I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4992 
To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to ensure that all 
firearms are traceable, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2023 
Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. SCHNEIDER, and 
Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to 
ensure that all firearms are traceable, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ghost Guns and 
Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) irrespective of the enactment of this Act, 
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Ex-
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plosives 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 un-
finished frames and receivers; and 
(2) the purpose of this Act is to clarify and 
strengthen such authority. 
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT ALL FIREARMS BE TRACE-
ABLE. 
(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’ shall 
include assembling a functional firearm or molding, 
machining, or 3D printing a frame or receiver, and 
shall not include making or fitting special barrels, 
stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms.’’; 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (30) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(31)(A) The term ‘frame or receiver’— 
‘‘(i) means a part of a weapon that pro-
vides or is intended to provide the housing or 
structure to hold or integrate 1 or more fire 
control components, without regard to whether 
pins or other attachments are required to con-
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nect those components to the housing or struc-
ture; and 
‘‘(ii) includes— 
‘‘(I) a forged, cast, printed, extruded, 
or machined body or similar article that is 
designed to, or may readily be completed, 
assembled, or otherwise converted to, pro-
vide the housing or structure, without re-
gard to whether the housing or structure 
has been indexed, drilled, or machined in 
any way, and without regard to whether 
the article is sold, distributed, or marketed 
with or for any associated template, jig, 
mold, equipment, tool, instructions, or 
guide; and 
‘‘(II) an object that is marketed or 
sold to become or be used as the frame or 
receiver of a functional firearm once com-
pleted, assembled, or converted. 
‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), if a 
weapon has 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 
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by regulation with respect to the specific make and 
model of weapon on or before January 1, 2024.’’; 
and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(38) 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 accord-
ance 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 frame 
or receiver of the weapon before the effec-
tive 
date 
of 
the 
Ghost 
Guns 
and 
Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023 in ac-
cordance with a State law; 
‘‘(iii) a firearm manufactured or im-
ported before December 16, 1968; or 
‘‘(iv) a firearm identified as provided 
for under section 5842 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986. 
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‘‘(39) The term ‘fire control component’— 
‘‘(A) means a component necessary for the 
firearm to initiate or complete the firing se-
quence; and 
‘‘(B) includes a hammer, bolt or breech-
block, 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) Congress finds and declares the following: 
‘‘(A) Firearms tracing is the systematic track-
ing 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 dis-
tribution chain (including the wholesaler and re-
tailer) 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 manu-
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facturer 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 con-
tributes to gun crime. Of the 361,587 firearms 
traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 
and Explosives in 2021, 99,172 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 27.4 percent of 
all firearm recoveries in 2021. 
‘‘(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 un-
able to address it. 
‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it 
shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, offer 
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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 
ghost gun to, or purchase or receipt of a ghost gun 
by, a licensed dealer, licensed manufacturer, or li-
censed importer before the date that is 1 year after 
the date of enactment of the Ghost Guns and 
Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023; or 
‘‘(iii) transactions between licensed manufactur-
ers 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 At-
torney General. 
‘‘(4) Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the 
date of enactment of the Ghost Guns and Untraceable 
Firearms Act of 2023, it shall be unlawful for any person 
other than a licensed manufacturer or importer in the con-
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duct of their business to knowingly possess a ghost gun 
in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce. 
‘‘(5) Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the 
date of enactment of the Ghost Guns and Untraceable 
Firearms Act of 2023, it shall be unlawful for any person 
other than a licensed manufacturer or importer to possess 
a ghost gun in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce 
with the intent to sell or transfer the ghost gun with or 
without further manufacturing or to manufacture a fire-
arm with the ghost gun. 
‘‘(6)(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, 
offer to sell, or transfer, in or affecting interstate or for-
eign commerce, to any person other than a licensed manu-
facturer a machine that has the sole or primary function 
of manufacturing firearms. 
