I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8823 
To prohibit the use of nonlethal rounds by Federal law enforcement officers 
in certain contexts, and to discourage the use of such munitions by 
State and local law enforcement officers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 27, 2020 
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. 
HAYES, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Ms. OMAR) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To prohibit the use of nonlethal rounds by Federal law 
enforcement officers in certain contexts, and to discour-
age the use of such munitions by State and local law 
enforcement officers, 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 ‘‘Banning Rubber Bul-
lets Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. IN GENERAL. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON USE BY FEDERAL OFFICERS.— 
A Federal law enforcement officer may not use a nonlethal 
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round in any crowd control situation, or in response to 
passive resistance by a person to any order given by that 
officer. On each occasion that a Federal law enforcement 
officer uses a nonlethal round, the agency employing such 
officer shall submit notice to the Attorney General and 
to the Congressional committee with jurisdiction over that 
agency. In any case where a law enforcement officer uses 
a nonlethal round in violation of this subsection, any per-
son injured by such use may bring a civil action for appro-
priate relief. 
(b) DISCOURAGING USE BY STATE AND LOCAL OFFI-
CERS.— 
(1) LIMITING USE OF NONLETHAL ROUNDS RE-
QUIREMENT.—For each fiscal year after the expira-
tion of the period specified in paragraph (2) in 
which a State or unit of local government receives 
a grant under part E of title I of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 
U.S.C. 3750 et seq.) or part Q of such title, the 
State or unit of local government shall conform its 
laws with the following: 
(A) A law enforcement officer of that State 
or unit of local government may not use a non-
lethal round in a crowd control situation, or in 
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response to passive resistance by a person to 
any order given by that officer. 
(B) On any occasion a law enforcement of-
ficer of that State or unit of local government 
uses a nonlethal round, that State or unit of 
local government shall submit a report to the 
Attorney General. 
(C) In any case where a law enforcement 
officer uses a nonlethal round in violation of 
subparagraph (A), any person injured by such 
use may bring a civil action for appropriate re-
lief against the agency employing the law en-
forcement officer. 
(2) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 
(A) COMPLIANCE
DATE.—Beginning on 
the first full fiscal year after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, each State or unit of local 
government referred to in paragraph (1) receiv-
ing a grant shall comply with paragraph (1), 
except that the Attorney General may grant an 
additional 180 days to a State or unit of local 
government that is making good faith efforts to 
comply with such paragraph. 
(B) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—For any 
fiscal year after the expiration of the period 
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specified in subparagraph (A), a State or unit 
of local government that fails to comply with 
paragraph (1), shall, at the discretion of the At-
torney General, be subject to a reduction of not 
more than 15 percent of the funds that would 
otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year to the 
State or unit of local government under— 
(i) subpart 1 of part E of title I of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), 
whether characterized as the Edward 
Byrne Memorial State and Local Law En-
forcement Assistance Programs, the Local 
Government 
Law 
Enforcement 
Block 
Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Me-
morial Justice Assistance Grant Program, 
or otherwise; and 
(ii) part Q of such title (34 U.S.C. 
10381 et seq.). 
(3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 
under a program referred to in paragraph (2)(B)(i) 
to a State for failure to fully comply with paragraph 
(1) shall be reallocated under that program to States 
that have not failed to comply with such paragraph. 
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(c) INVESTIGATION.—The Attorney General shall in-
vestigate and publish a report on the results of such inves-
tigation in the case of any use of nonlethal rounds by a 
Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Terms used in this Act have 
the meanings given such terms in section 901 of title 
I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968. 
(2) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 
The 
term 
‘‘Federal 
law 
enforcement 
officer’’ 
means— 
(A) an employee or officer in a position in 
the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of 
the Federal Government who is authorized by 
law to engage in or supervise a law enforcement 
function; or 
(B) an employee or officer of a contractor 
or subcontractor (at any tier) of an agency in 
the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of 
the Federal Government who is authorized by 
law or under the contract with the agency to 
engage in or supervise a law enforcement func-
tion. 
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(3) NONLETHAL ROUND.—The term ‘‘nonlethal 
round’’ means a projectile fired from a gun, gun- 
like, or other apparatus used with the intension to 
apply nonlethal force, or for an intension other than 
killing the intended or unintended target, and in-
cludes— 
(A) rubber bullets; 
(B) plastic bullets; 
(C) bullets with metal core or metal exter-
nal shell; 
(D) bullets made with hardened foam; 
(E) beanbag bullets; and 
(F) sponge bullets. 
(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion may be construed as permitting or encouraging law 
enforcement to use any other type of bullet in crowd con-
trol situations. 
Æ 
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