I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2088 

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 

MAY 4, 2005 

Mr. GIBBONS (for himself, Mr. OTTER, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. CANNON, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. GOODE, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire, Mr. TERRY, Mr. BAKER, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. 

BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. TIBERI, 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BARTON of 

Texas, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. MCCOTTER, 

Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. ISSA, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. SHIMKUS, 

Mr. PEARCE, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

SALAZAR, Mr. KUHL of New York, Mr. HALL, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. 

FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. AKIN, 

Mr. BURGESS, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. ROSS, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. HERGER, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. LEWIS

of Kentucky, and Mr. CALVERT) 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. 
2 

•HR 2088 IH 

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 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMNESTY PERIOD FOR VETERANS TO REGISTER 

7 QUALIFYING FIREARMS. 

8 (a) REGISTRATION.—Subject to such regulations as 

9 the Attorney General may prescribe, the applicable veteran 

10 or a member of such a veteran’s family, who owns and 

11 possesses a qualifying firearm, may register such firearm 

12 in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer 

13 Record (described in section 5841 of the Internal Revenue 

14 Code of 1986) during the amnesty period. 

15 (b) QUALIFYING FIREARM.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 

17 the term ‘‘qualifying firearm’’ means any firearm 

18 which was acquired— 

19 (A) before October 31, 1968; and 

20 (B) by a veteran, while such veteran was 

21 a member of the Armed Forces and was sta22 tioned outside the continental United States. 

23 (2) PRESUMPTION OF VALIDITY.—With respect 

24 to any firearm, in the absence of clear and con25 vincing evidence to the contrary the Attorney Gen-
3 

•HR 2088 IH 

1 eral shall accept as true and accurate any affidavit, 

2 document, or other evidence submitted by an indi3 vidual to establish that such firearm meets the re4 quirements of paragraph (1). 

5 (c) HEARINGS.—If the Attorney General determines 

6 that any individual may not register a firearm under sub7 section (a) during the amnesty period, the Attorney Gen8 eral, upon the request of such individual, shall— 

9 (1) provide such individual any evidence on 

10 which the Attorney General’s decision is based; and 

11 (2) promptly hold a hearing to review such de12 termination. 

13 (d) LIMITED IMMUNITY.— 

14 (1) CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER TITLE 18.— 

15 Any individual who registers a firearm under sub16 section (a)— 

17 (A) shall be treated, for purposes of sub18 sections (a)(3) and (o) of section 922 of title 

19 18, United States Code, as having lawfully ac20 quired and possessed the firearm before the 

21 date of the enactment of chapter 44 of such 

22 title and each of such chapter’s provisions; and 

23 (B) shall not be liable under chapter 44 of 

24 title 18, United States Code, for any violation 

25 of such chapter which— 
4 

•HR 2088 IH 

1 (i) is based solely on such individual’s 

2 ownership, possession, transportation, im3 portation, or alteration of such firearm; 

4 and 

5 (ii) occurred before or concurrent with 

6 such registration. 

7 (2) CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER INTERNAL

8 REVENUE CODE.—Except as provided in paragraph 

9 (3), any individual who registers a firearm under 

10 subsection (a) shall not be liable under chapter 53 

11 or 75 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for any 

12 violation of such chapters which relates to such fire13 arm and which occurred before or concurrent with 

14 such registration. 

15 (3) TRANSFER TAX LIABILITY.—Paragraph (2) 

16 shall not affect the liability of any individual for any 

17 transfer tax imposed under section 5811 of the In18 ternal Revenue Code of 1986. 

19 (4) ATTEMPTS TO REGISTER.—In the case of 

20 an applicable veteran or a member of such a vet21 eran’s family who attempts to register a qualifying 

22 firearm in the National Firearms Registration and 

23 Transfer Record at a time other than during the 

24 amnesty period, paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) shall 

25 apply with respect to such individual if such indi-
5 

•HR 2088 IH 

1 vidual surrenders such firearm to a law enforcement 

2 agency not later than 30 days after notification by 

3 the Attorney General of potential criminal liability 

4 for continued possession of the firearm. 

5 (e) FORFEITURE.—Any firearm registered under 

6 subsection (a) shall not be subject to seizure or forfeiture 

7 under chapter 53 or 75 of the Internal Revenue Code or 

8 chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, for any viola9 tion of such chapters which relates to such firearm and 

10 which occurred before or concurrent with such registra11 tion. 

12 (f) NOTICE; FORMS; MAILBOX RULE.— 

13 (1) NOTICE OF AMNESTY PERIOD.—The Attor14 ney General shall provide clear printed notices pro15 viding information regarding the amnesty period and 

16 registering a firearm during such period. To the ex17 tent feasible, the Attorney General shall ensure that 

18 such notices are posted in post offices, law enforce19 ment buildings, buildings of the Department of Vet20 erans Affairs, and in the businesses of licensed fire21 arms dealers. 

