[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4679 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4679
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
July 17, 2023
Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Schneider,
and Mr. Thompson 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ghost Guns and Untraceable Firearms
Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) irrespective of the enactment of this Act, the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has the authority
to regulate ghost guns (as defined in section 921(a) of title
18, United States Code, as amended by section 3 of this Act)
and unfinished frames and receivers; and
(2) the purpose of this Act is to clarify and strengthen
such authority.
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT ALL FIREARMS BE TRACEABLE.
(a) Definitions.--Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) in paragraph (10), by adding at the end the following:
``The term `manufacturing firearms' shall include assembling a
functional firearm or molding, machining, or 3D printing a
frame or receiver, and shall not include making or fitting
special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms.'';
(2) by inserting after paragraph (30) the following:
``(31)(A) The term `frame or receiver'--
``(i) means a part of a weapon that provides or is
intended to provide the housing or structure to hold or
integrate 1 or more fire control components, without
regard to whether pins or other attachments are
required to connect those components to the housing or
structure; and
``(ii) includes--
``(I) a forged, cast, printed, extruded, or
machined body or similar article that is
designed to, or may readily be completed,
assembled, or otherwise converted to, provide
the housing or structure, without regard to
whether the housing or structure has been
indexed, drilled, or machined in any way, and
without regard to whether the article is sold,
distributed, or marketed with or for any
associated template, jig, mold, equipment,
tool, instructions, or guide; and
``(II) an object that is marketed or sold
to become or be used as the frame or receiver
of a functional firearm once completed,
assembled, or converted.
``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), if a weapon has
more than 1 part that provides the housing or a structure
designed to hold or integrate 1 or more fire control or
essential components, each such part shall be considered a
frame or receiver, unless the Attorney General has provided
otherwise by regulation with respect to the specific make and
model of weapon on or before January 1, 2024.''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(38) The term `ghost gun'--
``(A) means a firearm, including a frame or
receiver, that lacks a unique serial number engraved or
cast on the frame or receiver by a licensed
manufacturer or importer in accordance with this
chapter; and
``(B) does not include--
``(i) a firearm that has been rendered
permanently inoperable;
``(ii) a firearm identified by means of a
unique serial number assigned by a State agency
and engraved or cast on the frame or receiver
of the weapon before the effective date of the
Ghost Guns and Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023
in accordance with a State law;
``(iii) a firearm manufactured or imported
before December 16, 1968; or
``(iv) a firearm identified as provided for
under section 5842 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986.
``(39) The term `fire control component'--
``(A) means a component necessary for the firearm
to initiate or complete the firing sequence; and
``(B) includes a hammer, bolt or breechblock,
cylinder, trigger mechanism, firing pin, striker, and
slide rails.''.
(b) Prohibition; Requirements.--Section 922 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(aa)(1) Congress finds and declares the following:
``(A) Firearms tracing is the systematic tracking of the
movement of a firearm recovered by law enforcement officials
from the first sale of a firearm by the manufacturer or
importer through the distribution chain (including the
wholesaler and retailer) to the first retail purchaser.
``(B) Law enforcement agencies across the country work with
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to
trace firearms and thereby obtain investigative leads in the
fight against violent crime and terrorism.
``(C) The ability of law enforcement agencies to trace a
firearm is dependent on the serial number or other marks on the
firearm that identify the manufacturer or importer who
manufactured or imported the firearm and that are unique to the
firearm.
``(D) Interstate gun trafficking interferes with lawful
commerce in firearms and significantly contributes to gun
crime. Of the 361,587 firearms traced by the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in 2021, 99,172 of those
firearms were originally sold by a licensed firearms dealer in
a State other than the State where the firearms were recovered.
These guns made up 27.4 percent of all firearm recoveries in
2021.
``(E) Even before the sale of a firearm, the gun, its
component parts, and the raw materials from which they are made
have considerably moved in interstate commerce.
``(F) If unserialized and untraceable firearms may be
constructed and transported freely from State to State,
ordinary citizens and foreign visitors may fear to travel to or
through certain parts of the country due to concern about
violent crime and gun violence, and law enforcement agencies
may be unable to address it.
``(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it shall be
unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, offer to sell, transfer,
purchase, or receive a ghost gun in or affecting interstate or foreign
commerce.
``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to--
``(i) the manufacture of a firearm by a licensed
manufacturer if the licensed manufacturer complies with section
923(i) before selling or transferring the firearm to another
person;
``(ii) the offer to sell, sale, or transfer of a ghost gun
to, or purchase or receipt of a ghost gun by, a licensed
dealer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed importer before the
date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of the Ghost
Guns and Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023; or
``(iii) transactions between licensed manufacturers and
importers on any date.
