Sec. 4. Requirement that homemade firearms have serial numbers
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/bill/115/hr/7115/ih/section-4·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 923 the following: A person who has attained 18 years of age and desires to make a firearm, or obtain a unique serial number or other identifying mark for a firearm, may request a licensed dealer to issue a unique serial number or other identifying mark for the firearm, which request shall describe the firearm involved, and state whether the firearm will be (or is) a handgun. A request made of a licensed dealer pursuant to subsection
(a)with respect to a firearm shall be treated as a proposed transfer of the firearm from the licensed dealer to the applicant, for purposes of section 922(t) of this title and section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, except that the Firearms Transaction Record involved shall indicate that what is being transferred is a serial number and not a firearm. A licensed dealer may issue to an applicant a unique serial number and identifying mark for a firearm pursuant to such a request if, applying paragraph
(1)of this subsection to the request, section 922(t) or other law would not prohibit the licensed dealer from transferring the firearm to the applicant. A licensed dealer may charge an applicant a fee for each serial number and identifying mark assigned and issued under this section, in an amount that is not more than the actual costs associated with assigning and issuing the serial number and identifying mark, and a fee for contacting the national instant criminal background check system with respect to the applicant. It shall be unlawful for any person, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, to make a firearm, unless the person has obtained a serial number and identifying mark for the firearm under this section. In subparagraph (A), the term make means produce, construct, or fabricate by any means. Within 90 days after a person obtains a serial number and identifying mark for a firearm under this section, the person shall present the firearm to the licensed dealer who issued the serial number and identifying mark. On presentation, the licensed dealer shall verify that the serial number has been stamped on or otherwise permanently affixed to the firearm and that the firearm matches the description provided by the person when the request for the serial number and identifying mark was made. It shall be unlawful for any person, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, to possess or transfer a firearm made after 1968 by a person who is not a licensed manufacturer, unless— a serial number and identifying mark for the firearm has been issued under this section; within 10 days after the issuance, the serial number and identifying mark is stamped on or otherwise permanently affixed to the firearm; and if the firearm is made from polymer plastic, 3.7 ounces of material type 17–4 PH stainless steel, on which the unique serial number or identifying mark is stamped or otherwise permanently affixed, are embedded within the plastic. This subsection shall not apply to— a firearm to which a serial number has been assigned pursuant to section 923 of this title or chapter 53 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or a licensed manufacturer. Within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Attorney General shall, in consultation with licensed dealers, establish a system that enables the Attorney General to identify any licensed dealer who issues a serial number and identifying mark pursuant to this section. The system established under subparagraph
(A)shall include standards for serial numbers issued pursuant to this section, which shall ensure that the serial numbers are at least as unique and capable of being traced, and at least as difficult to obliterate, as serial numbers issued pursuant to section 923(i). The Attorney General shall maintain, and make available on request, information on— the number of serial numbers and identifying marks issued under this section; and the number of arrests for violations of this section. . Section 924(a) of such title is amended— in paragraph (2), by inserting or section 923A(c) after 922 ; and in paragraph (5), by adding at the end the following: For purposes of this paragraph, the issuance of a serial number and identifying mark for a firearm in violation of section 923A shall be considered a transfer of the firearm in violation of section 922(t). . The table of sections for chapter 44 of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 923 the following: 923A. Serial number requirement for homemade firearms. .