I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 442 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2009 

Mr. REHBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 2009’’. 


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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 Nov 24 2008 07:00 Jan 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H442.IH H442

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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, buildings of the Department of Vet12 erans Affairs, and businesses of licensed firearms 

13 dealers. 

14 (2) FORMS.—The Attorney General shall make 

15 available any forms necessary for registering a fire16 arm in the National Firearms Registration and 

17 Transfer Record. To the extent feasible, the Attor18 ney General shall make such forms available in the 

19 locations referred to in paragraph (1) and through 

20 the website for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

21 Firearms, and Explosives. 

22 (3) MAILBOX RULE.—For purposes of this sec23 tion, the Attorney General shall treat any form that 

24 is postmarked during the amnesty period as received 

25 during the amnesty period. 


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1 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) AMNESTY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘amnesty pe3 riod’’ means the 90-day period beginning on the date 

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

5 this Act. 

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

7 meaning given the term in section 5845 of the Inter8 nal Revenue Code of 1986, except that the term 

9 does not include— 

10 (A) any device described in subsection 

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

12 (B) any combination of parts— 

13 (i) designed or intended for use in 

14 converting any device into a device de15 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 

16 (ii) from which a device described in 

17 subparagraph (A) may be readily assem18 bled. 

19 (3) APPLICABLE VETERAN.—The term ‘‘appli20 cable veteran’’ means, with respect to a firearm, the 

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

22 to the firearm. 

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

24 meaning given such term in section 101(2) of title 

25 38, United States Code. 


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1 (5) FAMILY.— 

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

3 means, with respect to a veteran, any grand4 parent of the veteran or of any spouse of the 

5 veteran, any lineal descendant of any such 

6 grandparent, and any spouse of any such lineal 

7 descendant. 

8 (B) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of 

9 subparagraph (A): 

10 (i) A spouse of an individual who is 

11 legally separated from the individual under 

12 a decree of divorce or separate mainte13 nance shall be treated as the spouse of the 

14 individual. 

15 (ii) Individuals related by the half 

16 blood or by legal adoption shall be treated 

17 as if they are related by the whole blood. 

18 (6) CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—The term 

19 ‘‘continental United States’’ means the several 

20 States and the District of Columbia, but does not in21 clude Alaska or Hawaii. 

22 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF FIREARMS TO MUSEUMS. 

23 (a) TRANSFER OF FORFEITED FIREARMS TO MUSE24 UMS.— 


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

2 transfer each firearm which has been forfeited to the 

3 United States to the first qualified museum that 

4 submits a request for the firearm in such form and 

5 manner as the Attorney General may specify. 

6 (2) DESTRUCTION OF FORFEITED FIREARMS

7 PROHIBITED.—The Attorney General shall not de8 stroy any firearm which has been forfeited to the 

9 United States until the end of the 5-year period be10 ginning on the date of the forfeiture. 

11 (3) CATALOGUE OF FIREARMS.—With respect 

12 to each firearm that is available to be transferred to 

13 a museum under paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen14 eral shall, not later than 60 days after the forfeiture 

15 of the firearm, publish information which identifies 

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

17 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Ex18 plosives. The information shall be available to the 

19 public without cost and without restriction. 

20 (4) REGISTRATION OF FIREARMS.—Any firearm 

21 transferred under paragraph (1) to a qualified mu22 seum shall be registered to the transferee in the Na23 tional Firearms Registration and Transfer Record 

24 (described in section 5841 of the Internal Revenue 

25 Code of 1986). 


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

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

3 2(g)(2) of this Act) which is treated as a curio or 

4 relic under chapter 44 of title 18, United States 

5 Code. 

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

7 the term ‘‘qualified museum’’ means— 

8 (A) any museum owned or operated by a 

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

10 (B) any museum which— 

11 (i) is open to the public; 

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

13 corporation under applicable State law; 

14 (iii) may possess a firearm in the col15 lection of the museum under the laws of 

16 the State in which the collection is dis17 played; 

18 (iv) holds a license under chapter 44 

19 of title 18, United States Code, as a col20 lector of curios or relics; and 

21 (v) certifies to the Attorney General 

22 that— 

23 (I) the museum is not engaged in 

24 the trade or business of buying or 

25 selling firearms; 


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1 (II) with respect to the transfer 

2 of any firearm under paragraph (1), 

3 the museum is not requesting the 

4 transfer of the firearm for purpose of 

5 sale; and 

6 (III) the museum shall, not later 

7 than 90 days after the museum ceases 

8 operations, file an application pursu9 ant to chapter 53 of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986 to transfer any 

11 machinegun transferred to the mu12 seum under paragraph (1) to an enti13 ty or person who may lawfully possess 

14 the machinegun under section 922(o) 

15 of title 18, United States Code, or 

16 abandon the machinegun to Federal, 

17 State, or local law enforcement au18 thorities. 

19 (b) TRANSFER OF MACHINEGUNS TO MUSEUMS.— 

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

21 amended— 

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

23 the end; 

24 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub25 paragraph (C); and 


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1 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol2 lowing: 

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

4 a museum that is open to the public and incor5 porated as a not-for-profit corporation under 

6 applicable State law; or’’. 

Æ 


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