II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1435 

To provide an amnesty period during which veterans and their family members can register certain firearms in the National Firearms Registration 

and Transfer Record, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2017 

Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide an amnesty period during which veterans and 

their family members can register certain firearms in 

the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, 

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 ‘‘Veterans’ Heritage 

5 Firearms Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMNESTY PERIOD FOR VETERANS TO REGISTER 

2 QUALIFYING FIREARMS. 

3 (a) REGISTRATION.—Subject to such regulations as 

4 the Attorney General may prescribe, the applicable veteran 

5 or a member of the family of such a veteran, who owns 

6 and possesses a qualifying firearm, may register the fire7 arm in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer 

8 Record (described in section 5841 of the Internal Revenue 

9 Code of 1986) during the amnesty period. 

10 (b) QUALIFYING FIREARM.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 

12 the term ‘‘qualifying firearm’’ means any firearm 

13 which was acquired— 

14 (A) before October 31, 1968; and 

15 (B) by a veteran, while the veteran was a 

16 member of the Armed Forces and was stationed 

17 outside the continental United States. 

18 (2) PRESUMPTION OF VALIDITY.—In the ab19 sence of clear and convincing evidence to the con20 trary, the Attorney General shall accept as true and 

21 accurate any affidavit, document, or other evidence 

22 submitted by an individual to establish that a fire23 arm meets the requirements of paragraph (1). 

24 (c) HEARINGS.—If the Attorney General determines 

25 that an individual may not register a firearm under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jul 07, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1435.IS S1435

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1 section (a) during the amnesty period, the Attorney Gen2 eral, on the request of such individual, shall— 

3 (1) provide the individual any evidence on which 

4 the Attorney General’s decision is based; and 

5 (2) promptly hold a hearing to review the deter6 mination. 

7 (d) LIMITED IMMUNITY.— 

8 (1) CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER TITLE 18.—An 

9 individual who registers a firearm under subsection 

10 (a) of this section— 

11 (A) shall be treated, for purposes of sub12 sections (a)(3) and (o) of section 922 of title 

13 18, United States Code, as having lawfully ac14 quired and possessed the firearm before the 

15 date of the enactment of chapter 44 of such 

16 title and of each provision of that chapter; and 

17 (B) shall not be liable for any violation of 

18 that chapter which— 

19 (i) is based solely on the ownership, 

20 possession, transportation, importation, or 

21 alteration of the firearm by the individual; 

22 and 

23 (ii) occurred before or concurrent with 

24 the registration. 


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1 (2) CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER INTERNAL

2 REVENUE CODE.—Except as provided in paragraph 

3 (3), an individual who registers a firearm under sub4 section (a) shall not be liable for a violation of chap5 ter 53 or 75 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

6 with respect to the firearm which occurred before or 

7 concurrent with the registration. 

8 (3) TRANSFER TAX LIABILITY.—Paragraph (2) 

9 shall not affect the liability of any individual for any 

10 transfer tax imposed under section 5811 of the In11 ternal Revenue Code of 1986. 

12 (4) ATTEMPTS TO REGISTER.—In the case of 

13 an applicable veteran or a member of such a vet14 eran’s family who attempts to register a qualifying 

15 firearm in the National Firearms Registration and 

16 Transfer Record at a time other than during the 

17 amnesty period, paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) shall 

18 apply with respect to the individual if the individual 

19 surrenders the firearm to a law enforcement agency 

20 not later than 30 days after notification by the At21 torney General of potential criminal liability for con22 tinued possession of the firearm. 

23 (e) FORFEITURE.—A firearm registered under sub24 section (a) shall not be subject to seizure or forfeiture 

25 under chapter 53 or 75 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 or chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, for 

2 a violation of any such chapter with respect to the firearm 

3 which occurred before or concurrent with the registration. 

4 (f) NOTICE; FORMS; MAILBOX RULE.— 

5 (1) NOTICE OF AMNESTY PERIOD.—The Attor6 ney General shall provide clear printed notices pro7 viding information regarding the amnesty period and 

8 registering a firearm during the period. To the ex9 tent feasible, the Attorney General shall ensure that 

10 the notices are posted in post offices, law enforce11 ment buildings, and businesses of licensed firearms 

12 dealers. 

13 (2) VA OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Veterans 

14 Affairs, in consultation with the Attorney General, 

15 shall carry out an outreach program and develop a 

16 communications strategy to provide to veterans in17 formation regarding the amnesty period and reg18 istering a firearm during the period, including by 

19 posting notices in facilities of the Department of 

20 Veterans Affairs and on the Internet website of the 

21 Department. 

22 (3) FORMS.—The Attorney General shall make 

23 available any forms necessary for registering a fire24 arm in the National Firearms Registration and 

25 Transfer Record. To the extent feasible, the AttorVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jul 07, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1435.IS S1435

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1 ney General shall make such forms available in the 

2 locations referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) and 

3 through the Internet website for the Bureau of Alco4 hol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. 

