Keep Americans Safe Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 625 To regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2023 Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Ms. TITUS, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. KILMER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCAN- LON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. PORTER, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. EVANS, Ms. CHU, Mr. PETERS, Mr. BEYER, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. CARSON, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. CORREA, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. CROW, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. NADLER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. KHANNA, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. LARSEN of Wash- ington, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CASE, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. BROWN, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TRONE, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. LIEU, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. SOTO, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. HIMES, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SABLAN, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. BERA, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, and Mr. BOYLE of Penn- sylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H625.IH H625 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 625 IH 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 ‘‘Keep Americans Safe 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 (1) by inserting after paragraph (30) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(31) The term ‘large capacity ammunition feeding 11 device’— 12 ‘‘(A) means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, 13 helical feeding device, or similar device, including 14 any such device joined or coupled with another in 15 any manner, that has an overall capacity of, or that 16 can be readily restored, changed, or converted to ac- 17 cept, more than 15 rounds of ammunition; and 18 ‘‘(B) does not include an attached tubular de- 19 vice designed to accept, and capable of operating 20 only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.’’; and 21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(38) The term ‘qualified law enforcement officer’ 23 has the meaning given the term in section 926B.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H625.IH H625 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 625 IH SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION 1 FEEDING DEVICES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 3 States Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (u) 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(v)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to import, 6 sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or affecting 7 interstate or foreign commerce, a large capacity ammuni- 8 tion feeding device. 9 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the possession 10 of any large capacity ammunition feeding device otherwise 11 lawfully possessed on or before the date of enactment of 12 the Keep Americans Safe Act. 13 ‘‘(3) 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 04:43 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H625.IH H625 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 625 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; 11 ‘‘(C) the possession, by an individual who is re- 12 tired in good standing from service with a law en- 13 forcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited 14 from receiving ammunition, of a large capacity am- 15 munition feeding device— 16 ‘‘(i) sold or transferred to the individual by 17 the agency upon such retirement; or 18 ‘‘(ii) that the individual purchased, or oth- 19 erwise obtained, for official use before such re- 20 tirement; or 21 ‘‘(D) the importation, sale, manufacture, trans- 22 fer, or possession of any large capacity ammunition 23 feeding device by a licensed manufacturer or licensed 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H625.IH H625 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 625 IH importer for the purposes of testing or experimen- 1 tation authorized by the Attorney General. 2 ‘‘(4) For purposes of paragraph (3)(A), the term 3 ‘campus law enforcement officer’ means an individual who 4 is— 5 ‘‘(A) employed by a private institution of higher 6 education that is eligible for funding under title IV 7 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8 1070 et seq.); 9 ‘‘(B) responsible for the prevention or investiga- 10 tion of crime involving injury to persons or property, 11 including apprehension or detention of persons for 12 such crimes; 13 ‘‘(C) authorized by Federal, State, or local law 14 to carry a firearm, execute search warrants, and 15 make arrests; and 16 ‘‘(D) recognized, commissioned, or certified by 17 a government entity as a law enforcement officer.’’. 18 (b) IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS FOR LARGE CAPAC- 19 ITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.—Section 923(i) of 20 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 21 end the following: ‘‘A large capacity ammunition feeding 22 device manufactured after the date of enactment of the 23 Keep Americans Safe Act shall be identified by a serial 24 number and the date on which the device was manufac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H625.IH H625 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 625 IH tured or made, legibly and conspicuously engraved or cast 1 on the device, and such other identification as the Attor- 2 ney General shall by regulations prescribe.’’. 3 (c) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF LARGE CAPACITY 4 AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.—Section 924(d) of title 5 18, United States Code, is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 7 (A) in the first sentence— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘Any firearm or ammu- 9 nition involved in’’ and inserting ‘‘Any fire- 10 arm or ammunition or large capacity am- 11 munition feeding device involved in’’; 12 (ii) by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘(k), or (v)’’; and 14 (iii) by striking ‘‘any firearm or am- 15 munition intended’’ and inserting ‘‘any 16 firearm or ammunition or large capacity 17 ammunition feeding device intended’’; and 18 (B) in the second and third sentences, by 19 inserting ‘‘or large capacity ammunition feeding 20 device’’ after ‘‘firearms or ammunition’’ each 21 place the term appears; 22 (2) in paragraph (2)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H625.IH H625 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 625 IH (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or 1 large capacity ammunition feeding device’’ after 2 ‘‘firearms or ammunition’’; and 3 (B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or 4 large capacity ammunition feeding devices’’ 5 after ‘‘firearms or quantities of ammunition’’; 6 and 7 (3) in paragraph (3)(E), by inserting ‘‘922(v),’’ 8 after ‘‘922(n),’’. 9 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 10 Section 924(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States Code, 11 is amended by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ and inserting ‘‘(q), or 12 (v)’’. 13 SEC. 5. USE OF BYRNE GRANTS FOR BUY-BACK PROGRAMS 14 FOR LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEED- 15 ING DEVICES. 16 Section 501(a)(1) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 17 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 18 10152(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 19 lowing: 20 ‘‘(J) Compensation for surrendered large 21 capacity ammunition feeding devices, as that 22 term is defined in section 921 of title 18, 23 United States Code, under buy-back programs 24 for large capacity ammunition feeding devices.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H625.IH H625 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 625 IH SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 1 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 2 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend- 3 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti- 4 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 5 by this Act, and the application of such provision or 6 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af- 7 fected thereby. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H625.IH H625 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS