I

116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION

H. R. 1186

To regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 13, 2019
Mr. DEUTCH (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. TITUS, Mr.
AGUILAR, Mr. BERA, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr.
CÁRDENAS, Mr. CASE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New
York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CRIST, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr.
ESPAILLAT, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JOHNSON
of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New
York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Ms.
MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MORELLE, Mrs.
NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PETERS,
Ms. PINGREE, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms.
ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr.
SCHNEIDER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr.
SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr.
SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. VELÁZQUEZ, Mr. VISCLOSKY,
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILSON of
Florida, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. NEGUSE, and Mr.
GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL
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To regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices.
1

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

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1

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keep Americans Safe

3 Act’’.
4

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5

Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is

6 amended by inserting after paragraph (29) the following:
7

‘‘(30) The term ‘large capacity ammunition feeding

8 device’—
9

‘‘(A) means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip,

10

helical feeding device, or similar device, including

11

any such device joined or coupled with another in

12

any manner, that has an overall capacity of, or that

13

can be readily restored, changed, or converted to ac-

14

cept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition; and

15

‘‘(B) does not include an attached tubular de-

16

vice designed to accept, and capable of operating

17

only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.

18

‘‘(31) The term ‘qualified law enforcement officer’

19 has the meaning given the term in section 926B.’’.
20

SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION

21
22

FEEDING DEVICES.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United

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23 States Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (u)
24 the following:
25

‘‘(v)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to import,

26 sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or affecting
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1 interstate or foreign commerce, a large capacity ammuni2 tion feeding device.
3

‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the possession

4 of any large capacity ammunition feeding device otherwise
5 lawfully possessed on or before the date of enactment of
6 the Keep Americans Safe Act.

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7

‘‘(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to—

8

‘‘(A) the importation for, manufacture for, sale

9

to, transfer to, or possession by the United States

10

or a department or agency of the United States or

11

a State or a department, agency, or political subdivi-

12

sion of a State, or a sale or transfer to or possession

13

by a qualified law enforcement officer employed by

14

the United States or a department or agency of the

15

United States or a State or a department, agency,

16

or political subdivision of a State for purposes of law

17

enforcement (whether on or off-duty), or a sale or

18

transfer to or possession by a campus law enforce-

19

ment officer for purposes of law enforcement (wheth-

20

er on or off-duty);

21

‘‘(B) the importation for, or sale or transfer to

22

a licensee under title I of the Atomic Energy Act of

23

1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) for purposes of estab-

24

lishing and maintaining an on-site physical protec-

25

tion system and security organization required by

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1

Federal law, or possession by an employee or con-

2

tractor of such licensee on-site for such purposes or

3

off-site for purposes of licensee-authorized training

4

or transportation of nuclear materials;

5

‘‘(C) the possession, by an individual who is re-

6

tired in good standing from service with a law en-

7

forcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited

8

from receiving ammunition, of a large capacity am-

9

munition feeding device—

10

‘‘(i) sold or transferred to the individual by

11

the agency upon such retirement; or

12

‘‘(ii) that the individual purchased, or oth-

13

erwise obtained, for official use before such re-

14

tirement; or

15

‘‘(D) the importation, sale, manufacture, trans-

16

fer, or possession of any large capacity ammunition

17

feeding device by a licensed manufacturer or licensed

18

importer for the purposes of testing or experimen-

19

tation authorized by the Attorney General.

20

‘‘(4) For purposes of paragraph (3)(A), the term

21 ‘campus law enforcement officer’ means an individual who

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22 is—
23

‘‘(A) employed by a private institution of higher

24

education that is eligible for funding under title IV

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1

of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

2

1070 et seq.);

3

‘‘(B) responsible for the prevention or investiga-

4

tion of crime involving injury to persons or property,

5

including apprehension or detention of persons for

6

such crimes;

7

‘‘(C) authorized by Federal, State, or local law

8

to carry a firearm, execute search warrants, and

9

make arrests; and

10

‘‘(D) recognized, commissioned, or certified by

11

a government entity as a law enforcement officer.’’.

12

(b) IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS

13

ITY

FOR

LARGE CAPAC-

AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.—Section 923(i) of

14 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
15 end the following: ‘‘A large capacity ammunition feeding
16 device manufactured after the date of enactment of the
17 Keep Americans Safe Act shall be identified by a serial
18 number and the date on which the device was manufac19 tured or made, legibly and conspicuously engraved or cast
20 on the device, and such other identification as the Attor21 ney General shall by regulations prescribe.’’.
22

(c) SEIZURE

AND

FORFEITURE

OF

LARGE CAPACITY

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23 AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.—Section 924(d) of title
24 18, United States Code, is amended—
25

(1) in paragraph (1)—

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1

(A) in the first sentence—

2

(i) by striking ‘‘Any firearm or ammu-

3

nition involved in’’ and inserting ‘‘Any fire-

4

arm or ammunition or large capacity am-

5

munition feeding device involved in’’;

6

(ii) by striking ‘‘or (k)’’ and inserting

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7

‘‘(k), or (v)’’; and

8

(iii) by striking ‘‘any firearm or am-

9

munition intended’’ and inserting ‘‘any

10

firearm or ammunition or large capacity

11

ammunition feeding device intended’’; and

12

(B) in the second and third sentences, by

13

inserting ‘‘or large capacity ammunition feeding

14

device’’ after ‘‘firearms or ammunition’’ each

15

place the term appears;

16

(2) in paragraph (2)—

17

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or

18

large capacity ammunition feeding device’’ after

19

‘‘firearms or ammunition’’; and

20

(B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or

21

large capacity ammunition feeding devices’’

22

after ‘‘firearms or quantities of ammunition’’;

23

and

24

(3) in paragraph (3)(E), by inserting ‘‘922(v),’’

25

after ‘‘922(n),’’.

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1

SEC. 4. PENALTIES.

2

Section 924(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States Code,

3 is amended by striking ‘‘or (q)’’ and inserting ‘‘(q), or
4 (v)’’.
5

SEC. 5. USE OF BYRNE GRANTS FOR BUY-BACK PROGRAMS

6

FOR LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEED-

7

ING DEVICES.

8

Section 501(a)(1) of title I of the Omnibus Crime

9 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C.
10 10152(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing:
12

‘‘(I) Compensation for surrendered large

13

capacity ammunition feeding devices, as that

14

term is defined in section 921 of title 18,

15

United States Code, under buy-back programs

16

for large capacity ammunition feeding devices.’’.

17

SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY.

18

If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by

19 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend20 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti21 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made
22 by this Act, and the application of such provision or

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23 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af24 fected thereby.

Æ

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