5 (4) MAILBOX RULE.—For purposes of this sec6 tion, the Attorney General shall treat any form that 

7 is postmarked during the amnesty period as received 

8 during the amnesty period. 

9 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) AMNESTY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘amnesty pe11 riod’’ means the 180-day period beginning on the 

12 date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 (2) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the 

15 meaning given the term in section 5845 of the Inter16 nal Revenue Code of 1986, except that the term 

17 does not include— 

18 (A) any device described in subsection 

19 (f)(1) of such section; or 

20 (B) any combination of parts— 

21 (i) designed or intended for use in 

22 converting any device into a device de23 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 


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1 (ii) from which a device described in 

2 subparagraph (A) may be readily assem3 bled. 

4 (3) APPLICABLE VETERAN.—The term ‘‘appli5 cable veteran’’ means, with respect to a firearm, the 

6 veteran referred to in subsection (b)(1) with respect 

7 to the firearm. 

8 (4) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

9 meaning given such term in section 101 of title 38, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (5) FAMILY.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘family’’ 

13 means, with respect to a veteran, any grand14 parent of the veteran or of any spouse of the 

15 veteran, any lineal descendant of any such 

16 grandparent, and any spouse of any such lineal 

17 descendant. 

18 (B) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of 

19 subparagraph (A): 

20 (i) A spouse of an individual who is 

21 legally separated from the individual under 

22 a decree of divorce or separate mainte23 nance shall be treated as the spouse of the 

24 individual. 


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1 (ii) Individuals related by the half 

2 blood or by legal adoption shall be treated 

3 as if they are related by the whole blood. 

4 (6) CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—The term 

5 ‘‘continental United States’’ means the several 

6 States and the District of Columbia, but does not in7 clude Alaska or Hawaii. 

8 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF FIREARMS TO MUSEUMS. 

9 (a) TRANSFER OF FORFEITED FIREARMS TO MUSE10 UMS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

12 transfer each firearm which has been forfeited to the 

13 United States to the first qualified museum that 

14 submits a request for the firearm in such form and 

15 manner as the Attorney General may specify. 

16 (2) DESTRUCTION OF FORFEITED FIREARMS

17 PROHIBITED.—The Attorney General shall not de18 stroy any firearm which has been forfeited to the 

19 United States until the end of the 5-year period be20 ginning on the date of the forfeiture. 

21 (3) CATALOGUE OF FIREARMS.—With respect 

22 to each firearm that is available to be transferred to 

23 a museum under paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen24 eral shall, not later than 60 days after the forfeiture 

25 of the firearm, publish information which identifies 


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1 the firearm (including a picture) on the web page of 

2 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Ex3 plosives. The information shall be available to the 

4 public without cost and without restriction. 

5 (4) REGISTRATION OF FIREARMS.—Any firearm 

6 transferred under paragraph (1) to a qualified mu7 seum shall be registered to the transferee in the Na8 tional Firearms Registration and Transfer Record 

9 (described in section 5841 of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986). 

11 (5) FIREARM.—In this subsection, the term 

12 ‘‘firearm’’ means any firearm (as defined in section 

13 2(g)(2) of this Act) which is treated as a curio or 

14 relic under chapter 44 of title 18, United States 

15 Code. 

16 (6) QUALIFIED MUSEUM.—In this subsection, 

17 the term ‘‘qualified museum’’ means— 

18 (A) any museum owned or operated by a 

19 unit of Federal, State, or local government; and 

20 (B) any museum which— 

21 (i) is open to the public; 

22 (ii) is incorporated as a not-for-profit 

23 corporation under applicable State law; 

24 (iii) may possess a firearm in the col25 lection of the museum under the laws of 


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1 the State in which the collection is dis2 played; 

3 (iv) holds a license under chapter 44 

4 of title 18, United States Code, as a col5 lector of curios or relics; and 

6 (v) certifies to the Attorney General 

7 that— 

8 (I) the museum is not engaged in 

9 the trade or business of buying or 

10 selling firearms; 

11 (II) with respect to the transfer 

12 of any firearm under paragraph (1), 

13 the museum is not requesting the 

14 transfer of the firearm for purpose of 

15 sale; and 

16 (III) the museum shall, not later 

17 than 90 days after the museum ceases 

18 operations, file an application pursu19 ant to chapter 53 of the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986 to transfer any 

21 machinegun transferred to the mu22 seum under paragraph (1) to an enti23 ty or person who may lawfully possess 

24 the machinegun under section 922(o) 

25 of title 18, United States Code, or 


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1 abandon the machinegun to Federal, 

2 State, or local law enforcement au3 thorities. 

4 (b) TRANSFER OF MACHINEGUNS TO MUSEUMS.— 

5 Section 922(o)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

8 the end; 

9 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub10 paragraph (C); and 

11 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(B) a transfer to or by, or possession by, 

14 a museum that is open to the public and incor15 porated as a not-for-profit corporation under 

16 applicable State law; or’’. 

Æ 


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