I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3299 

To help reduce gun violence through background checks and the National 

Firearms Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 18, 2021 

Mrs. DEMINGS (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. DEUTCH, and Mr. 

DEFAZIO) 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 help reduce gun violence through background checks and 

the National Firearms Act, 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Com5 munities Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FIREARM ASSEMBLY KITS CONSIDERED TO BE 

2 FIREARMS. 

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

4 amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or (D) any 

6 destructive device’’ and inserting ‘‘; (D) any destruc7 tive device; or (E) any combination of parts designed 

8 or intended for use in converting any device into a 

9 firearm and from which a firearm may be readily as10 sembled’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

12 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub13 paragraph (A); 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub15 paragraph (B) and inserting a period; and 

16 (C) by striking subparagraph (C). 

17 SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT PROTECTION. 

18 (a) ARMOR-PIERCING, CONCEALABLE WEAPONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5845(a) of the In20 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

21 ‘‘and (8)’’ and inserting ‘‘; (8) an armor-piercing, 

22 concealable weapon; and (9)’’. 

23 (2) ARMOR-PIERCING, CONCEALABLE WEAP24 ON.—Section 5845 of such Code is amended by add25 ing at the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(n) ARMOR-PIERCING, CONCEALABLE WEAPON.— 

2 The term ‘armor-piercing, concealable weapon’ means any 

3 weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person 

4 and from which can be discharged through the energy of 

5 an explosive any of the following rounds of ammunition: 

6 ‘‘(1) .450 Bushmaster. 

7 ‘‘(2) 5.56mm (including the 5.56x45mm NATO 

8 and .223 Remington). 

9 ‘‘(3) 7.62mm (including the 7.62x39mm, .308 

10 Winchester, 7.62 NATO, 7.62x51mm NATO, .30 

11 carbine, 7.62x33mm, or .300 AAC Blackout). 

12 ‘‘(4) .50 BMG. 

13 ‘‘(5) 5.7x28mm. 

14 ‘‘(6) Any other round determined by the Bu15 reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 

16 to be capable of, when fired by such weapon or de17 vice, penetrating the standard body armor worn by 

18 law enforcement officers.’’. 

19 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (A) Section 921(a) of title 18, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(36) The term ‘armor-piercing, concealable weapon’ 

24 has the meaning given such term in section 5845(n) of 

25 the National Firearms Act (26 U.S.C. 5845(n)).’’. 


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1 (B) Section 922 of title 18, United States 

2 Code, is amended— 

3 (i) in subsection (a)(4), by striking 

4 ‘‘or short-barreled rifle,’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘short-barreled rifle, or armor-piercing, 

6 concealable weapon,’’; and 

7 (ii) in subsection (b)(4) by striking 

8 ‘‘or short-barreled rifle,’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘short-barreled rifle, or armor-piercing, 

10 concealable weapon,’’. 

11 (C) Section 924(c)(1)(B)(i) of title 18, 

12 United States Code, is amended by inserting 

13 ‘‘armor-piercing, concealable weapon,’’ after 

14 ‘‘short-barreled shotgun,’’. 

15 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made 

17 by this subsection shall take effect on the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act. 

19 (B) APPLICATION TO POSSESSION ON

20 DATE OF ENACTMENT.—Notwithstanding sub21 paragraph (A), any person on the date of the 

22 enactment of this Act possessing a device de23 scribed in section 5845(a)(8) of the Internal 

24 Revenue Code of 1986 (as amended by this sec25 tion) shall, not later than the end of the 18th 


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1 month beginning after the date of the enact2 ment of this Act, register such weapon or device 

3 with the Secretary of the Treasury and include 

4 with such registration the information required 

5 under section 5841(a) of such Code. Such reg6 istration shall become a part of the National 

7 Firearms Registration and Transfer Record re8 quired to be maintained by such section. 

9 (b) USE OF NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT TAXES.—Part 

10 I of subchapter B of chapter 53 of the Internal Revenue 

11 Code of 1986 is amended redesignating section 5849 as 

12 section 5850 and by inserting after section 5847 the fol13 lowing new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 5849. USE OF TAXES. 

