II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1943 

To regulate firearm silencers and firearm mufflers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2019 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. 

KAINE) 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 2019’’ or the ‘‘HEAR Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

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

8 amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(C) any fire10 arm muffler or firearm silencer; or (D)’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘or (C)’’; and 


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•S 1943 IS

1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (29) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(30) The term ‘qualified law enforcement officer’ 

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

5 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON FIREARM SILENCERS AND FIRE6 ARM MUFFLERS. 

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

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

9 the following: 

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

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

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

13 commerce, a firearm silencer or firearm muffler. 

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

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

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

17 or a department or agency of the United States or 

18 a State or a department, agency, or political subdivi19 sion of a State, or a sale or transfer to or possession 

20 by a qualified law enforcement officer employed by 

21 the United States or a department or agency of the 

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

23 or political subdivision of a State for purposes of law 

24 enforcement (whether on or off duty), or a sale or 

25 transfer to or possession by a campus law enforceVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1943.IS S1943

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1 ment officer for purposes of law enforcement (wheth2 er on or off duty); 

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

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

5 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) for purposes of estab6 lishing and maintaining an on-site physical protec7 tion system and security organization required by 

8 Federal law, or possession by an employee or con9 tractor of such licensee on site for such purposes or 

10 off site for purposes of licensee-authorized training 

11 or transportation of nuclear materials; or 

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

13 to, transfer to, or possession by a licensed manufac14 turer or licensed importer for the purposes of testing 

15 or experimentation authorized by the Attorney Gen16 eral. 

17 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A), the term 

18 ‘campus law enforcement officer’ means an individual who 

19 is— 

20 ‘‘(A) employed by a private institution of higher 

21 education that is eligible for funding under title IV 

22 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

23 1070 et seq.); 

24 ‘‘(B) responsible for the prevention or investiga25 tion of crime involving injury to persons or property, 


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1 including apprehension or detention of persons for 

2 such crimes; 

3 ‘‘(C) authorized by Federal, State, or local law 

4 to carry a firearm, execute search warrants, and 

5 make arrests; and 

6 ‘‘(D) recognized, commissioned, or certified by 

7 a government entity as a law enforcement officer.’’. 

8 (b) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF FIREARM SILENC9 ERS AND FIREARM MUFFLERS.—Section 924(d) of title 

10 18, United States Code, is amended— 

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

12 inserting ‘‘(k), or (v)’’; and 

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

14 after ‘‘922(n),’’. 

15 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

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

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

18 (v)’’. 

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

20 FOR FIREARM SILENCERS AND FIREARM 

21 MUFFLERS. 

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

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

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

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) Compensation for surrendered firearm 

2 silencers and firearm mufflers, as those terms 

3 are defined in section 921 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, under the buy-back program for 

5 firearm silencers and firearm mufflers required 

6 under section 5(b) of the Help Empower Ameri7 cans to Respond Act of 2019.’’. 

8 (b) REQUIREMENT.—During the 90-day period de9 scribed in section 6, the Attorney General shall establish 

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

11 across the United States, to purchase firearm silencers 

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

13 18, United States Code) from individuals seeking to com14 ply with the requirements of this Act and the amendments 

15 made by this Act. 

16 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

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

19 enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

21 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

22 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend23 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti24 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 

25 by this Act, and the application of such provision or 


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1 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af2 fected thereby. 

Æ 


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