I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5073 
To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to require micro-
stamping of all firearms manufactured in or imported into the United 
States, and ballistics testing of all firearms in the custody of the Federal 
Government. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 3, 2006 
Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to 
require microstamping of all firearms manufactured in 
or imported into the United States, and ballistics testing 
of all firearms in the custody of the Federal Government. 
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 ‘‘Technological Resource 
to Assist Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. BAN ON MANUFACTURE OR IMPORTATION OF FIRE-
ARMS THAT ARE NOT MICROSTAMPED. 
(a) LICENSE REVOCATION.—Section 923(e) of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
penultimate sentence the following: ‘‘The Attorney Gen-
eral shall, after notice and opportunity for hearing, revoke 
the license of an importer who imports into the United 
States a firearm that is not microstamped, or the license 
of a manufacturer who manufactures a firearm that is not 
microstamped or a microstamped firearm that does not 
transfer the array of characters constituting the 
microstamp onto the cartridge case of any ammunition 
fired from the firearm.’’. 
(b) 
DEFINITION
OF
MICROSTAMPED.—Section 
921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(36) The term ‘microstamped’ means, with respect 
to a firearm, that etched into the interior surface or inter-
nal working parts of the firearm is an array of characters 
which identify the make, model, and serial number of the 
firearm.’’. 
SEC. 3. BALLISTICS TESTING OF CRIME GUNS; COMPUT-
ERIZATION OF RECORDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 923 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(m)(1) The Attorney General shall conduct ballistics 
testing of any firearm in the custody of the Federal Gov-
ernment if there is reason to believe that the firearm has 
been involved in a crime under Federal or State law, and 
establish an electronic database containing records of the 
results of the testing. 
‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall establish a computer 
system through which State and local law enforcement 
agencies can promptly access the ballistics records stored 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(3) Not later than 3 years after the date of enact-
ment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the At-
torney General shall submit to the Committees on the Ju-
diciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives 
a report regarding the implementation of this subsection, 
including— 
‘‘(A) the number of Federal and State criminal 
investigations, arrests, indictments, and prosecutions 
of all cases in which access to ballistics records, pro-
vided through the system established under this sec-
tion and under similar systems operated by any 
State, served as a valuable investigative tool in the 
prosecution of crimes involving firearms; and 
‘‘(B) the extent to which ballistics records are 
accessible across jurisdictions. 
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‘‘(4) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Attorney General $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 
2006 through 2009, to carry out this subsection.’’. 
(b) DEFINITION OF BALLISTICS.—Section 921(a) of 
such title, as amended by section 2(b) of this Act, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(37) The term ‘ballistics’ means a comparative anal-
ysis of fired bullets and cartridge casings to identify the 
firearm from which bullets and cartridge casings have 
been discharged, through identification of the unique 
markings that the firearm imprints on cartridge casings 
of ammunition fired from the firearm.’’. 
Æ 
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