I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4748 

To ban the importation of semiautomatic assault weapons, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 15, 2016 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. CLARKE of 

New York, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HONDA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. LEE, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SWALWELL

of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 

and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ban the importation of semiautomatic assault weapons, 

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 ‘‘Imported Assault 

5 Weapons Ban of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BAN ON IMPORTATION OF SEMIAUTOMATIC AS2 SAULT WEAPONS. 

3 (a) PROHIBITIONS.— 

4 (1) IMPORTATION.—Section 925 of title 18, 

5 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following: 

7 ‘‘(g) For purposes of subsection (d)(3), a firearm 

8 shall not be considered to be generally recognized as par9 ticularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting pur10 poses if the firearm is— 

11 ‘‘(1) a semiautomatic assault weapon; 

12 ‘‘(2) a semiautomatic rifle that can accept, or 

13 be readily converted to accept, a large capacity am14 munition feeding device; 

15 ‘‘(3) a semiautomatic rifle with a fixed maga16 zine with a capacity of more than 10 rounds of am17 munition; 

18 ‘‘(4) the frame or receiver of any firearm the 

19 importation of which would be prohibited by reason 

20 of this subsection if assembled; or 

21 ‘‘(5) a firearm the importation of which would 

22 be prohibited by reason of this subsection but for the 

23 incorporation into the firearm of a thumbhole stock 

24 or any other characteristic that can function as a 

25 grip.’’. 


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1 (2) ASSEMBLY OF RIFLE THAT WOULD BE PRO2 HIBITED FROM IMPORTATION BUT FOR INCORPORA3 TION OF PART MADE IN THE UNITED STATES.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of such 

5 title is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(aa) It shall be unlawful to assemble a firearm the 

8 importation of which would be prohibited by reason of sec9 tion 925(g) but for the incorporation into the firearm of 

10 one or more parts made in the United States.’’. 

11 (B) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of such 

12 title is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(8) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(aa) 

15 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

16 5 years, or both.’’. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 921(a) of such title is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(30) The term ‘semiautomatic pistol’ means any re22 peating pistol that— 

23 ‘‘(A) utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing 

24 cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and 

25 chamber the next round; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) requires a separate pull of the trigger to 

2 fire each cartridge. 

3 ‘‘(31) The term ‘semiautomatic shotgun’ means any 

4 repeating shotgun that— 

5 ‘‘(A) utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing 

6 cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and 

7 chamber the next round; and 

8 ‘‘(B) requires a separate pull of the trigger to 

9 fire each cartridge.’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(36) The term ‘semiautomatic assault weapon’ 

12 means any of the following, regardless of country of manu13 facture or caliber of ammunition accepted: 

14 ‘‘(A) A semiautomatic rifle that has the capac15 ity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) A pistol grip. 

18 ‘‘(ii) A forward grip. 

19 ‘‘(iii) A folding, telescoping, or detachable 

20 stock. 

21 ‘‘(iv) A grenade launcher or rocket launch22 er. 

23 ‘‘(v) A barrel shroud. 

24 ‘‘(vi) A threaded barrel. 


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1 ‘‘(B) A semiautomatic rifle that has a fixed 

2 magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 

3 rounds, except for an attached tubular device de4 signed to accept, and capable of operating only with, 

5 .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. 

6 ‘‘(C) Any part, combination of parts, compo7 nent, device, attachment, or accessory that is de8 signed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of 

9 a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semiauto10 matic rifle into a machinegun. 

11 ‘‘(D) A semiautomatic pistol that has the ca12 pacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one 

13 of the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) A threaded barrel. 

15 ‘‘(ii) A second pistol grip. 

16 ‘‘(iii) A barrel shroud. 

17 ‘‘(iv) The capacity to accept a detachable 

18 magazine at some location outside of the pistol 

19 grip. 

20 ‘‘(v) A semiautomatic version of an auto21 matic firearm. 

22 ‘‘(E) A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed maga23 zine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 

24 rounds. 


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1 ‘‘(F) A semiautomatic shotgun that has any one 

2 of the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) A folding, telescoping, or detachable 

4 stock. 

5 ‘‘(ii) A pistol grip. 

