II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1884 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an enhanced research 

credit for the development of smart gun technologies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 18, 2019 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

an enhanced research credit for the development of smart 

gun technologies. 

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 ‘‘Start Advancing Fire5 arms Enhancements and Technology Act of 2019’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SAFETY Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ENHANCED RESEARCH CREDIT FOR DEVELOPMENT 

8 OF SMART GUN TECHNOLOGIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub10 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by inserting after section 45S the fol2 lowing new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 45T. RESEARCH EXPENSES FOR SMART GUN TECH4 NOLOGIES. 

5 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 

6 in the case of a taxpayer who is a Federal firearms li7 censee, the smart gun technology credit determined under 

8 this section for the taxable year is an amount equal to 

9 30 percent of the excess of— 

10 ‘‘(1) the smart gun technology expenses for the 

11 taxable year, over 

12 ‘‘(2) the base amount. 

13 ‘‘(b) SMART GUN TECHNOLOGY EXPENSES; BASE

14 AMOUNT.—For purposes of this section— 

15 ‘‘(1) SMART GUN TECHNOLOGY EXPENSES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

17 provided in this paragraph, the term ‘smart gun 

18 technology expenses’ means the amounts which 

19 are paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the 

20 taxable year which would be described in sec21 tion 41(b) if such section were applied with the 

22 modifications set forth in subparagraph (B). 

23 ‘‘(B) MODIFICATIONS.—For purposes of 

24 subparagraph (A), section 41(b) shall be ap25 plied— 


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1 ‘‘(i) by substituting ‘smart gun tech2 nology research’ for ‘qualified research’ 

3 each place it appears in paragraphs (2) 

4 and (3) of such subsection, and 

5 ‘‘(ii) by substituting ‘100 percent’ for 

6 ‘65 percent’ in paragraph (3)(A) of such 

7 subsection. 

8 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION FOR AMOUNTS FUNDED

9 BY GRANTS, ETC.—The term ‘smart gun tech10 nology expenses’ shall not include any amount 

11 to the extent such amount is funded by any 

12 grant, contract, or otherwise by another person 

13 (or any governmental entity). 

14 ‘‘(2) BASE AMOUNT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

16 subparagraph (B), the term ‘base amount’ 

17 means the amount which would be the base 

18 amount in section 41(c) if such section were ap19 plied by substituting ‘smart gun technology re20 search’ for ‘qualified research’ each place it ap21 pears. 

22 ‘‘(B) BASE AMOUNT IS ZERO FOR 3

23 YEARS.—The base amount shall be zero for 

24 purposes of determining the amount of credit 


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1 for taxable years beginning in 2020, 2021, or 

2 2022. 

3 ‘‘(c) SMART GUN TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH.—For 

4 purposes of this section— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘smart gun tech6 nology research’ means qualified research (as de7 fined in section 41(d)) for the purpose of developing 

8 smart gun technologies for firearms. 

9 ‘‘(2) SMART GUN TECHNOLOGY.—The term 

10 ‘smart gun technology’ means any technology (other 

11 than a simple mechanical lock) which is designed— 

12 ‘‘(A) to prevent a firearm from being fired 

13 by any individual other than an authorized user 

14 of the firearm, and 

15 ‘‘(B) to convert the firearm from the inop16 erable condition to the operable condition in 

17 less than 2 seconds after the authorized user 

18 makes contact with the firearm, the firearm’s 

19 arming device, or an external safe or locking 

20 device. 

21 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZED USER.—For purposes of this 

22 subsection, the term ‘authorized user’ means, with 

23 respect to a firearm, the owner of the firearm and 

24 any individual lawfully authorized by such owner to 

25 operate the firearm. 


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1 ‘‘(4) SIMPLE MECHANICAL LOCK.—For pur2 poses of this subsection, the term ‘simple mechanical 

3 lock’ means a lock that uses a key or a conventional 

4 combination lock. Such term does not include an ad5 vanced lock that incorporates electronics or biomet6 ric sensors, or a lock with other features to enable 

7 faster opening from any orientation with low visi8 bility. 

9 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEE.—For purposes 

10 of this section, the term ‘Federal firearms licensee’ means 

11 any person holding a license under chapter 44 of title 18, 

12 United States Code, other than a licensed collector. 

13 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION WITH CREDIT FOR INCREASING

14 RESEARCH EXPENDITURES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), any smart gun technology expenses for a 

17 taxable year to which an election under this section 

18 applies shall not be taken into account for purposes 

19 of determining the credit allowable under section 41 

20 for such taxable year. 

