement agencies may be un- 17 able to address it. 18 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it 19 shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, offer 20 to sell, transfer, purchase, or receive a ghost gun in or 21 affecting interstate or foreign commerce. 22 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to— 23 ‘‘(i) the manufacture of a firearm by a licensed 24 manufacturer if the licensed manufacturer complies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3743 IS with section 923(i) before selling or transferring the 1 firearm to another person; 2 ‘‘(ii) the offer to sell, sale, or transfer of a fire- 3 arm to, or purchase or receipt of a firearm by, a li- 4 censed manufacturer or importer before January 1, 5 2022; or 6 ‘‘(iii) transactions between licensed manufactur- 7 ers and importers on any date. 8 ‘‘(bb) It shall be unlawful for a person other than 9 a licensed manufacturer or importer to engrave or cast 10 a serial number on a firearm in or affecting interstate or 11 foreign commerce. 12 ‘‘(cc) Beginning on January 1, 2022, it shall be un- 13 lawful for any person other than a licensed manufacturer 14 or importer to possess a ghost gun in or affecting inter- 15 state or foreign commerce. 16 ‘‘(dd) Beginning on January 1, 2022, it shall be un- 17 lawful for any person other than a licensed manufacturer 18 or importer to possess a ghost gun in or affecting inter- 19 state or foreign commerce with the intent to sell or trans- 20 fer the ghost gun with or without further manufacturing 21 or to manufacture a firearm with the ghost gun. 22 ‘‘(ee)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, 23 offer to sell, or transfer, in or affecting interstate or for- 24 eign commerce, to any person other than a licensed manu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3743 IS facturer a machine that has the sole or primary function 1 of manufacturing firearms. 2 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), beginning 3 on January 1, 2022, it shall be unlawful for any person 4 other than a licensed manufacturer to possess, purchase, 5 or receive, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, 6 a machine that has the sole or primary function of manu- 7 facturing firearms. 8 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (2) shall not apply to a person who 9 is engaged in the business of selling manufacturing equip- 10 ment to a licensed manufacturer who possesses a machine 11 with the intent to sell or transfer the machine to a licensed 12 manufacturer.’’. 13 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 923(i) of title 18, 14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 15 following: ‘‘The serial number shall be engraved or cast 16 on the frame or receiver in a manner sufficient to identify 17 the firearm and the manufacturer or importer that put 18 the serial number on the firearm.’’. 19 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 924 of title 18, United 20 States Code, is amended— 21 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘(q), (aa), (bb), (cc), (dd), or (ee)’’; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3743 IS (2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘(k), (aa), (bb), (cc), (dd), or (ee)’’. 2 SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION OF THE PROHIBITION ON UNDE- 3 TECTABLE FIREARMS. 4 Section 922(p) of title 18, United States Code, is 5 amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 7 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 8 (A), by striking ‘‘any firearm’’; 9 (B) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 10 as follows: 11 ‘‘(A) an undetectable firearm; or’’; and 12 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘any 13 major component of which, when subjected to 14 inspection by the types of x-ray machines com- 15 monly used at airports, does not generate’’ and 16 inserting the following: ‘‘a major component of 17 a firearm which, if subjected to inspection by 18 the types of detection devices commonly used at 19 airports for security screening, would not gen- 20 erate’’; 21 (2) in paragraph (2)— 22 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 23 as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3743 IS ‘‘(A) the term ‘undetectable firearm’ means a 1 firearm, as defined in section 921(a)(3)(A), of which 2 no major component is wholly made of detectable 3 material;’’; 4 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in- 5 serting the following: 6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘major component’, with respect 7 to a firearm— 8 ‘‘(i) means the slide or cylinder or the 9 frame or receiver of the firearm; and 10 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a rifle or shotgun, in- 11 cludes the barrel of the firearm; and’’; and 12 (C) by striking subparagraph (C) and all 13 that follows through the end of the undesig- 14 nated matter following subparagraph (C) and 15 inserting the following: 16 ‘‘(C) the term ‘detectable material’ means any 17 material that creates a magnetic field equivalent to 18 or more than 3.7 ounces of 17–4 pH stainless 19 steel.’’; 20 (3) in paragraph (3)— 21 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘, in- 22 cluding a prototype,’’ after ‘‘of a firearm’’; and 23 (B) by striking the second sentence; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3743 IS (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘shall not 1 apply to any firearm which’’ and all that follows and 2 inserting the following: ‘‘shall not apply to— 3 ‘‘(A) any firearm received by, in the possession 4 of, or under the control of the United States; or 5 ‘‘(B) the manufacture, importation, possession, 6 transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm 7 by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer pur- 8 suant to a contract with the United States.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3743.IS S3743 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS