I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1186 

To regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

Mr. DEUTCH (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. TITUS, Mr. 

AGUILAR, Mr. BERA, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CASE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CRIST, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JOHNSON

of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 

York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MORELLE, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PETERS, 

Ms. PINGREE, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 

SCHNEIDER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. 

SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. VISCLOSKY, 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILSON of 

Florida, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. NEGUSE, and Mr. 

GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; which was 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keep Americans Safe 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

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

8 device’— 

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

10 helical feeding device, or similar device, including 

11 any such device joined or coupled with another in 

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

13 can be readily restored, changed, or converted to ac14 cept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition; and 

15 ‘‘(B) does not include an attached tubular de16 vice designed to accept, and capable of operating 

17 only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. 

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

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

20 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION 

21 FEEDING DEVICES. 

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

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

24 the following: 

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

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


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1 interstate or foreign commerce, a large capacity ammuni2 tion feeding device. 

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

4 of any large capacity ammunition feeding device otherwise 

5 lawfully possessed on or before the date of enactment of 

6 the Keep Americans Safe Act. 

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

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

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

10 or a department or agency of the United States or 

11 a State or a department, agency, or political subdivi12 sion of a State, or a sale or transfer to or possession 

13 by a qualified law enforcement officer employed by 

14 the United States or a department or agency of the 

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

16 or political subdivision of a State for purposes of law 

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

18 transfer to or possession by a campus law enforce19 ment officer for purposes of law enforcement (wheth20 er on or off-duty); 

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

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

23 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) for purposes of estab24 lishing and maintaining an on-site physical protec25 tion system and security organization required by 


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1 Federal law, or possession by an employee or con2 tractor of such licensee on-site for such purposes or 

3 off-site for purposes of licensee-authorized training 

4 or transportation of nuclear materials; 

5 ‘‘(C) the possession, by an individual who is re6 tired in good standing from service with a law en7 forcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited 

8 from receiving ammunition, of a large capacity am9 munition feeding device— 

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

11 the agency upon such retirement; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) that the individual purchased, or oth13 erwise obtained, for official use before such re14 tirement; or 

15 ‘‘(D) the importation, sale, manufacture, trans16 fer, or possession of any large capacity ammunition 

17 feeding device by a licensed manufacturer or licensed 

18 importer for the purposes of testing or experimen19 tation authorized by the Attorney General. 

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

21 ‘campus law enforcement officer’ means an individual who 

22 is— 

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

24 education that is eligible for funding under title IV 


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

2 1070 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(B) responsible for the prevention or investiga4 tion of crime involving injury to persons or property, 

5 including apprehension or detention of persons for 

6 such crimes; 

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

8 to carry a firearm, execute search warrants, and 

9 make arrests; and 

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

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

12 (b) IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS FOR LARGE CAPAC13 ITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.—Section 923(i) of 

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

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

16 device manufactured after the date of enactment of the 

17 Keep Americans Safe Act shall be identified by a serial 

18 number and the date on which the device was manufac19 tured or made, legibly and conspicuously engraved or cast 

20 on the device, and such other identification as the Attor21 ney General shall by regulations prescribe.’’. 

22 (c) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF LARGE CAPACITY

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

24 18, United States Code, is amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) in the first sentence— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘Any firearm or ammu3 nition involved in’’ and inserting ‘‘Any fire4 arm or ammunition or large capacity am5 munition feeding device involved in’’; 

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

7 ‘‘(k), or (v)’’; and 

8 (iii) by striking ‘‘any firearm or am9 munition intended’’ and inserting ‘‘any 

10 firearm or ammunition or large capacity 

11 ammunition feeding device intended’’; and 

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

13 inserting ‘‘or large capacity ammunition feeding 

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

15 place the term appears; 

16 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

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

18 large capacity ammunition feeding device’’ after 

19 ‘‘firearms or ammunition’’; and 

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

21 large capacity ammunition feeding devices’’ 

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

23 and 

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

25 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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