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Bills
| 6.7.22

Raising the Age to Buy Rifles & Shotguns, Restricting Magazines With More Than 10 Rounds, Requiring Secure Storage of Guns & More (H.R. 7910)

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Bill Status

What is H.R. 7910?

This bill — known as the Protecting Our Kids Act — would enact a package of eight gun control bills that have been introduced individually by Democratic lawmakers. It would raise the age to buy semi-automatic rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21; ban “ghost guns”; and require secure storage of guns, among other provisions. A breakdown of the various proposals can be found below:

Raise the Age: This section would restrict the transfer of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns to individuals under the age of 21, as they can currently be obtained under federal law by 18-year-olds. The ban would apply to rifles and shotguns that have or can accept a magazine with more than five rounds. Full-time law enforcement personnel and active-duty members of the Armed Forces under the age of 21 would be exempt from this restriction. 

Prevent Gun Trafficking: This section would establish new federal criminal offenses for “straw purchases” — which refers to a person knowingly purchasing or acquiring a firearm for a third person or an individual requesting someone else to purchase a firearm on their behalf. A violation would be punishable by a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both. 

Untraceable Firearms: This section would establish federal definitions for the terms “ghost gun,” “fire control component,” and “frame or receiver.” It would also amend the definition of “manufacturer” of firearms so that it applies to assembling firearms with 3D printing technology. This section of the bill would also require that all firearms and components which can be used to assemble a firearm have a serial number engraved or cast on them to allow it to be traced.

Safe Storage: This section of the bill would enact several policies aimed at requiring gun owners to securely store their firearms, including:

  • Ethan’s Law: This provision would establish a federal prohibition on any person keeping any firearm unsecured on their premises if they should reasonably expect that a minor or other residents who can’t legally possess a firearm may gain access to it. If a person stores their firearm using a secure safety device, within a secure location, or within readily retrievable proximity to that person, then the firearm is considered safely and securely stored. A $500 penalty would be established for each violation and require the seizure and forfeiture of the improperly stored firearm. States and tribes could receive grants to assist law enforcement agencies and courts in implementing the law.
  • Safe Guns, Safe Kids: This provision would add an enhanced penalty of up to 5 years in prison for the owner of an unsecured firearm if a minor or person who can’t legally possess a firearm obtains the firearm and uses it in a crime or causes injury or death to themselves or another individual.
  • Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage: This provision would require gun dealers and manufacturers who serialize at least 250 firearms annually to provide a clear written notice with each manufactured or imported handgun, rifle, or shotgun stating that “Safe Storage Saves Lives” with an address to DOJ best practices. It would require federal firearms licensees to provide safe firearm storage devices during sales of handguns to include sales of rifles and shotguns as well. A 10-year, $10 million grant program would be established for states, tribes, and units of local government to acquire and distribute safe firearm storage devices. 

Closing the Bump Stock Loophole: This section would codify a definition of “bump stock” and allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATFE) to regulate them in the same manner as a machine gun. “Bump stocks” accelerate the rate of fire of a semi-automatic weapon to replicate a fully automatic firearm. (Sales of bump stocks are currently prohibited by federal regulation.) 

Keep Americans Safe: This section would criminalize the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD). It would define an “LCAFD” as any magazine, drum, or other feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Grandfathered LCAFD obtained prior to the enactment of this policy could continue to be possessed, and there would be exceptions for current and retired law enforcement officers, and for those tasked with securing nuclear materials. Dept. of Justice grants could be used by state and local law enforcement agencies for “buy-back” programs.


Argument in favor

This comprehensive gun control package would make Americans safer by raising the age to buy semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, restricting large-capacity magazines with more than 10 rounds, requiring safe storage of guns, banning ghost guns, and codifying the ban on bump stocks. It would also make straw purchases a crime to keep guns out of the hands of those who are legally prohibited from possessing guns from obtaining them through third parties. A smaller, piecemeal gun control package wouldn’t be sufficient to stop mass shootings.

Argument opposed 

This gun control bill is a partisan overreach that has no chance of becoming law. Restricting magazines with more than 10 rounds will only make it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves from violent criminals. If 18-year-olds are to be deprived of their Second Amendment right to self-defense by using a rifle or shotgun like they are with handguns, then the age of adulthood and voting threshold should rise as well. Democrats’ shouldn’t waste Congress’s time and should instead pursue genuine bipartisan compromise.

Impact 

Gun owners and would-be purchasers, particularly those between the ages of 18 and 21 seeking a semi-automatic rifle or shotgun; law enforcement agencies; courts; and the federal government.

Cost 

The CBO estimates that this bill would increase revenues by $6 million and increase direct spending by $5 million over the 2022-2032 period.

Additional Info

In-Depth: During this bill’s committee markup, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) used his opening statement to chronicle some of the mass shootings in recent decades and urge support for Democrats’ gun control bill:

“You say it’s too soon to take action, that we are politicizing these tragedies to enact new policies. It has been 23 years since Columbine. 15 years since Virginia Tech. 10 years since Sandy Hook. 7 years since Charleston. 4 years since Parkland and Santa Fe and the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. It has been 3 years since El Paso. It has been a week since we learned again that gun violence any of our children and grandchildren at any time and that no number of armed guards can guarantee their safety. It has not even been 24 hours since the last mass shooting, and who knows how long until the next one. Too soon? My friends, what the hell are you waiting for?”

Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) said in his opening statement, “No one wants another tragedy” and criticized Democrats for not working to put forward bipartisan proposals. He added: 

“The bill before us is short-sighted and not solutions oriented. It’s a one-size-fits-all approach that punishes law abiding citizens while doing nothing to make our community safer. We all want to keep children safe in school. But this bill wouldn’t do that. This bill is just another Democrat attack on the Second Amendment, and it’s likely just the start. President Biden has said he wants to ban all nine-millimeter handguns. Where does it end? The American people expect and deserve more from us than political charades that rehash old ideas and don’t actually solve the underlying problems.”

Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) said that Democrats will do everything they can to end the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster and expand the Supreme Court if necessary to enact gun control proposals:

“You will not stop us from passing it in the House next week, and you will not stop us there. If the filibuster obstructs us, we will abolish it. If the Supreme Court objects, we will expand it. We will not rest until we’ve taken weapons of war out of circulation in our communities.”

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) criticized Democrats’ proposals and said Jones’s remarks were “outrageous” and “very revealing”:

“Mr. Jones said several minutes ago that we Democrats are seeking to abolish the filibuster and expand and pack the Supreme Court. ‘We’ll do anything necessary,’ he said, and now we know what this is about. On Monday, President Joe Biden looked into a camera and said that he wants to ban 9mm handguns. This is one of the most widely purchased and used handguns by the law-abiding citizens of this country. In 2018, retired liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens called for the repeal of the Second Amendment, and in recent days liberals in Hollywood and even Capitol Hill have started to echo that drumbeat once again.”

The House Judiciary Committee advanced this bill on a 25-19 vote, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed.


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Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / InkkStudios)