I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 377 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to require homemade 

firearms to have serial numbers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2015 

Mr. HONDA (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. DANNY

K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

and Mr. SWALWELL 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 

require homemade firearms to have serial numbers, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homemade Firearms 

5 Accountability Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT HOMEMADE FIREARMS HAVE 

2 SERIAL NUMBERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 923 the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘§ 923A. Serial numbers for homemade firearms 

7 ‘‘(a) REQUEST.—A person who has attained 18 years 

8 of age and desires to make a firearm, or obtain a unique 

9 serial number or other identifying mark for a firearm 

10 made by the person after 1968, may request a licensed 

11 dealer to issue a unique serial number or other identifying 

12 mark for the firearm, which request shall describe the fire13 arm involved, and state whether the firearm will be (or 

14 is) a handgun. 

15 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) TREATMENT OF REQUEST AS TRANSFER

17 PROPOSAL.—A request made of a licensed dealer 

18 pursuant to subsection (a) with respect to firearm 

19 shall be treated as a proposed transfer of the fire20 arm from the licensed dealer to the applicant, for 

21 purposes of section 922(t) of this title and section 

22 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. 

23 ‘‘(2) ISSUANCE OF SERIAL NUMBER.—A li24 censed dealer may issue to an applicant a unique se25 rial number and identifying mark for a firearm pur26 suant to such a request if, applying paragraph (1) 


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1 of this subsection to the request, section 922(t) or 

2 other law would not prohibit the licensed dealer from 

3 transferring the firearm to the applicant. 

4 ‘‘(3) FEE AUTHORITY.—A licensed dealer may 

5 charge an applicant a fee for each serial number and 

6 identifying mark assigned and issued under this sec7 tion, in an amount that is not more than the actual 

8 costs associated with assigning and issuing the serial 

9 number and identifying mark, and a fee for con10 tacting the national instant criminal background 

11 check system with respect to the applicant. 

12 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITIONS; REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) BAN ON MAKING FIREARM BEFORE OB14 TAINING SERIAL NUMBER.—It shall be unlawful for 

15 any person, in or affecting interstate or foreign com16 merce, to make a firearm, unless the person has ob17 tained a serial number and identifying mark for the 

18 firearm under this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) BAN ON POSSESSION OR TRANSFER OF

20 FIREARM WITHOUT SERIAL NUMBER.—It shall be 

21 unlawful for any person, in or affecting interstate or 

22 foreign commerce, to possess or transfer a firearm 

23 made by the person after 1968, unless— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a serial number and identifying mark 

2 for the firearm has been issued under this sec3 tion; 

4 ‘‘(B) within 10 days after the issuance, the 

5 serial number and identifying mark is stamped 

6 on or otherwise permanently affixed to the fire7 arm; and 

8 ‘‘(C) if the firearm is made from polymer 

9 plastic, 3.7 ounces of material type 17–4 PH 

10 stainless steel, on which the unique serial num11 ber or identifying mark is stamped or otherwise 

12 permanently affixed, are embedded within the 

13 plastic. 

14 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 

15 apply to— 

16 ‘‘(A) a firearm to which a serial number 

17 has been assigned pursuant to section 923 of 

18 this title or chapter 53 of the Internal Revenue 

19 Code of 1986; or 

20 ‘‘(B) a licensed manufacturer. 

21 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISION.—The Attorney 

22 General shall maintain, and make available on request, in23 formation on— 

24 ‘‘(1) the number of serial numbers and identi25 fying marks issued under this section; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the number of arrests for violations of this 

2 section.’’. 

3 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of such title is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (5), by adding at the end the 

6 following: ‘‘For purposes of this paragraph, the 

7 issuance of a serial number and identifying mark for 

8 a firearm in violation of section 923A shall be con9 sidered a transfer of the firearm in violation of sec10 tion 922(t).’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(8) Whoever knowingly violates section 923A(c) 

13 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

14 6 months (or, if the firearm involved in the violation is 

15 a handgun, 1 year), or both.’’. 

16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

17 for chapter 44 of such title is amended by inserting after 

18 the item relating to section 923 the following: 

‘‘923A. Serial number requirement for homemade firearms.’’. 

19 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2016. 

Æ 


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