``(3) It shall be unlawful for a person other than a licensed
manufacturer or importer to engrave or cast a serial number on a
firearm in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce unless
specifically authorized by the Attorney General.
``(4) Beginning on the date that is 90 days after the date of
enactment of the Ghost Guns and Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023, it
shall be unlawful for any person other than a licensed manufacturer or
importer in the conduct of their business to knowingly possess a ghost
gun in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce.
``(5) Beginning on the date that is 90 days after the date of
enactment of the Ghost Guns and Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023, it
shall be unlawful for any person other than a licensed manufacturer or
importer to possess a ghost gun in or affecting interstate or foreign
commerce with the intent to sell or transfer the ghost gun with or
without further manufacturing or to manufacture a firearm with the
ghost gun.
``(6)(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer to
sell, or transfer, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, to
any person other than a licensed manufacturer a machine that has the
sole or primary function of manufacturing firearms.
``(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (A), beginning on the date
that is 180 days after the date of enactment of the Ghost Guns and
Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023, it shall be unlawful for any person
other than a licensed manufacturer to possess, purchase, or receive, in
or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a machine that has the
sole or primary function of manufacturing firearms.
``(C) Subparagraph (B) shall not apply to a person who is engaged
in the business of selling manufacturing equipment to a licensed
manufacturer who possesses a machine with the intent to sell or
transfer the machine to a licensed manufacturer.''.
(c) Requirements.--
(1) Removal of serial numbers.--Section 922(k) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking ``importer's or manufacturer's''
each place it appears; and
(B) by inserting ``required by this chapter or
under State law'' before ``removed'' each place it
appears.
(2) Licensed importers and manufacturers.--Section 923(i)
of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``Licensed''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following: ``The
serial number shall be engraved or cast on the frame or
receiver in a manner sufficient to identify the firearm
and the manufacturer or importer that put the serial
number on the firearm.
``(2) Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of
the Ghost Guns and Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023, the
Attorney General shall update the regulations for engraving a
unique serial number onto a ghost gun so that, after the date
that is 90 days after the enactment of such Act, a licensed
dealer or manufacturer shall no longer have the authority to
engrave a serial number onto a ghost gun.''.
(d) Penalties.--Section 924 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ``or (q)'' and
inserting ``(q), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or (aa)(6)'';
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter
preceding clause (i), by inserting
``functional'' before ``firearm'' each place it
appears;
(ii) in subparagraph (B), in the matter
preceding clause (i), by inserting
``functional'' before ``firearm''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (D)(ii), by inserting
``functional'' before ``firearm''; and
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``all or part of
the firearm'' and all that follows through ``person.''
and inserting the following: ``all or part of the
functional firearm, or otherwise make the presence of
the functional firearm known to another person, in
order to intimidate that person, regardless of whether
the functional firearm is directly visible to that
person.'';
(3) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``or (k)'' and
inserting ``(k), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or (aa)(6)'';
(4) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting ``through the
possession of a functional firearm'' before ``and has three'';
and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
``(q) A person who violates section 922(aa)(4) shall--
``(1) in the case of the first violation by the person, be
fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or
both; or
``(2) in the case of any subsequent violation by the
person, be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5
years, or both.''.
SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION OF THE PROHIBITION ON UNDETECTABLE FIREARMS.
Section 922(p) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by
striking ``any firearm'';
(B) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as
follows:
``(A) an undetectable firearm; or''; and
(C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``any major
component of which, when subjected to inspection by the
types of x-ray machines commonly used at airports, does
not generate'' and inserting the following: ``a major
component of a firearm which, if subjected to
inspection by the types of detection devices commonly
used at airports for security screening, would not
generate'';
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as
follows:
``(A) the term `undetectable firearm' means a
firearm, as defined in section 921(a)(3)(A), of which
no major component is wholly made of detectable
material;'';
(B) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the
following:
``(B) the term `major component', with respect to a
firearm--
``(i) means the slide or cylinder or the
frame or receiver of the firearm; and
``(ii) in the case of a rifle or shotgun,
includes the barrel of the firearm; and''; and
(C) by striking subparagraph (C) and all that
follows through the end of the undesignated matter
following subparagraph (C) and inserting the following:
``(C) the term `detectable material' means any
material that creates a magnetic field equivalent to or
more than 3.7 ounces of 17-4 pH stainless steel.'';
(3) in paragraph (3)--
(A) in the first sentence, by inserting ``,
including a prototype,'' after ``of a firearm''; and
(B) by striking the second sentence; and
(4) in paragraph (5), by striking ``shall not apply to any
firearm which'' and all that follows and inserting the
following: ``shall not apply to--
``(A) any firearm received by, in the possession
of, or under the control of the United States; or
``(B) the manufacture, importation, possession,
transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm
by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer
pursuant to a contract with the United States.''.
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