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

23 available any forms necessary for registering a fire24 arm in the National Firearms Registration and 

25 Transfer Record. To the extent feasible, the Attor-
6 

•HR 2088 IH 

1 ney General shall make such forms available in the 

2 locations referred to in paragraph (1) and through 

3 the website for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

4 Firearms, and Explosives. 

5 (3) MAILBOX RULE.—For purposes of this sec6 tion, the Attorney General shall treat any form that 

7 is postmarked during the amnesty period as received 

8 during the amnesty period. 

9 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

10 (1) AMNESTY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘amnesty pe11 riod’’ means the 90-day period beginning on the date 

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

13 this Act. 

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

15 meaning given such term in section 5845 of the In16 ternal Revenue Code of 1986, except that such term 

17 does not include— 

18 (A) any device described in subsection 

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

20 (B) any combination of parts— 

21 (i) designed or intended for use in 

22 converting any device into a device de23 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 
7 

•HR 2088 IH 

1 (ii) from which a device described in 

2 subparagraph (A) may be readily assem3 bled. 

4 (3) APPLICABLE VETERAN.—With respect to 

5 any firearm, the term ‘‘applicable veteran’’ means 

6 the veteran described in subsection (b)(1)(B). 

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

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

9 38, United States Code. 

10 (5) FAMILY.—The term ‘‘family’’ means, with 

11 respect to a veteran, the grandparents of such vet12 eran, the grandparents of such veteran’s spouse, the 

13 lineal descendants of such grandparents, and any 

14 spouse of such a lineal descendant. A spouse of an 

15 individual who is legally separated from such indi16 vidual under a decree of divorce or separate mainte17 nance shall be treated as such individual’s spouse for 

18 purposes of this paragraph. Individuals related by 

19 the half blood or by legal adoption shall be treated 

20 as if they were related by the whole blood for pur21 poses of this paragraph. 

22 (6) CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—The term 

23 ‘‘continental United States’’ means the several 

24 States and the District of Columbia, but does not in25 clude Alaska or Hawaii. 
8 

•HR 2088 IH 

1 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF FIREARMS TO MUSEUMS. 

2 (a) TRANSFER OF FORFEITED FIREARMS TO MUSE3 UMS.— 

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

5 transfer each firearm which has been forfeited to the 

6 United States to the first qualified museum that 

7 submits a request for such firearm in such form and 

8 manner as the Attorney General may specify. 

9 (2) DESTRUCTION OF FORFEITED FIREARMS

10 PROHIBITED.—The Attorney General shall not de11 stroy any firearm which has been forfeited to the 

12 United States until the end of the 5-year period be13 ginning on the date of such forfeiture. 

14 (3) CATALOGUE OF FIREARMS.—With respect 

15 to each firearm which is available to be transferred 

16 to a museum under paragraph (1), the Attorney 

17 General shall, not later than 60 days after the for18 feiture of such firearm, publish information which 

19 identifies such firearm (including a picture) on the 

20 web page of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire21 arms, and Explosives. Such information shall be 

22 available to the public without cost and without re23 striction. 

24 (4) REGISTRATION OF FIREARMS.—Any firearm 

25 transferred under paragraph (1) to a qualified mu26 seum shall be registered to the transferee in the Na-
9 

•HR 2088 IH 

1 tional Firearms Registration and Transfer Record 

2 (described in section 5841 of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986). 

4 (5) FIREARM.—For purposes of this subsection, 

5 the term ‘‘firearm’’ means any firearm (as defined 

6 in section 2(g)(2)) which is treated as a curio or 

7 relic under chapter 44 of title 18, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (6) QUALIFIED MUSEUM.—For purposes of this 

10 subsection, the term ‘‘qualified museum’’ means— 

11 (A) any museum owned or operated by a 

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

13 (B) any museum which— 

14 (i) is open to the public; 

15 (ii) is incorporated as not-for-profit 

16 corporation under applicable state law; 

17 (iii) may possess a firearm in the col18 lection of the museum under the laws of 

19 the State in which the collection of the mu20 seum is displayed; 

21 (iv) holds a license under chapter 44 

22 of title 18, United States Code, as a col23 lector of curios or relics; and 

24 (v) certifies to the Attorney General 

25 that— 
10 

•HR 2088 IH 

1 (I) the museum is not engaged in 

2 the trade or business of buying or 

3 selling firearms, 

4 (II) with respect to the transfer 

5 of any firearm under paragraph (1), 

6 the museum is not requesting the 

7 transfer of such firearm for purpose 

8 of sale, and 

9 (III) the museum shall, not later 

10 than 90 days after the date on which 

11 such museum ceases operations, file 

12 an application pursuant to chapter 53 

13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

14 to transfer any machinegun trans15 ferred to the museum under para16 graph (1) to an entity or person who 

17 may lawfully possess such machinegun 

18 under section 922(o) of title 18, 

19 United States Code, or abandon such 

20 machinegun to Federal, State, or local 

21 law enforcement authorities. 

22 (b) TRANSFER OF MACHINEGUNS TO MUSEUMS.— 

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

24 amended— 
11 

•HR 2088 IH 

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

2 the end; 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub4 paragraph (C); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol6 lowing new subparagraph: 

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

8 museum which is open to the public and incor9 porated as a not-for-profit corporation under appli10 cable State law; or’’. 

Æ