15 ‘‘To carry out the purposes of this chapter and to 

16 supplement appropriations otherwise made available for 

17 such purposes, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 

18 and Explosives may spend the amounts collected under 

19 subchapter A for fiscal years 2021 and thereafter.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. REPORTING OF BACKGROUND CHECK DENIALS. 

21 (a) REPORTING TO STATE AUTHORITIES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, 

23 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

24 section 925A the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 925B. Reporting of background check denials to 

2 State authorities 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If the national instant criminal 

4 background check system established under section 103 

5 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 

6 922 note) provides a notice pursuant to section 922(t) of 

7 this title that the receipt of a firearm by a person would 

8 violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of this title 

9 or State law, the Attorney General shall, in accordance 

10 with subsection (b) of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) report to the law enforcement authorities 

12 of the State where the person sought to acquire the 

13 firearm and, if different, the law enforcement au14 thorities of the State of residence of the person— 

15 ‘‘(A) that the notice was provided; 

16 ‘‘(B) of the specific provision of law that 

17 would have been violated; 

18 ‘‘(C) of the date and time the notice was 

19 provided; 

20 ‘‘(D) of the location where the firearm was 

21 sought to be acquired; and 

22 ‘‘(E) of the identity of the person; and 

23 ‘‘(2) where practicable, report the incident to 

24 local law enforcement authorities and State and local 

25 prosecutors in the jurisdiction where the firearm was 


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1 sought and in the jurisdiction where the person re2 sides. 

3 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORT.—A report is 

4 made in accordance with this subsection if the report is 

5 made within 24 hours after the provision of the notice de6 scribed in subsection (a), except that the making of the 

7 report may be delayed for so long as is necessary to avoid 

8 compromising an ongoing investigation. 

9 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub10 section (a) shall be construed to require a report with re11 spect to a person to be made to the same State authorities 

12 that originally issued the notice with respect to the per13 son.’’. 

14 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec15 tions for such chapter is amended by inserting after 

16 the item relating to section 925A the following: 

‘‘925B. Reporting of background check denials to State authorities.’’. 

17 (b) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, 

19 United States Code, as amended by subsection 

20 (a)(1) of this section, is amended by inserting after 

21 section 925B the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 925C. Annual report to Congress 

23 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact24 ment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Attorney 


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1 General shall submit to the Congress a report detailing 

2 the following, broken down by Federal judicial district: 

3 ‘‘(1) With respect to each category of persons 

4 prohibited by section 922(g) from receiving or pos5 sessing a firearm who are so denied a firearm— 

6 ‘‘(A) the number of cases referred to the 

7 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex8 plosives; 

9 ‘‘(B) the number of cases with respect to 

10 which an investigation was opened by a field di11 vision of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire12 arms and Explosives; 

13 ‘‘(C) the number of arrests made; and 

14 ‘‘(D) the number of convictions obtained 

15 by Federal authorities in connection with the 

16 denial. 

17 ‘‘(2) The number of background check notices 

18 reported to State authorities pursuant to section 

19 925B (including the number of the notices that 

20 would have been so reported but for section 

21 925B(c)).’’. 

22 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec23 tions for such chapter, as amended by subsection 

24 (a)(2) of this section, is amended by inserting after 

25 the item relating to section 925B the following: 

‘‘925C. Annual report to Congress.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. CODIFICATION OF REGULATIONS CLASSIFYING 

2 BUMP STOCKS AS MACHINEGUNS. 

3 The amendments to parts 447, 478, and 479 of title 

4 27, Code of Federal Regulations, made by the final rule 

5 promulgated by the Department of Justice, entitled 

6 ‘‘Bump-Stock-Type Devices’’, and published December 26, 

7 2018 (83 Fed. Reg. 66514), shall have the force and effect 

8 of law. 

Æ 


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