NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog
The 133rd Federal Congress is being bombarded with Firearms Legislation. (No pun intended)
One of the latest is Senate Bill 150 by none other than Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA)
The Firearms Policy Coalition has provided a nice summary of the 120+ bill that would almost restrict every firearm other than a revolver. I am sure that restriction will come in a second bill.
Summary: S. 150, among other things, would ban the sale, transfer, manufacturing and importation of:
- All semiautomatic rifles that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one “feature” (i.e., pistol grip; forward grip; folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; barrel shroud; or threaded barrel);
- All semiautomatic pistols that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one “feature” (i.e., threaded barrel; second pistol grip; barrel shroud; capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip) or that are the semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm);
- All semiautomatic rifles and handguns that have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, except for an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, .22 caliber rim fire ammunition;
- All semiautomatic shotguns that have a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; pistol grip; fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 5 rounds; ability to accept a detachable magazine; forward grip; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; or shotguns with a revolving cylinder;
- All ammunition feeding devices (means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device) capable of accepting more than 10 rounds; and
- Over 100 specifically named firearms.
Unlike the 1994 assault weapons ban, Senate bill 150 does not include a sunset possession that allowed the original federal ban to expire. The bill also requires a background check on all sales or transfers of grandfathered firearms; prohibits the sale or transfer of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices lawfully possessed on the date of enactment of the bill; allows state and local governments to use federal funding to buyback grandfathered assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices; imposes a safe storage requirement for grandfathered firearms; and requires that assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices manufactured after the date of the bill’s enactment be engraved with the serial number and date of manufacture of the weapon. Assault weapons used by military, law enforcement, and retired law enforcement; antique weapons, and firearms manually operated by a bolt, pump, lever or slide action are exempted from S. 150.
If you do not have your guns and magazines in a Gun Trust, now is the time to get them in a trust. Also if you plan on buying threaded barrels now is the time to do that also, even if you build them up later. Ammo will come back down, but you may not have the opportunity to use a silencer if you can’t purchase a threaded barrel.
There are a few organizations you can join to help fight overreaching gun legislation. By visiting the FirearmsPolicy.org webpage you can help support the following gun rights organizations. I recently joined all of them and would encourage as many of you as possible to join 1 or more.
Federal – Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) +$15.00
Federal – Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA)+$15.00
CA – The Calguns Foundation (CGF) +$15.00
CA – California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees (Cal-FFL) +$15.00
MA – Commonwealth Second Amendment (Comm2A) +$15.00
FL – Florida Carry, Inc. (FCI) +$15.00
HI – Hawaii Defense Foundation (HDF) +$15.00
IL – Illinois Carry (IC) +$15.00
NJ – New Jersey Second Amendment Society (NJ2AS) +$15.00
TX – Lone Star Shooting Association (LSSA) +$15.00
WV – West Virginia Citizens Defense League (WVCDL) +$15.00
Continue reading to see the other 26 firearms bills which have been introduced in the last few days.
Bill: Federal H.R. 21 – Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA)
Summary: Requires all sales through dealers and reporting of thefts within 48 hours.
Bill: Federal H.R. 34 – Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL )
Summary: “To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 35 – Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX)
Summary: “To restore safety to America’s schools.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 65 – Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Summary: “Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of 2013”
Bill: Federal HR 93 – Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI)
Summary: “The Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act”
Bill: Federal H.R. 117 – Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Summary: “To provide for the mandatory licensing and registration of handguns.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 133 – Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)
Summary: “To repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and amendments to that Act.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 137 – Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Summary: “To ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background check for every firearm sale.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 138 – Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Summary: “To prohibit the transfer or possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices, and for other purposes.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 141 – Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Summary: “To require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions occurring at gun shows.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 142 – Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Summary: “To require face to face purchases of ammunition, to require licensing of ammunition dealers, and to require reporting regarding bulk purchases of ammunition.”
Bill: Federal HR 226 – Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Summary: “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against tax for surrendering to authorities certain assault weapons.”
Bill: Federal HR 227 – Theodore Deutch (D-FL)
Summary: “To establish a gun buyback grant program.”