21 ‘‘(2) EXPENSES INCLUDED IN DETERMINING

22 BASE PERIOD RESEARCH EXPENSES.—Smart gun 

23 technology expenses for any taxable year shall be 

24 taken into account in determining base period reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884

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1 search expenses for purposes of applying section 41 

2 to subsequent taxable years. 

3 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) CERTAIN RULES MADE APPLICABLE.— 

5 Rules similar to the rules of paragraphs (1) and (2) 

6 of section 41(f) shall apply for purposes of this sec7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(2) ELECTION.—This section shall apply to 

9 any taxpayer for any taxable year only if such tax10 payer elects (at such time and in such manner as 

11 the Secretary may by regulations prescribe) to have 

12 this section apply for such taxable year. 

13 ‘‘(g) TREATMENT OF CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED SMALL

14 BUSINESSES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under rules similar to the 

16 rules of section 41(h), section 3111(f) shall apply to 

17 the payroll tax credit portion of the credit otherwise 

18 determined under subsection (a) for the taxable year 

19 and such portion shall not be treated (other than for 

20 purposes of section 280C) as a credit determined 

21 under subsection (a). 

22 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEE EXCEP23 TION.—For purposes of this subsection, the payroll 

24 tax credit portion of the credit otherwise determined 

25 under subsection (a) shall be determined without reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884

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1 gard to whether the taxpayer is a Federal firearms 

2 licensee.’’. 

3 (b) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 280C of 

4 such Code is amended by adding at the end the following 

5 new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(i) CREDIT FOR SMART GUN TECHNOLOGY EX7 PENSES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No deduction shall be al9 lowed for that portion of the smart gun technology 

10 expenses (as defined in section 45T(b)) otherwise al11 lowable as a deduction for the taxable year which is 

12 equal to the amount of the credit allowable for the 

13 taxable year under section 45T (determined without 

14 regard to section 38(c)). 

15 ‘‘(2) SIMILAR RULE WHERE TAXPAYER CAP16 ITALIZES RATHER THAN DEDUCTS EXPENSES.—If— 

17 ‘‘(A) the amount of the credit allowable for 

18 the taxable year under section 45T (determined 

19 without regard to section 38(c)), exceeds 

20 ‘‘(B) the amount allowable as a deduction 

21 for the taxable year for smart gun technology 

22 expenses (determined without regard to para23 graph (1)), 


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1 the amount chargeable to capital account for the 

2 taxable year for such expenses shall be reduced by 

3 the amount of such excess. 

4 ‘‘(3) CONTROLLED GROUPS.—In the case of a 

5 corporation which is a member of a controlled group 

6 of corporations (within the meaning of section 

7 41(f)(5)) or a trade or business which is treated as 

8 being under common control with other trades or 

9 business (within the meaning of section 

10 41(f)(1)(B)), this subsection shall be applied under 

11 rules prescribed by the Secretary similar to the rules 

12 applicable under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sec13 tion 41(f)(1).’’. 

14 (c) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

15 CREDIT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 38(b) of such Code 

17 is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of para18 graph (31), by striking the period at the end of 

19 paragraph (32) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add20 ing at the end thereof the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(33) in the case of a taxpayer who is a Fed22 eral firearms licensee (as defined in section 45T(d)), 

23 the smart gun technology credit determined under 

24 section 45T(a).’’. 


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1 (2) DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN UNUSED BUSI2 NESS CREDITS.—Subsection (c) of section 196 of 

3 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end 

4 of paragraph (13), by striking the period at the end 

5 of paragraph (14) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by 

6 adding after paragraph (8) the following new para7 graph: 

8 ‘‘(15) the smart gun technology credit deter9 mined under section 45T.’’. 

10 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

11 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

12 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat13 ing to section 45S the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45T. Research expenses for smart gun technologies.’’. 

14 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after 

16 December 31, 2019, in taxable years beginning after such 

17 date. 

18 SEC. 3. FIREARMS TAX NOT TO APPLY TO COST OF SMART 

19 GUN TECHNOLOGY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4181 of the Internal Rev21 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following new sentence: 

23 ‘‘The price taken into account under the preceding 

24 sentence shall not include so much of the price of the fireVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884

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1 arm as is attributable to any smart gun technology (as 

2 defined in section 45T(c)(2)) of such firearm.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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