I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4214 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the excise tax 
and special occupational tax in respect of firearms and to increase 
the transfer tax on any other weapon, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 10, 2015 
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Mr. PASCRELL) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
Means, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, the Ju-
diciary, Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce, 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 com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase 
the excise tax and special occupational tax in respect 
of firearms and to increase the transfer tax on any 
other weapon, 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 ‘‘Gun Violence Preven-
tion and Safe Communities Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. INCREASE IN EXCISE TAXES RELATING TO FIRE-
ARMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4181 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 4181. IMPOSITION OF TAX. 
‘‘There is hereby imposed upon the sale by the manu-
facturer, producer, or importer of the following articles a 
tax equivalent to the specified percent of the price for 
which so sold: 
‘‘(1) Articles taxable at 20 percent: 
‘‘(A) Pistols. 
‘‘(B) Revolvers. 
‘‘(C) Firearms (other than pistols and re-
volvers). 
‘‘(D) Any lower frame or receiver for a 
firearm, whether for a semiautomatic pistol, 
rifle, or shotgun that is designed to accommo-
date interchangeable upper receivers. 
‘‘(2) Articles taxable at 50 percent: Shells and 
cartridges.’’. 
(b) EXEMPTION FOR UNITED STATES.—Subsection 
(b) of section 4182 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) SALES TO UNITED STATES.—No firearms, pis-
tols, revolvers, lower frame or receiver for a firearm, 
shells, and cartridges purchased with funds appropriated 
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for any department, agency, or instrumentality of the 
United States shall be subject to any tax imposed on the 
sale or transfer of such articles.’’. 
(c) AVAILABILITY
OF FUNDS FROM INCREASED 
TAXES.— 
(1) ALLOCATION.—Amounts in the general 
fund of the Treasury by reason of section 3(a) of the 
Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (as 
amended by paragraph (2) of this subsection) are 
hereby appropriated and shall be available, as fol-
lows: 
(A) 35 percent of such amounts shall be 
available for community-oriented policing serv-
ices grants for the hiring and rehiring of addi-
tional career law enforcement officers under 
section 1701(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
U.S.C. 3796dd(b)). States using funds for 
school resource officers shall include training, 
protections, and monitoring to ensure that 
school resource officers are used to improve 
school safety and climate, and promote positive 
reform in student suspensions, expulsions, and 
referrals to the juvenile or criminal justice sys-
tems. 
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(G) 5 percent of such amounts shall be 
available for the Secretary of Education to pro-
vide directed grants and technical assistance to 
schools eligible for or receiving grants under 
part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 to develop and 
implement comprehensive, evidence-based local 
or regional strategies (such as positive behavior 
interventions and supports, social and emotional 
learning, and restorative justice programs) to 
improve school climate, reduce the use of exclu-
sionary school discipline, and decrease the num-
ber of youth entering the juvenile and criminal 
justice systems. 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) 
of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act 
(16 U.S.C. 669b(a)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new sentence: ‘‘There shall not be 
covered into the fund the portion of the tax imposed 
by such section 4181 that is attributable to any in-
crease in amounts received in the Treasury under 
such section by reason of the amendments made by 
section 2 of the Gun Violence Prevention and Safe 
Communities Act of 2015, as estimated by the Sec-
retary.’’. 
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(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to sales after Decem-
ber 31, 2015. 
SEC. 3. SPECIAL TAX AND LICENSING RELATING TO FIRE-
ARMS. 
(a) INCREASE IN TAX.— 
(1) GENERAL RULE.—Subsection (a) of section 
5801 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended— 
(A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ 
and inserting ‘‘$2,000’’, and 
(B) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘$500’’ 
and inserting ‘‘50 percent of the dollar amount 
applicable under paragraph (1) for the taxable 
year’’. 
(2) SMALL
IMPORTERS
AND
MANUFACTUR-
ERS.—Paragraph (1) of section 5801(b) of such 
Code is amended by striking ‘‘substituting ‘$500’ for 
‘$1,000’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘substituting ‘50 percent of 
the dollar amount applicable under such paragraph 
for the taxable year’ for ‘$2,000’ ’’. 
(3) ADJUSTMENT
FOR
INFLATION.—Section 
5801 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
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‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—In the case of 
any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 2016, 
the dollar amount in subsection (a)(1) shall be increased 
by an amount equal to— 
‘‘(1) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 
under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 
the taxable year begins, determined by substituting 
‘calendar year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub-
paragraph (B) thereof. 
If any increase under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of 
$10, such increase shall be rounded to the next lowest 
multiple of $10.’’. 
(b) INCREASE IN TRANSFER TAX ON FIREARMS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 
5811 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘$200’’ and inserting 
‘‘$500’’, and 
(B) by striking ‘‘$5’’ and inserting 
‘‘$100’’. 
(2) ADJUSTMENT
FOR
INFLATION.—Section 
5811 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
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‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—In the case of 
any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 2016, 
each dollar amount in subsection (a) shall be increased 
by an amount equal to— 
‘‘(1) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 
under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 
the taxable year begins, determined by substituting 
‘calendar year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub-
paragraph (B) thereof. 
If any increase under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of 
$5, such increase shall be rounded to the next lowest mul-
tiple of $5.’’. 
(c) CERTAIN SEMIAUTOMATIC PISTOLS CHAMBERED 
FOR CARTRIDGES TREATED
AS FIREARMS.—The first 
sentence of section 5845(a) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(8)’’, 
(2) by striking ‘‘device.’’ and inserting ‘‘device, 
and’’, and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(9) a 
semiautomatic pistol chambered for cartridges com-
monly considered rifle rounds, configured with re-
ceivers commonly associated with rifles and capable 
of accepting detachable magazines.’’. 
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(d) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by para-
graph (2), the amendments made by this section 
shall take effect on July 1, 2016. 
(2) TRANSFER TAX.—The amendment made by 
subsection (b) shall apply to transfers after Decem-
ber 31, 2015. 
(3) ALL TAXPAYERS TREATED AS COMMENCING 
IN BUSINESS ON JULY 1, 2016.—Any person engaged 
on July 1, 2016, in any trade or business which is 
subject to an occupational tax by reason of the 
amendment made by subsection (b) shall be treated 
for purposes of such tax as having first engaged in 
a trade or business on such date. 
Æ 
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