I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4214 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the excise tax 

and special occupational tax in respect of firearms and to increase 

the transfer tax on any other weapon, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2015 

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Mr. PASCRELL) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, the Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce, for a 

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase 

the excise tax and special occupational tax in respect 

of firearms and to increase the transfer tax on any 

other weapon, 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 ‘‘Gun Violence Preven5 tion and Safe Communities Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN EXCISE TAXES RELATING TO FIRE2 ARMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4181 of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 4181. IMPOSITION OF TAX. 

6 ‘‘There is hereby imposed upon the sale by the manu7 facturer, producer, or importer of the following articles a 

8 tax equivalent to the specified percent of the price for 

9 which so sold: 

10 ‘‘(1) Articles taxable at 20 percent: 

11 ‘‘(A) Pistols. 

12 ‘‘(B) Revolvers. 

13 ‘‘(C) Firearms (other than pistols and re14 volvers). 

15 ‘‘(D) Any lower frame or receiver for a 

16 firearm, whether for a semiautomatic pistol, 

17 rifle, or shotgun that is designed to accommo18 date interchangeable upper receivers. 

19 ‘‘(2) Articles taxable at 50 percent: Shells and 

20 cartridges.’’. 

21 (b) EXEMPTION FOR UNITED STATES.—Subsection 

22 (b) of section 4182 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

23 is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(b) SALES TO UNITED STATES.—No firearms, pis25 tols, revolvers, lower frame or receiver for a firearm, 

26 shells, and cartridges purchased with funds appropriated 


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1 for any department, agency, or instrumentality of the 

2 United States shall be subject to any tax imposed on the 

3 sale or transfer of such articles.’’. 

4 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FROM INCREASED

5 TAXES.— 

6 (1) ALLOCATION.—Amounts in the general 

7 fund of the Treasury by reason of section 3(a) of the 

8 Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (as 

9 amended by paragraph (2) of this subsection) are 

10 hereby appropriated and shall be available, as fol11 lows: 

12 (A) 35 percent of such amounts shall be 

13 available for community-oriented policing serv14 ices grants for the hiring and rehiring of addi15 tional career law enforcement officers under 

16 section 1701(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

17 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

18 U.S.C. 3796dd(b)). States using funds for 

19 school resource officers shall include training, 

20 protections, and monitoring to ensure that 

21 school resource officers are used to improve 

22 school safety and climate, and promote positive 

23 reform in student suspensions, expulsions, and 

24 referrals to the juvenile or criminal justice sys25 tems. 


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1 (B) 35 percent of such amounts shall be 

2 available for the Project Safe Neighborhoods, as 

3 authorized under section 104 of the 21st Cen4 tury Department of Justice Appropriations Au5 thorization Act (28 U.S.C. 509 note). 

6 (C) 10 percent of such amounts shall be 

7 available for the Centers for Disease Control 

8 National Center for Injury Prevention and Con9 trol for purposes of research on gun violence 

10 and its prevention. 

11 (D) 5 percent of such amounts shall be 

12 available for the National Criminal History Im13 provement Program authorized under section 

14 302(c) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

15 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

16 3732(c)). 

17 (E) 5 percent of such amounts shall be 

18 available for the NICS Act Record Improve19 ment Program authorized under section 301 of 

20 the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 

21 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note). 

22 (F) 5 percent for the Community-Based 

23 Violence Prevention Field-Initiated Research 

24 and Evaluation Program of the Department of 

25 Justice. 


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1 (G) 5 percent of such amounts shall be 

2 available for the Secretary of Education to pro3 vide directed grants and technical assistance to 

4 schools eligible for or receiving grants under 

5 part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 to develop and 

7 implement comprehensive, evidence-based local 

8 or regional strategies (such as positive behavior 

9 interventions and supports, social and emotional 

10 learning, and restorative justice programs) to 

11 improve school climate, reduce the use of exclu12 sionary school discipline, and decrease the num13 ber of youth entering the juvenile and criminal 

14 justice systems. 

15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) 

16 of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act 

17 (16 U.S.C. 669b(a)) is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following new sentence: ‘‘There shall not be 

19 covered into the fund the portion of the tax imposed 

20 by such section 4181 that is attributable to any in21 crease in amounts received in the Treasury under 

22 such section by reason of the amendments made by 

23 section 2 of the Gun Violence Prevention and Safe 

24 Communities Act of 2015, as estimated by the Sec25 retary.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply with respect to sales after Decem3 ber 31, 2015. 

4 SEC. 3. SPECIAL TAX AND LICENSING RELATING TO FIRE5 ARMS. 

6 (a) INCREASE IN TAX.— 

7 (1) GENERAL RULE.—Subsection (a) of section 

8 5801 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

9 amended— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘$2,000’’, and 

12 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘$500’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘50 percent of the dollar amount 

14 applicable under paragraph (1) for the taxable 

15 year’’. 

16 (2) SMALL IMPORTERS AND MANUFACTUR17 ERS.—Paragraph (1) of section 5801(b) of such 

18 Code is amended by striking ‘‘substituting ‘$500’ for 

19 ‘$1,000’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘substituting ‘50 percent of 

20 the dollar amount applicable under such paragraph 

21 for the taxable year’ for ‘$2,000’ ’’. 

22 (3) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—Section 

23 5801 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new 

25 subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—In the case of 

2 any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 2016, 

3 the dollar amount in subsection (a)(1) shall be increased 

4 by an amount equal to— 

5 ‘‘(1) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

6 ‘‘(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 

7 under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 

8 the taxable year begins, determined by substituting 

9 ‘calendar year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub10 paragraph (B) thereof. 

11 If any increase under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of 

12 $10, such increase shall be rounded to the next lowest 

13 multiple of $10.’’. 

14 (b) INCREASE IN TRANSFER TAX ON FIREARMS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 

16 5811 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

17 amended— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘$200’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘$500’’, and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘$5’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘$100’’. 

22 (2) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—Section 

23 5811 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new 

25 subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—In the case of 

2 any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 2016, 

3 each dollar amount in subsection (a) shall be increased 

4 by an amount equal to— 

5 ‘‘(1) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

6 ‘‘(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 

7 under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 

8 the taxable year begins, determined by substituting 

9 ‘calendar year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub10 paragraph (B) thereof. 

11 If any increase under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of 

12 $5, such increase shall be rounded to the next lowest mul13 tiple of $5.’’. 

14 (c) CERTAIN SEMIAUTOMATIC PISTOLS CHAMBERED

15 FOR CARTRIDGES TREATED AS FIREARMS.—The first 

16 sentence of section 5845(a) of the Internal Revenue Code 

17 of 1986 is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(8)’’, 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘device.’’ and inserting ‘‘device, 

20 and’’, and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(9) a 

22 semiautomatic pistol chambered for cartridges com23 monly considered rifle rounds, configured with re24 ceivers commonly associated with rifles and capable 

25 of accepting detachable magazines.’’. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by para3 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

4 shall take effect on July 1, 2016. 

5 (2) TRANSFER TAX.—The amendment made by 

6 subsection (b) shall apply to transfers after Decem7 ber 31, 2015. 

8 (3) ALL TAXPAYERS TREATED AS COMMENCING

9 IN BUSINESS ON JULY 1, 2016.—Any person engaged 

10 on July 1, 2016, in any trade or business which is 

11 subject to an occupational tax by reason of the 

12 amendment made by subsection (b) shall be treated 

13 for purposes of such tax as having first engaged in 

14 a trade or business on such date. 

Æ 


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