Bill: Federal HR 236 – James Langevin (D-RI)
Summary: “To ensure greater accountability by licensed firearms dealers. ”
Bill: Federal HR 238 – Grace Meng (D-NY)
Summary: “To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to restrict the ability of a person whose Federal license to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms has been revoked, whose application to renew such a license has been denied, or who has received a license revocation or renewal denial notice, to transfer business inventory firearms, and for other purposes.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 321 – Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Summary: H.R. 321 would essentially create an exception to the 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law 112-74)’s ban on National Institutes of Health funds being used to advocate or promote gun control in order to allowing funding of “research on firearms safety or gun violence.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 332 – Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Summary: H.R. 332 essentially undoes the protections that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act grants those in the firearms industry by declaring that “[a]n action against a manufacturer, seller, or trade association for damages or relief resulting from an alleged defect or alleged negligence with respect to a product, or conduct that would be actionable under State common or statutory law in the absence of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, shall not be dismissed by a court on the basis that the action is for damages resulting from, or for relief from, the criminal, unlawful, or volitional use of a qualified product.” The bill also makes the contents of the Firearms Trace System database discoverable and admissible in a civil action in any State (including the District of Columbia), federal court, or administrative proceeding.
Bill: Federal H.R. 404 – Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Summary: The full text of H.R. 404 is not available yet, but according to its title, if passed, H.R. 404 would “enhance criminal penalties for straw purchasers of firearms.”
Bill: Federal H.R. 410 – Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX)
Summary: The full text of H.R. 410 is not available yet, but according to its title, if passed, H.R. 410 would “provide that any executive action infringing on the Second Amendment has no force or effect, and to prohibit the use of funds for certain purposes.”
Resolution: Federal H.Res. 40 – Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
Summary: H.Res. 40 expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that active duty military personnel who are stationed or residing in the District of Columbia should be permitted to exercise fully their rights under the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and therefore should be exempt from the District of Columbia’s restrictions on the possession of firearms.
Bill: S. 22 – Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Summary: S. 22 would introduce new restrictions on gun shows and their operators/promoters, including, but not limited to: requiring gun show promoters to register with and pay a fee to the Attorney General in order to hold a gun show; requiring that gun show promoters verify the identity of each vendor participating in the gun show by examining a valid identification document containing a photograph of the vendor; requiring certain documents to be signed by each vendor before commencement of the gun show; and, new record keeping requirements for gun show operators. S. 22 would also require that all firearm transactions taking place at gun shows go through a licensed firearms dealer, that a background check take place with each transaction, and that firearm dealers conducting firearms transfers at gun shows follow certain record keeping requirements.
Bill: S. 33 – Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Summary: The full text of S. 33 is not available yet, but according to its title, if passed, S. 33 would, among other things, “prohibit the transfer or possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices.”
Bill: S. 34 – Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Summary: The full text of S. 34 is not available yet, but according to its title, if passed, S. 34 would permit the Attorney General to “deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses to known or suspected dangerous terrorists.”
Bill: S. 35 – Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Summary: The full text of S. 35 is not available yet, but according to its title, if passed, S. 35 would require “face to face purchases of ammunition, licensing of ammunition dealers, and reporting regarding bulk purchases of ammunition.”
Bill: S. 54 – Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Summary: The full text of S. 54 is not available yet, but according to its title, if passed, S. 54 would “increase public safety by punishing and deterring firearms trafficking.”
Position: OPPOSE
Bill: S. 82 – Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Summary: The full text of S. 82 is not available yet, but according to its title, if passed, S. 82 would “provide that any executive action infringing on the Second Amendment has no force or effect, and to prohibit the use of funds for certain purposes.”
Bill: S. 150 – Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA)
Summary: S. 150, among other things, would ban the sale, transfer, manufacturing and importation of:
• All semiautomatic rifles that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one “feature” (i.e., pistol grip; forward grip; folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; barrel shroud; or threaded barrel);
• All semiautomatic pistols that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one “feature” (i.e., threaded barrel; second pistol grip; barrel shroud; capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip) or that are the semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm);
• All semiautomatic rifles and handguns that have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, except for an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, .22 caliber rim fire ammunition;
• All semiautomatic shotguns that have a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; pistol grip; fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 5 rounds; ability to accept a detachable magazine; forward grip; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; or shotguns with a revolving cylinder;
• All ammunition feeding devices (means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device) capable of accepting more than 10 rounds; and • Over 100 specifically-named firearms.
Unlike the 1994 assault weapons ban, S. 150 does not include a sunset possession that allowed the original federal ban to expire. The bill also requires a background check on all sales or transfers of grandfathered firearms; prohibits the sale or transfer of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices lawfully possessed on the date of enactment of the bill; allows state and local governments to use federal funding to buyback grandfathered assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices; imposes a safe storage requirement for grandfathered firearms; and requires that assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices manufactured after the date of the bill’s enactment be engraved with the serial number and date of manufacture of the weapon. Assault weapons used by military, law enforcement, and retired law enforcement; antique weapons, and firearms manually operated by a bolt, pump, lever or slide action are exempted from S. 150.