II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1383 

To regulate firearm silencers and firearm mufflers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. KAINE, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BOOKER, 

and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To regulate firearm silencers and firearm mufflers. 

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 ‘‘Help Empower Ameri5 cans to Respond Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘HEAR Act of 

6 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

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

9 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(C) any fire2 arm muffler or firearm silencer; or (D)’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘or (C)’’; and 

4 (2) by inserting after paragraph (30) the fol5 lowing: 

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

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

8 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON FIREARM SILENCERS AND FIRE9 ARM MUFFLERS. 

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

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

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(v)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall 

14 be unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, 

15 transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign 

16 commerce, a firearm silencer or firearm muffler. 

17 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— 

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

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

20 or a department or agency of the United States or 

21 a State or a department, agency, or political subdivi22 sion of a State, or a sale or transfer to or possession 

23 by a qualified law enforcement officer employed by 

24 the United States or a department or agency of the 

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


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1 or political subdivision of a State for purposes of law 

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

3 transfer to or possession by a campus law enforce4 ment officer for purposes of law enforcement (wheth5 er on or off-duty); 

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

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

8 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) for purposes of estab9 lishing and maintaining an on-site physical protec10 tion system and security organization required by 

11 Federal law, or possession by an employee or con12 tractor of such licensee on-site for such purposes or 

13 off-site for purposes of licensee-authorized training 

14 or transportation of nuclear materials; or 

15 ‘‘(C) the importation for, manufacture for, sale 

16 to, transfer to, or possession by a licensed manufac17 turer or licensed importer for the purposes of testing 

18 or experimentation authorized by the Attorney Gen19 eral. 

20 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (2)(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) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF FIREARM SILENC13 ERS AND FIREARM MUFFLERS.—Section 924(d) of title 

14 18, United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘(k), or (v)’’; and 

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

18 after ‘‘922(n),’’. 

19 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

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

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

22 (v)’’. 


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

2 FOR FIREARM SILENCERS AND FIREARM 

3 MUFFLERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 501(a)(1) of title I of the 

5 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

6 U.S.C. 10152(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(J) Compensation for surrendered fire9 arm silencers and firearm mufflers, as those 

10 terms are defined in section 921 of title 18, 

11 United States Code, under the buy-back pro12 gram for firearm silencers and firearm mufflers 

13 required under section 5(b) of the Help Em14 power Americans to Respond Act of 2023.’’. 

15 (b) REQUIREMENT.—During the 90-day period de16 scribed in section 6, the Attorney General shall establish 

17 and implement a buy-back program, to be carried out 

18 across the United States, to purchase firearm silencers 

19 and firearm mufflers (as defined in section 921(a) of title 

20 18, United States Code) from individuals seeking to com21 ply with the requirements of this Act and the amendments 

22 made by this Act. 

23 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

24 The amendments made by sections 2, 3, and 4 shall 

25 take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of 

26 enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 7. 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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