I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5073 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to require microstamping of all firearms manufactured in or imported into the United 

States, and ballistics testing of all firearms in the custody of the Federal 

Government. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2006 

Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to 

require microstamping of all firearms manufactured in 

or imported into the United States, and ballistics testing 

of all firearms in the custody of the Federal Government. 

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 ‘‘Technological Resource 

5 to Assist Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BAN ON MANUFACTURE OR IMPORTATION OF FIRE2 ARMS THAT ARE NOT MICROSTAMPED. 

3 (a) LICENSE REVOCATION.—Section 923(e) of title 

4 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 

5 penultimate sentence the following: ‘‘The Attorney Gen6 eral shall, after notice and opportunity for hearing, revoke 

7 the license of an importer who imports into the United 

8 States a firearm that is not microstamped, or the license 

9 of a manufacturer who manufactures a firearm that is not 

10 microstamped or a microstamped firearm that does not 

11 transfer the array of characters constituting the 

12 microstamp onto the cartridge case of any ammunition 

13 fired from the firearm.’’. 

14 (b) DEFINITION OF MICROSTAMPED.—Section 

15 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by add16 ing at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(36) The term ‘microstamped’ means, with respect 

18 to a firearm, that etched into the interior surface or inter19 nal working parts of the firearm is an array of characters 

20 which identify the make, model, and serial number of the 

21 firearm.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. BALLISTICS TESTING OF CRIME GUNS; COMPUT23 ERIZATION OF RECORDS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 923 of title 18, United 

25 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol26 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(m)(1) The Attorney General shall conduct ballistics 

2 testing of any firearm in the custody of the Federal Gov3 ernment if there is reason to believe that the firearm has 

4 been involved in a crime under Federal or State law, and 

5 establish an electronic database containing records of the 

6 results of the testing. 

7 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall establish a computer 

8 system through which State and local law enforcement 

9 agencies can promptly access the ballistics records stored 

10 under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(3) Not later than 3 years after the date of enact12 ment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the At13 torney General shall submit to the Committees on the Ju14 diciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives 

15 a report regarding the implementation of this subsection, 

16 including— 

17 ‘‘(A) the number of Federal and State criminal 

18 investigations, arrests, indictments, and prosecutions 

19 of all cases in which access to ballistics records, pro20 vided through the system established under this sec21 tion and under similar systems operated by any 

22 State, served as a valuable investigative tool in the 

23 prosecution of crimes involving firearms; and 

24 ‘‘(B) the extent to which ballistics records are 

25 accessible across jurisdictions. 


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1 ‘‘(4) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 

2 Attorney General $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

3 2006 through 2009, to carry out this subsection.’’. 

4 (b) DEFINITION OF BALLISTICS.—Section 921(a) of 

5 such title, as amended by section 2(b) of this Act, is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(37) The term ‘ballistics’ means a comparative anal8 ysis of fired bullets and cartridge casings to identify the 

9 firearm from which bullets and cartridge casings have 

10 been discharged, through identification of the unique 

11 markings that the firearm imprints on cartridge casings 

12 of ammunition fired from the firearm.’’. 

Æ 


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