II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2926 

To prohibit the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of 

.50 caliber rifles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2023 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WYDEN, 

Mr. WELCH, Mr. KELLY, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To prohibit the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or 

possession of .50 caliber rifles, 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 ‘‘Stop Arming Cartels 

5 Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON RIFLES CAPABLE OF FIRING .50 

7 CALIBER AMMUNITION. 

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

9 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 922, by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(aa) RIFLES CAPABLE OF FIRING .50 CALIBER AM4 MUNITION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), it shall be unlawful for any person to im7 port, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or af8 fecting interstate or foreign commerce, a rifle capa9 ble of firing .50 caliber ammunition. 

10 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) GOVERNMENT USE.—Paragraph (1) 

12 shall not apply to the importation for, manufac13 ture for, sale to, transfer to, or possession by 

14 the United States, a department or agency of 

15 the United States, a State, or a department, 

16 agency, or political subdivision of a State, of a 

17 rifle capable of firing .50 caliber ammunition. 

18 ‘‘(B) GRANDFATHERED RIFLES.—Para19 graph (1) shall not apply to the sale, transfer, 

20 or possession of any rifle otherwise lawfully pos21 sessed on or before the date of enactment of the 

22 Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2023.’’; and 

23 (2) in section 924(a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘or 

24 (q)’’ and inserting ‘‘(q), or (aa)’’. 


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1 (b) INCLUSION OF CERTAIN RIFLES AS FIREARMS

2 UNDER NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5845(a) of the In4 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘and (8) a destructive device’’ and inserting ‘‘(8) a 

6 destructive device; and (9) a rifle which is capable 

7 of firing .50 caliber ammunition and is lawfully pos8 sessed on or before the date of enactment of the 

9 Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2023’’. 

10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara12 graph (B), the amendments made by this sub13 section shall take effect on the date which is 12 

14 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (B) REGISTRATION.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

17 subparagraph (A) or any other provision of 

18 law, any person possessing a rifle which is 

19 capable of firing .50 caliber ammunition 

20 which is not registered to such person in 

21 the National Firearms Registration and 

22 Transfer Record shall register each such 

23 rifle so possessed with the Secretary in 

24 such form and manner as the Secretary 

25 may require within the 12-month period 


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1 immediately following the date of enact2 ment of this Act. No fee or tax shall be im3 posed with respect to any registration re4 quired under this subparagraph. 

5 (ii) INCLUSION IN REGISTRY.—Any 

6 registration described in clause (i) shall be7 come a part of the National Firearms Reg8 istration and Transfer Record. No infor9 mation or evidence required to be sub10 mitted or retained by a natural person to 

11 register a firearm under this subparagraph 

12 shall be used, directly or indirectly, as evi13 dence against such person in any criminal 

14 proceeding with respect to a prior or con15 current violation of law. 

16 (C) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

17 (i) NATIONAL FIREARMS REGISTRA18 TION AND TRANSFER RECORD.—The term 

19 ‘‘National Firearms Registration and 

20 Transfer Record’’ means the registry es21 tablished pursuant to section 5841 of the 

22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

23 (ii) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Sec24 retary’’ has the same meaning given such 


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1 term under section 7701(a)(11)(B) of the 

2 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

3 SEC. 3. EXCEPTION TO COVERAGE UNDER PROTECTION OF 

4 LAWFUL COMMERCE IN ARMS ACT. 

5 Section 4(5)(A) of the Protection of Lawful Com6 merce in Arms Act (15 U.S.C. 7903(5)(A)) is amended— 

7 (1) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

8 (2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the 

9 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(vii) an action brought against a 

12 manufacturer or seller that knowingly sells 

13 or transfers a qualified product, or at14 tempts or conspires to do so, knowing or 

15 having reasonable cause to believe that the 

16 transaction is prohibited under section 

17 805(c) of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin 

18 Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1904(c)).’’. 

19 SEC. 4. FEDERAL FIREARM PROHIBITOR FOR SIGNIFICANT 

20 FOREIGN NARCOTICS TRAFFICKERS AND 

21 CERTAIN OTHER FOREIGN PERSONS. 

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

23 States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

25 end; 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (11) as para2 graph (12); 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (10) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(11) is— 

6 ‘‘(A) a significant foreign narcotics traf7 ficker publicly identified by the President in a 

8 report under subsection (b) or (h)(1) of section 

9 804 of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designa10 tion Act (21 U.S.C. 1903); or 

11 ‘‘(B) a foreign person designated by the 

12 Secretary of the Treasury under section 805(b) 

13 of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation 

14 Act (21 U.S.C. 1904(b)); or’’; and 

15 (4) in paragraph (12), as so redesignated, by 

16 striking ‘‘(10)’’ and inserting ‘‘(11)’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO

18 NICS.—Section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Pre19 vention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(D), by inserting ‘‘or 

21 that transfer of a firearm or ammunition to the indi22 vidual would violate subsection (d)(11) of such sec23 tion 922’’ after ‘‘section 922 of title 18, United 

24 States Code,’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (e)(1)— 


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

2 to whom transfer of a firearm would violate 

3 subsection (d)(11) of such section 922,’’ after 

4 ‘‘section 922 of title 18, United States Code or 

5 State law,’’; 

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

7 that transfer of a firearm or ammunition to the 

8 person would violate subsection (d)(11) of such 

9 section 922,’’ after ‘‘section 922 of title 18, 

10 United States Code,’’; 

11 (C) in subparagraph (F)(iii)(I), by striking 

12 ‘‘(g) or (n)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(11), (g), or 

13 (n)’’; and 

14 (D) in subparagraph (G)(i), by striking 

15 ‘‘(g) or (n)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(11), (g), or 

16 (n)’’; 

17 (3) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘or that 

18 transfer of a firearm to a prospective transferee 

19 would violate subsection (d)(11) of such section 

20 922,’’ after ‘‘section 922 of title 18, United States 

21 Code or State law,’’; and 

22 (4) in subsection (i)(2)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘persons,’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘persons who are’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

2 end the following: ‘‘, or to whom transfer of a 

3 firearm would violate subsection (d)(11) of such 

4 section 922’’. 

5 SEC. 5. ADDING RIFLES TO MULTIPLE FIREARM SALES RE6 PORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

7 Section 923(g)(3)(A) of title 18, United States Code, 

8 is amended by striking ‘‘pistols, or revolvers, or any com9 bination of pistols and revolvers’’ and inserting ‘‘pistols, 

10 revolvers, or rifles, or any combination of pistols, revolvers, 

11 and rifles’’. 

Æ 


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