II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1945 

To regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 5, 2017 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. REED, Mr. KAINE, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CARPER, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and 

Ms. HARRIS) 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: 

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

10 device’— 


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

2 helical feeding device, or similar device, including 

3 any such device joined or coupled with another in 

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

5 can be readily restored, changed, or converted to ac6 cept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition; and 

7 ‘‘(B) does not include an attached tubular de8 vice designed to accept, and capable of operating 

9 only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. 

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

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

12 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION 

13 FEEDING DEVICES. 

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

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

16 the following: 

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

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

19 interstate or foreign commerce, a large capacity ammuni20 tion feeding device. 

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

22 of any large capacity ammunition feeding device otherwise 

23 lawfully possessed on or before the date of enactment of 

24 the Keep Americans Safe Act. 

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


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

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

3 or a department or agency of the United States or 

4 a State or a department, agency, or political subdivi5 sion of a State, or a sale or transfer to or possession 

6 by a qualified law enforcement officer employed by 

7 the United States or a department or agency of the 

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

9 or political subdivision of a State for purposes of law 

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

11 transfer to or possession by a campus law enforce12 ment officer for purposes of law enforcement (wheth13 er on or off-duty); 

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

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

16 1954 for purposes of establishing and maintaining 

17 an on-site physical protection system and security 

18 organization required by Federal law, or possession 

19 by an employee or contractor of such licensee on-site 

20 for such purposes or off-site for purposes of licensee21 authorized training or transportation of nuclear ma22 terials; 

23 ‘‘(C) the possession, by an individual who is re24 tired in good standing from service with a law en25 forcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited 


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1 from receiving ammunition, of a large capacity am2 munition feeding device— 

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

4 the agency upon such retirement; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) that the individual purchased, or oth6 erwise obtained, for official use before such re7 tirement; or 

8 ‘‘(D) the importation, sale, manufacture, trans9 fer, or possession of any large capacity ammunition 

10 feeding device by a licensed manufacturer or licensed 

11 importer for the purposes of testing or experimen12 tation authorized by the Attorney General. 

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

14 ‘campus law enforcement officer’ means an individual who 

15 is— 

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

17 education that is eligible for funding under title IV 

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

19 1070 et seq.); 

20 ‘‘(B) responsible for the prevention or investiga21 tion of crime involving injury to persons or property, 

22 including apprehension or detention of persons for 

23 such crimes; 


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

2 to carry a firearm, execute search warrants, and 

3 make arrests; and 

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

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

6 (b) IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS FOR LARGE CAPAC7 ITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.—Section 923(i) of 

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

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

10 device manufactured after the date of enactment of the 

11 Keep Americans Safe Act shall be identified by a serial 

12 number and the date on which the device was manufac13 tured or made, legibly and conspicuously engraved or cast 

14 on the device, and such other identification as the Attor15 ney General shall by regulations prescribe.’’. 

16 (c) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF LARGE CAPACITY

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

18 18, United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘or large capacity ammu21 nition feeding device’’ after ‘‘firearm or ammu22 nition’’ each place the term appears; 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘or large capacity ammu24 nition feeding device’’ after ‘‘firearms or ammu25 nition’’ each place the term appears; and 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(k), or (v)’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)(C), by inserting ‘‘or large 

4 capacity ammunition feeding devices’’ after ‘‘fire5 arms or quantities of ammunition’’; and 

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

7 after ‘‘922(n),’’. 

8 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

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

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

11 (v)’’. 

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

13 FOR LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEED14 ING DEVICES. 

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

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

17 10152(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(I) Compensation for surrendered large 

20 capacity ammunition feeding devices, as that 

21 term is defined in section 921 of title 18, 

22 United States Code, under buy-back programs 

23 for large capacity ammunition feeding devices.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

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

3 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend4 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti5 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 

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

7 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af8 fected thereby. 

Æ 


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