[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4992 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4992

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 27, 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 1 year 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 1 year 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 1 year 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 (D), beginning on the date 
of the enactment of the Ghost Guns and Untraceable Firearms Act of 
2023, it shall be unlawful for any person other than a licensed 
manufacturer to purchase or receive, in or affecting interstate or 
foreign commerce, a machine that has the sole or primary function of 
manufacturing firearms.
    ``(C) Except as provided in subparagraph (D), beginning on the date 
that is 180 days after the date of the 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, in or affecting 
interstate or foreign commerce, a machine that has the sole or primary 
function of manufacturing firearms.
    ``(D) Subparagraphs (B) and (C) shall not apply to a person who is 
engaged in the business of selling manufacturing equipment to a 
licensed manufacturer who possesses a machine that has the sole or 
primary function of manufacturing firearms 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 180 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 1 year after such date of enactment, a licensed dealer 
        or gunsmith 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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