II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 447 

To regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2019 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. REED, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. 

WARREN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. SMITH, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. 

ROSEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. KING, Mr. 

COONS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, and Mr. UDALL) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices. 

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 ‘‘Keep Americans Safe 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 

8 amended by inserting after paragraph (29) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(30) The term ‘large capacity ammunition feeding 

2 device’— 

3 ‘‘(A) means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, 

4 helical feeding device, or similar device, including 

5 any such device joined or coupled with another in 

6 any manner, that has an overall capacity of, or that 

7 can be readily restored, changed, or converted to ac8 cept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition; and 

9 ‘‘(B) does not include an attached tubular de10 vice designed to accept, and capable of operating 

11 only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. 

12 ‘‘(31) The term ‘qualified law enforcement officer’ 

13 has the meaning given the term in section 926B.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION 

15 FEEDING DEVICES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 

17 States Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (u) 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(v)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to import, 

20 sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or affecting 

21 interstate or foreign commerce, a large capacity ammuni22 tion feeding device. 

23 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the possession 

24 of any large capacity ammunition feeding device otherwise 


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1 lawfully possessed on or before the date of enactment of 

2 the Keep Americans Safe Act. 

3 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— 

4 ‘‘(A) the importation for, manufacture for, sale 

5 to, transfer to, or possession by the United States 

6 or a department or agency of the United States or 

7 a State or a department, agency, or political subdivi8 sion of a State, or a sale or transfer to or possession 

9 by a qualified law enforcement officer employed by 

10 the United States or a department or agency of the 

11 United States or a State or a department, agency, 

12 or political subdivision of a State for purposes of law 

13 enforcement (whether on or off-duty), or a sale or 

14 transfer to or possession by a campus law enforce15 ment officer for purposes of law enforcement (wheth16 er on or off-duty); 

17 ‘‘(B) the importation for, or sale or transfer to 

18 a licensee under title I of the Atomic Energy Act of 

19 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) for purposes of estab20 lishing and maintaining an on-site physical protec21 tion system and security organization required by 

22 Federal law, or possession by an employee or con23 tractor of such licensee on-site for such purposes or 

24 off-site for purposes of licensee-authorized training 

25 or transportation of nuclear materials; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the possession, by an individual who is re2 tired in good standing from service with a law en3 forcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited 

4 from receiving ammunition, of a large capacity am5 munition feeding device— 

6 ‘‘(i) sold or transferred to the individual by 

7 the agency upon such retirement; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) that the individual purchased, or oth9 erwise obtained, for official use before such re10 tirement; or 

11 ‘‘(D) the importation, sale, manufacture, trans12 fer, or possession of any large capacity ammunition 

13 feeding device by a licensed manufacturer or licensed 

14 importer for the purposes of testing or experimen15 tation authorized by the Attorney General. 

16 ‘‘(4) For purposes of paragraph (3)(A), the term 

17 ‘campus law enforcement officer’ means an individual who 

18 is— 

19 ‘‘(A) employed by a private institution of higher 

20 education that is eligible for funding under title IV 

21 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

22 1070 et seq.); 

23 ‘‘(B) responsible for the prevention or investiga24 tion of crime involving injury to persons or property, 


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1 including apprehension or detention of persons for 

2 such crimes; 

3 ‘‘(C) authorized by Federal, State, or local law 

4 to carry a firearm, execute search warrants, and 

5 make arrests; and 

6 ‘‘(D) recognized, commissioned, or certified by 

7 a government entity as a law enforcement officer.’’. 

8 (b) IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS FOR LARGE CAPAC9 ITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.—Section 923(i) of 

10 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following: ‘‘A large capacity ammunition feeding 

12 device manufactured after the date of enactment of the 

13 Keep Americans Safe Act shall be identified by a serial 

14 number and the date on which the device was manufac15 tured or made, legibly and conspicuously engraved or cast 

16 on the device, and such other identification as the Attor17 ney General shall by regulations prescribe.’’. 

18 (c) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF LARGE CAPACITY

19 AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.—Section 924(d) of title 

20 18, United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) in the first sentence— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘Any firearm or ammu24 nition involved in’’ and inserting ‘‘Any fireVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S447.IS S447

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1 arm or ammunition or large capacity am2 munition feeding device involved in’’; 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘(k), or (v)’’; and 

5 (iii) by striking ‘‘any firearm or am6 munition intended’’ and inserting ‘‘any 

7 firearm or ammunition or large capacity 

8 ammunition feeding device intended’’; and 

9 (B) in the second and third sentences, by 

10 inserting ‘‘or large capacity ammunition feeding 

11 device’’ after ‘‘firearms or ammunition’’ each 

12 place the term appears; 

13 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or 

15 large capacity ammunition feeding device’’ after 

16 ‘‘firearms or ammunition’’; and 

17 (B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or 

18 large capacity ammunition feeding devices’’ 

19 after ‘‘firearms or quantities of ammunition’’; 

20 and 

21 (3) in paragraph (3)(E), by inserting ‘‘922(v),’’ 

22 after ‘‘922(n),’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

2 Section 924(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States Code, 

3 is amended by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ and inserting ‘‘(q), or 

4 (v)’’. 

5 SEC. 5. USE OF BYRNE GRANTS FOR BUY-BACK PROGRAMS 

6 FOR LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEED7 ING DEVICES. 

8 Section 501(a)(1) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

9 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

10 10152(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(I) Compensation for surrendered large 

13 capacity ammunition feeding devices, as that 

14 term is defined in section 921 of title 18, 

15 United States Code, under buy-back programs 

16 for large capacity ammunition feeding devices.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

18 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

19 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend20 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti21 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 

22 by this Act, and the application of such provision or 

23 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af24 fected thereby. 

Æ 


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