[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3300 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3300
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
July 31, 2018
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Nelson, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Schumer,
Mr. Markey, Mr. Reed, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Whitehouse,
Mr. Cardin, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Warren, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Hassan, Ms.
Hirono, and Mr. Booker) 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Untraceable Firearms Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT ALL FIREARMS BE TRACEABLE.
(a) Definitions.--Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3)--
(A) by inserting ``, including an unfinished frame
or receiver'' after ``such weapon''; and
(B) by striking ``or (D) any destructive device''
and inserting ``; (D) any destructive device; or (E)
any combination of parts designed or intended for use
in converting any device into a firearm and from which
a firearm may be readily assembled'';
(2) in paragraph (10), by adding at the end the following:
``The term `manufacturing firearms' shall include assembling a
functional firearm from a frame or receiver 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.'';
(3) by inserting after paragraph (29) the following:
``(30) The term `frame or receiver'--
``(A) means the part of a firearm that can provide the
action or housing for the hammer, bolt, or breechblock and
firing mechanism;
``(B) includes a frame or lower receiver blank, casting, or
machined body that requires further machining or molding to be
used as part of a functional firearm, and which is designed and
intended to be used in the assembly of a functional firearm;
and
``(C) does not include a piece of material that has had--
``(i) its size or external shape altered solely to
facilitate transportation or storage; or
``(ii) solely its chemical composition altered.'';
and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(36) The term `ghost gun'--
``(A) means a firearm, including a frame or receiver, that
lacks a unique serial number engraved or cast in metal or metal
alloy on the frame or receiver by a licensed manufacturer or
importer in accordance with this chapter; and
``(B) does not include a firearm that has been rendered
permanently inoperable.''.
(b) Prohibition; Requirements.--Section 922 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(aa)(1) The 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 211,384 firearms traced by the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in 2016, 60,936 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 28.8 percent of all firearm recoveries in
2016.
``(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 firearm
to, or purchase or receipt of a firearm by, a licensed
manufacturer or importer before January 1, 2020; or
``(iii) transactions between licensed manufacturers and
importers on any date.
``(bb) 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.
``(cc) Beginning on January 1, 2020, 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.''.
(c) Requirements.--Section 923(i) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The serial number
shall be engraved or cast in metal or metal alloy and sufficient to
identify the firearm and the manufacturer or importer that put the
serial number on the firearm.''.
(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), (bb), or (cc)''; and
(2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``or (k)'' and
inserting ``(k), (aa), (bb), or (cc)''.
SEC. 3. MODERNIZATION OF THE PROHIBITION ON UNDETECTABLE FIREARMS.
Section 922(p) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``any firearm'';
(2) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as
follows:
``(A) an undetectable firearm; or''.
(B) 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'';
(3) 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.'';
(4) 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
(5) 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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