I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 717 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a Federal firearms 

licensee from selling or delivering certain semiautomatic centerfire rifles 

to a person under 21 years of age, with exceptions for active duty 

military personnel and full-time law enforcement officers, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2019 

Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, 

Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. 

CARBAJAL, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 

Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, 

Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. FUDGE, 

Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. 

JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KING of 

New York, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. MAST, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. 

MCBATH, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. 

NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. 

RICHMOND, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. VEASEY, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Mr. YARMUTH, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a Federal 

firearms licensee from selling or delivering certain semiautomatic centerfire rifles to a person under 21 years 

of age, with exceptions for active duty military personnel 


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and full-time law enforcement officers, 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 ‘‘Raise the Age Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEE 

6 SELLING OR DELIVERING CERTAIN SEMI7 AUTOMATIC CENTERFIRE RIFLES TO A PER8 SON UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE, WITH EXCEP9 TIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922(b)(1) of title 18, 

11 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1)(A) any firearm or ammunition to any indi13 vidual who the licensee knows or has reasonable 

14 cause to believe has not attained 18 years of age; 

15 ‘‘(B) any semiautomatic centerfire rifle that has 

16 or accepts a magazine with a capacity exceeding 5 

17 rounds, to any individual who the licensee knows or 

18 has reasonable cause to believe has not attained 21 

19 years of age and is not a qualified individual; or 

20 ‘‘(C) if the firearm or ammunition is not a 

21 semiautomatic centerfire rifle described in subpara22 graph (B) and is other than a shotgun or rifle, or 

23 ammunition for a shotgun or rifle, to any individual 


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1 who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to 

2 believe has not attained 21 years of age;’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 922(c)(1) 

4 of such title is amended by striking ‘‘in the case of any 

5 firearm’’ and all that follows through ‘‘eighteen years or 

6 more of age’’ and inserting ‘‘in the case of a semiauto7 matic centerfire rifle that has or accepts a magazine with 

8 a capacity exceeding 5 rounds, I am at least 21 years of 

9 age or a qualified individual (as defined in section 

10 921(a)(30) of title 18, United States Code), in the case 

11 of a firearm other than a semiautomatic centerfire rifle 

12 that has or accepts a magazine with a capacity exceeding 

13 5 rounds, a shotgun or a rifle, I am at least 21 years 

14 of age, or that, in the case of a shotgun or a rifle, I am 

15 at least 18 years of age’’. 

16 (c) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—Section 

17 921(a) of such title is amended by inserting after para18 graph (29) the following: 

19 ‘‘(30) The term ‘qualified individual’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces on active 

21 duty; and 

22 ‘‘(B) a full-time employee of the United States, 

23 a State, or a political subdivision of a State who in 

24 the course of his or her official duties is authorized 

25 to carry a firearm.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. OPERATION OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVES2 TIGATION’S PUBLIC ACCESS LINE. 

3 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal 

5 Bureau of Investigation (in this section referred to as the 

6 ‘‘FBI’’) shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary 

7 of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

8 House of Representatives a report regarding operation of 

9 the FBI’s public access line. 

10 (b) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The report required by 

11 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, include the following: 

12 (1) A description of the protocols and proce13 dures in effect with respect to information-sharing 

14 between the public access line and the field offices 

15 of the FBI. 

16 (2) Recommendations for improving the proto17 cols and procedures to improve the information-shar18 ing. 

Æ 


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