6 ‘‘(iii) A fixed magazine with the capacity to 

7 accept more than 5 rounds. 

8 ‘‘(iv) The ability to accept a detachable 

9 magazine. 

10 ‘‘(v) A forward grip. 

11 ‘‘(vi) A grenade launcher or rocket launch12 er. 

13 ‘‘(G) Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder. 

14 ‘‘(H) All belt-fed semiautomatic firearms. 

15 ‘‘(I) Any combination of parts from which a 

16 firearm described in subparagraphs (A) through (H) 

17 can be assembled. 

18 ‘‘(J) The frame or receiver of a rifle or shotgun 

19 described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (F), (G), or 

20 (H). 

21 ‘‘(37) The term ‘large capacity ammunition feeding 

22 device’— 

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

24 or similar device, including any such device joined or 

25 coupled with another in any manner, that has an 


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1 overall capacity of, or that can be readily restored, 

2 changed, or converted to accept, more than 10 

3 rounds of ammunition; and 

4 ‘‘(B) does not include an attached tubular de5 vice designed to accept, and capable of operating 

6 only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. 

7 ‘‘(38) The term ‘barrel shroud’— 

8 ‘‘(A) means a shroud that is attached to, or 

9 partially or completely encircles, the barrel of a fire10 arm so that the shroud protects the user of the fire11 arm from heat generated by the barrel; and 

12 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

13 ‘‘(i) a slide that partially or completely en14 closes the barrel; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) an extension of the stock along the 

16 bottom of the barrel which does not encircle or 

17 substantially encircle the barrel. 

18 ‘‘(39) The term ‘detachable magazine’ means an am19 munition feeding device that can be removed from a fire20 arm without disassembly of the firearm action. 

21 ‘‘(40) The term ‘fixed magazine’ means an ammuni22 tion feeding device that is permanently fixed to the firearm 

23 in such a manner that it cannot be removed without dis24 assembly of the firearm. 


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1 ‘‘(41) The term ‘folding, telescoping, or detachable 

2 stock’ means a stock that folds, telescopes, detaches or 

3 otherwise operates to reduce the length, size, or any other 

4 dimension, or otherwise enhances the concealability, of a 

5 firearm. 

6 ‘‘(42) The term ‘forward grip’ means a grip located 

7 forward of the trigger that functions as a pistol grip. 

8 ‘‘(43) The term ‘rocket’ means any simple or complex 

9 tubelike device containing combustibles that on being ig10 nited liberate gases whose action propels the tube through 

11 the air and has a propellant charge of not more than 4 

12 ounces. 

13 ‘‘(44) The term ‘grenade launcher or rocket launcher’ 

14 means an attachment for use on a firearm that is designed 

15 to propel a grenade, rocket, or other similar destructive 

16 device. 

17 ‘‘(45) The term ‘pistol grip’ means a grip, a thumb18 hole stock, or any other characteristic that can function 

19 as a grip. 

20 ‘‘(46) The term ‘threaded barrel’ means a feature or 

21 characteristic that is designed in such a manner to allow 

22 for the attachment of a device such as a firearm silencer 

23 or a flash suppressor. 

24 ‘‘(47) The term ‘belt-fed semiautomatic firearm’ 

25 means any repeating firearm that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing 

2 cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and 

3 chamber the next round; 

4 ‘‘(B) requires a separate pull of the trigger to 

5 fire each cartridge; and 

6 ‘‘(C) has the capacity to accept a belt ammuni7 tion feeding device.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF LIST OF SEMIAUTOMATIC AS9 SAULT WEAPONS BANNED FROM IMPORTA10 TION. 

11 Not less frequently than every 12 months, the Direc12 tor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Ex13 plosives shall cause to be published in the Federal Reg14 ister— 

15 (1) a list of each firearm the importation of 

16 which is prohibited by reason of the amendments 

17 made by section 2; and 

18 (2) a list of each firearm an application for the 

19 importation of which was received by the Bureau, 

20 and whether the application was approved or denied. 

21 SEC. 4. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS. 

22 Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire24 arms, and Explosives shall submit to the Committee on 

25 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a written report 

2 on the implementation of this Act. 

Æ 


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