‘‘(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (D), begin-
ning on the date of the enactment of the Ghost Guns and 
Untraceable Firearms Act of 2023, it shall be unlawful 
for any person other than a licensed manufacturer to pur-
chase or receive, in or affecting interstate or foreign com-
merce, a machine that has the sole or primary function 
of manufacturing firearms. 
‘‘(C) Except as provided in subparagraph (D), begin-
ning on the date that is 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of the Ghost Guns and Untraceable Firearms 
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Act of 2023, it shall be unlawful for any person other than 
a licensed manufacturer to possess, in or affecting inter-
state or foreign commerce, a machine that has the sole 
or primary function of manufacturing firearms. 
‘‘(D) Subparagraphs (B) and (C) shall not apply to 
a person who is engaged in the business of selling manu-
facturing equipment to a licensed manufacturer who pos-
sesses a machine that has the sole or primary function 
of manufacturing firearms with the intent to sell or trans-
fer the machine to a licensed manufacturer.’’. 
(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) REMOVAL OF SERIAL NUMBERS.—Section 
922(k) of title 18, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(A) by striking ‘‘importer’s or manufactur-
er’s’’ each place it appears; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘required by this chapter 
or under State law’’ before ‘‘removed’’ each 
place it appears. 
(2) LICENSED IMPORTERS AND MANUFACTUR-
ERS.—Section 923(i) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Licensed’’; 
and 
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(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 fire-
arm. 
‘‘(2) Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of the Ghost Guns and Untraceable Fire-
arms Act of 2023, the Attorney General shall update 
the regulations for engraving a unique serial number 
onto a ghost gun so that, after the date that is 1 
year after such date of enactment, a licensed dealer 
or gunsmith shall no longer have the authority to 
engrave a serial number onto a ghost gun.’’. 
(d) PENALTIES.—Section 924 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(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 ‘‘func-
tional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’ each place it ap-
pears; 
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(ii) in subparagraph (B), in the mat-
ter preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘func-
tional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’; and 
(iii) in subparagraph (D)(ii), by in-
serting ‘‘functional’’ before ‘‘firearm’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘all or 
part of the firearm’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘person.’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘all or part of the functional firearm, or other-
wise make the presence of the functional fire-
arm known to another person, in order to in-
timidate that person, regardless of whether the 
functional firearm is directly visible to that per-
son.’’; 
(3) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(k), (aa)(2), (aa)(3), (aa)(5), or 
(aa)(6)’’; 
(4) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting ‘‘through 
the possession of a functional firearm’’ before ‘‘and 
has three’’; and 
(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 per-
son, be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 
than 1 year, or both; or 
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‘‘(2) in the case of any subsequent violation by 
the person, be fined under this title, imprisoned not 
more than 5 years, or both.’’. 
SEC. 
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 com-
monly used at airports, does not generate’’ and 
inserting the following: ‘‘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 gen-
erate’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 
as follows: 
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‘‘(A) the term ‘undetectable firearm’ 
means a firearm, as defined in section 
921(a)(3)(A), of which no major component is 
wholly made of detectable material;’’; 
(B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(B) the term ‘major component’, with re-
spect to a firearm— 
‘‘(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 undesig-
nated matter following subparagraph (C) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(C) the term ‘detectable material’ means 
any material that creates a magnetic field 
equivalent to or more than 3.7 ounces of 17– 
4 pH stainless steel.’’; 
(3) in paragraph (3)— 
(A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘, in-
cluding a prototype,’’ after ‘‘of a firearm’’; and 
(B) by striking the second sentence; and 
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(4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘shall not 
apply to any firearm which’’ and all that follows and 
inserting the following: ‘‘shall not apply to— 
‘‘(A) any firearm received by, in the pos-
session of, or under the control of the United 
States; or 
‘‘(B) the manufacture, importation, posses-
sion, transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of 
a firearm by a licensed manufacturer or li-
censed importer pursuant to a contract with the 
United States.’’. 
Æ 
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