Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act of 2023

Subjects: Taxation

Summary:  <p><strong>Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act of 2023</strong></p> <p>This bill removes short-barreled rifles (barrels of less than 16 inches in length) from the definition of firearms for purposes of the National Firearms Act. It also eliminates the prohibition on the transportation of such rifles in interstate commerce and treats persons who acquire or possess a short-barreled rifle as meeting the registration or licensing requirements for such rifle where such requirements are determined by reference to the National Firearms Act. </p> <p>The bill preempts state or local laws that impose a tax or recordkeeping requirements on short-barreled rifles. </p> <p>The Department of Justice must destroy records relating to the registration of&nbsp; certain rifles within one year after the enactment of this bill.</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 173 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 173

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove short-barreled 
  rifles from the definition of firearms for purposes of the National 
                 Firearms Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2023

 Mr. Griffith introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, 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 amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove short-barreled 
  rifles from the definition of firearms for purposes of the National 
                 Firearms Act, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Home Defense and Competitive 
Shooting Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. SHORT-BARRELED RIFLES.

    (a) In General.--Section 5845(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(3) a rifle'' and all that follows 
        through ``(5) any other weapon'' and inserting ``(3) any other 
        weapon''; and
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), and (8) as 
        paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF DISPARATE TREATMENT OF SHORT-BARRELED RIFLES 
              USED FOR LAWFUL PURPOSES.

    Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended in each of 
subsections (a)(4) and (b)(4) by striking ``short-barreled shotgun, or 
short-barreled rifle'' and inserting ``or short-barreled shotgun''.

SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF SHORT-BARRELED RIFLES DETERMINED BY REFERENCE TO 
              NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT.

    Section 5841 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Short-Barreled Rifle Requirements Determined by Reference.--
In the case of any short-barreled rifle registration or licensing 
requirement under State or local law which is determined by reference 
to the National Firearms Act, any person who acquires or possesses such 
a rifle in accordance with chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, 
shall be treated as meeting any such registration or licensing 
requirement with respect to such rifle.''.

SEC. 5. PREEMPTION OF CERTAIN STATE LAWS IN RELATION TO SHORT-BARRELED 
              RIFLES.

    Section 927 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following: ``Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, a 
law of a State or a political subdivision of a State that imposes a 
tax, other than a generally applicable sales or use tax, on making, 
transferring, using, possessing, or transporting a short-barreled rifle 
in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or imposes a marking, 
recordkeeping or registration requirement with respect to such a rifle, 
shall have no force or effect.''.

SEC. 6. DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 365 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall destroy any 
registration of an applicable rifle maintained in the National Firearms 
Registration and Transfer Record pursuant to section 5841 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, any application to transfer filed under 
section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that identifies the 
transferee of an applicable rifle, and any application to make filed 
under section 5822 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that identifies 
the maker of an applicable rifle.
    (b) Applicable Rifle.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``applicable rifle'' means a rifle, or weapon made from a rifle, 
described in paragraph (3) or (4) of section 5845(a) of such Code (as 
in effect on the day before the enactment of the Home Defense and 
Competitive Shooting Act of 2023).
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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