Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021

To amend chapter 44 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) without the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has the authority to regulate ghost guns (as defined in section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, as amended by section 3 of this Act) and unfinished frames and receivers; and (2) the purpose of this Act is to clarify and strengthen such authority. 3. Requirement that all firearms be traceable (a) Definitions Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in paragraph (10), by adding at the end the following: The term manufacturing firearms (2) by inserting after paragraph (29) the following: (30) (A) The term frame or receiver (i) means a part of a weapon that provides or is intended to provide the housing or structure to hold or integrate 1 or more fire control components, even if pins or other attachments are required to connect those components to the housing or structure; (ii) includes a frame or receiver, blank, casting, or machined body, that requires modification, including machining, drilling, filing or molding, to be used as part of a functional firearm, and which is designed and intended to be used in the assembly of a functional firearm, unless the piece of material has had— (I) its size or external shape altered solely to facilitate transportation or storage; or (II) solely its chemical composition altered. (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), if a weapon with more than 1 part that provides the housing or a structure designed to hold or integrate 1 or more fire control or essential components, each such part shall be considered a frame or receiver, unless the Attorney General has provided otherwise by regulation with respect to the specific make and model of weapon on or before January 1, 2022. ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (36) The term ghost gun (A) means a firearm, including a frame or receiver, that lacks a unique serial number engraved or cast on the frame or receiver by a licensed manufacturer or importer in accordance with this chapter; and (B) does not include— (i) a firearm that has been rendered permanently inoperable; (ii) a firearm identified by means of a unique serial number assigned by a State agency and engraved or cast on the receiver or frame of the weapon before the effective date of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 (iii) a firearm manufactured or imported before December 16, 1968; or (iv) a firearm identified as provided for under section 5842 (37) The term fire control component (A) means a component necessary for the firearm to initiate or complete the firing sequence; and (B) includes a hammer, bolt or breechblock, cylinder, trigger mechanism, firing pin, striker, and slide rails. . (b) Prohibition; requirements Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (aa) (1) The Congress finds and declares the following: (A) Firearms tracing is the systematic tracking of the movement of a firearm recovered by law enforcement officials from the first sale of a firearm by the manufacturer or importer through the distribution chain (including the wholesaler and retailer) to the first retail purchaser. (B) Law enforcement agencies across the country work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to trace firearms and thereby obtain investigative leads in the fight against violent crime and terrorism. (C) The ability of law enforcement agencies to trace a firearm is dependent on the serial number or other marks on the firearm that identify the manufacturer or importer who manufactured or imported the firearm and that are unique to the firearm. (D) Interstate gun trafficking interferes with lawful commerce in firearms and significantly contributes to gun crime. Of the 254,700 firearms traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2018, 71,910 of those firearms were originally sold by a licensed firearms dealer in a State other than the State where the firearms were recovered. These guns made up 28.2 percent of all firearm recoveries in 2018. (E) Even before the sale of a firearm, the gun, its component parts, and the raw materials from which they are made have considerably moved in interstate commerce. (F) If unserialized and untraceable firearms may be constructed and transported freely from State to State, ordinary citizens and foreign visitors may fear to travel to or through certain parts of the country due to concern about violent crime and gun violence, and law enforcement agencies may be unable to address it. (2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, or receive a ghost gun in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce. (B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to— (i) the manufacture of a firearm by a licensed manufacturer if the licensed manufacturer complies with section 923(i) before selling or transferring the firearm to another person; (ii) the offer to sell, sale, or transfer of a firearm to, or purchase or receipt of a firearm by, a licensed manufacturer or importer before the date that is 30 months after the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 (iii) transactions between licensed manufacturers and importers on any date. (3) It shall be unlawful for a person other than a licensed manufacturer or importer to engrave or cast a serial number on a firearm in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce unless specifically authorized by the Attorney General. (4) Beginning on the date that is 30 months after the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 (5) Beginning on the date that is 30 months after the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 (6) (A) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer to sell, or transfer, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, to any person other than a licensed manufacturer a machine that has the sole or primary function of manufacturing firearms. (B) Except as provided in subparagraph (A), beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 (C) Subparagraph (B) shall not apply to a person who is engaged in the business of selling manufacturing equipment to a licensed manufacturer who possesses a machine with the intent to sell or transfer the machine to a licensed manufacturer. . (c) Requirements (1) Removal of serial numbers Section 922(k) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (A) by striking importer's or manufacturer's (B) by inserting authorized by this chapter or under State law removed (2) Licensed importers and manufacturers Section 923(i) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (A) by inserting (1) Licensed (B) by adding at the end the following: The serial number shall be engraved or cast on the frame or receiver in a manner sufficient to identify the firearm and the manufacturer or importer that put the serial number on the firearm. (2) (A) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 (B) The regulations prescribed under subparagraph (A) shall— (i) allow an owner of a firearm described in subparagraph (A) to have a unique serial number engraved on the firearm by a licensed manufacturer or importer; and (ii) require that a serial number be engraved on the frame or receiver in a manner sufficient to identify the firearm and the manufacturer or importer that put the serial number on the firearm. (C) The regulations authorized under this paragraph shall expire on the date that is 30 months after the date of enactment of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 . (d) Penalties Section 924 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking or (q) (q), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or (aa)(6) (2) in subsection (c) (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding clause (i), by inserting functional firearm (ii) in subparagraph (B), in the matter preceding clause (i), by inserting functional firearm (iii) in subparagraph (D)(ii), by inserting functional firearm (B) in paragraph (4), by striking all or part of the firearm person. all or part of the functional firearm, or otherwise make the presence of the functional firearm known to another person, in order to intimidate that person, regardless of whether the functional firearm is directly visible to that person. (3) in subsection (d)(1), by striking or (k) (k), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or (aa)(6) (4) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting through the possession of a functional firearm and has three (5) by adding at the end the following: (q) A person who violates section 922(aa)(4) shall— (1) in the case of the first violation by the person, be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both; or (2) in the case of any subsequent violation by the person, be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. . 4. Modernization of the prohibition on un­de­tect­able firearms Section 922(p) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in paragraph (1)— (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking any firearm (B) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows: (A) an undetectable firearm; or ; and (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking any major component of which, when subjected to inspection by the types of x-ray machines commonly used at airports, does not generate a major component of a firearm which, if subjected to inspection by the types of detection devices commonly used at airports for security screening, would not generate (2) in paragraph (2)— (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows: (A) the term undetectable firearm ; (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the following: (B) the term major component (i) means the slide or cylinder or the frame or receiver of the firearm; and (ii) in the case of a rifle or shotgun, includes the barrel of the firearm; and ; and (C) by striking subparagraph (C) and all that follows through the end of the undesignated matter following subparagraph (C) and inserting the following: (C) the term detectable material ; (3) in paragraph (3)— (A) in the first sentence, by inserting , including a prototype, of a firearm (B) by striking the second sentence; and (4) in paragraph (5), by striking shall not apply to any firearm which (A) any firearm received by, in the possession of, or under the control of the United States; or (B) the manufacture, importation, possession, transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer pursuant to a contract with the United States. .

Summary: Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021 This bill establishes a federal statutory framework to regulate the manufacture, sale, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, and receipt of ghost guns (i.e., guns without serial numbers). Additionally, the bill revises the federal statutory framework regulating the manufacture, possession, sale, import, shipment, delivery, receipt, and transfer of undetectable firearms. Among the revisions, the bill defines undetectable firearm as a firearm without a major component wholly made of detectable material.