Title: Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act of 2018
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act of 2018
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the excise tax on the sale of firearms by manufacturers, producers, or importers, to: (1) increase the rate of such tax to 20% on pistols, revolvers, and other firearms and on any lower frame or receiver for a firearm; and (2) impose a 50% tax on shells and cartridges. The bill exempts any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States from such tax.
The bill allocates revenues from the increased excise tax under this bill for law enforcement and public safety grant programs, including programs for research on gun violence and its prevention.
The bill: (1) increases the occupational tax on importers, manufacturers, and dealers in firearms and the transfer tax on firearms; and (2) modifies the definition of "firearm" for excise tax purposes to include a semiautomatic pistol chambered for cartridges and configured with receivers commonly associated with rifles and capable of accepting detachable magazines.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5103 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5103

 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

                           February 27, 2018

Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois (for himself, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Johnson 
 of Georgia, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. 
 Bass, Ms. Norton, Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Lynch) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in 
    addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, the Judiciary, 
 Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, 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 
                          committee 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Gun Violence Prevention and Safe 
Communities Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. INCREASE IN EXCISE TAXES RELATING TO FIREARMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 4181 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 4181. IMPOSITION OF TAX.

    ``There is hereby imposed upon the sale by the manufacturer, 
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 revolvers).
                    ``(D) Any lower frame or receiver for a firearm, 
                whether for a semiautomatic pistol, rifle, or shotgun 
                that is designed to accommodate 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, pistols, revolvers, 
lower frame or receiver for a firearm, shells, and cartridges purchased 
with funds appropriated 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 
        follows:
                    (A) Thirty-five percent of such amounts shall be 
                available for community-oriented policing services 
                grants for the hiring and rehiring of additional 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 systems.
                    (B) Thirty-five percent of such amounts shall be 
                available for the Project Safe Neighborhoods, as 
                authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 
                (Public Law 115-31), 131 Stat. 135, 203.
                    (C) Ten percent of such amounts shall be available 
                for the Centers for Disease Control National Center for 
                Injury Prevention and Control for purposes of research 
                on gun violence and its prevention.
                    (D) Five percent of such amounts shall be available 
                for the National Criminal History Improvement Program 
                authorized under section 302(c) of title I of the 
                Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
                U.S.C. 3732(c)).
                    (E) Five percent of such amounts shall be available 
                for the NICS Act Record Improvement Program authorized 
                under section 301 of the NICS Improvement Amendments 
                Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note).
                    (F) Five percent for the Community-Based Violence 
                Prevention Field-Initiated Research and Evaluation 
                Program of the Department of Justice.
                    (G) Five percent of such amounts shall be available 
                for the Secretary of Education to provide directed 
                grants and technical assistance to schools eligible for 
                or receiving grants under part A of title I of the 
                Elementary and Secondary 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 exclusionary school 
                discipline, and decrease the number 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 
        increase 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 2018, as 
        estimated by the Secretary.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to sales after December 31, 2018.

SEC. 3. SPECIAL TAX AND LICENSING RELATING TO FIREARMS.

    (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 manufacturers.--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:
    ``(c) Adjustment for Inflation.--In the case of any taxable year 
beginning in a calendar year after 2019, 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 2018' for 
        `calendar year 2016' in subparagraph (A)(ii) 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:
    ``(d) Adjustment for Inflation.--In the case of any taxable year 
beginning in a calendar year after 2019, 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 2018' for 
        `calendar year 2016' in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.
If any increase under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $5, such 
increase shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple 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 commonly 
        considered rifle rounds, configured with receivers commonly 
        associated with rifles and capable of accepting detachable 
        magazines.''.
    (d) Effective Dates.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided by paragraph (2), the 
        amendments made by this section shall take effect on January 1, 
        2019.
            (2) In general.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
        shall take effect on July 1, 2019.
            (3) All taxpayers treated as commencing in business on july 
        1, 2019.--Any person engaged on July 1, 2019, in any trade or 
        business which is subject to an occupational tax by reason of 
        the amendment made by subsection (a) shall be treated for 
        purposes of such tax as having first engaged in a trade or 
        business on such date.
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