Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Lawful Purpose and Historical Firearms Act”.
Lawful Purpose and Historical Firearms Act
A BILL
To revise various laws that interfere with the lawful use of firearms and to promote America’s firearms heritage.
Sec. 2 Return of historical firearms and amendments to Arms Export Control Act
in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no officer or employee of the United States shall deny the importation of firearms or ammunition into the United States unless the firearm or ammunition is located or manufactured in a country for which—
“(A) it is the policy of the United States to deny licenses and other approvals with respect to defense articles and defense services originating in that country; or
“(B) the United States maintains an arms embargo.”
in subsection (b)(1)—
in subparagraph (B)—
in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “subparagraph (A)” and inserting “subparagraph (A)(i)”;
in clause (i), by striking “Secretary of the Treasury” and inserting “Attorney General”; and
by striking clause (ii) and inserting the following:
“(ii) the person seeking to export such firearms to the United States certifies to the Attorney General that the firearms are lawfully possessed by the exporter under the laws of the exporting country.”
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, any such firearms described in subparagraph (B) (other than machine guns imported for purposes other than those set forth in section 5855 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) may be imported into the United States by an importer licensed under the provisions of chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, without the importer or the person described in subparagraph (B)(ii)—
“(i) obtaining authorization from the Department of State or the Department of Defense for the transfer of such firearms by the person to the importer; or
“(ii) providing payment to the Department of State or the Department of Defense of any of the proceeds of the transfer of such firearms by the person to the importer.”
Effective date— The amendments made by subsection (a) apply to the importation of firearms described in section 38(b)(1)(B) of the Arms Export Control Act (as amended by subsection (a) of this section) on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 3 Transfers of National Firearms Act firearms to museums
Exemption from payment of National Firearms Act tax for firearms transferred to museums— Part II of subchapter B of chapter 53 of subtitle E of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following:
“5855. Exemption from transfer tax for transfers to museums
“(a) In general—Any firearm may be transferred to a museum without payment of the transfer tax imposed by section 5811 or issuance of a stamp required pursuant to section 5812, provided that such firearm is—
“(1) appropriately secured for display by such museum, and
“(2) transferred to and possessed by such museum for—
“(A) the purpose of display to the public,
“(B) preservation of a historical artifact, or
“(C) research purposes.
“(b) Definitions—In this section—
“(1) Appropriately secured for display
“(A) In general—The term appropriately secured for display means, with respect to a firearm—
“(i) storage which is specifically designed to prevent the theft or misappropriation of such firearm, or
“(ii) modification of such firearm in a manner which will prevent the functioning of such firearm.
“(B) Discretion—For purposes of subparagraph (A), a museum shall have reasonable discretion with respect to the storage or modification of a firearm, which shall include, to the greatest extent possible, preservation of the historical, educational, or cultural value of such firearm.
“(2) Museum—The term museum means an organization described in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from tax under section 501(a) which—
“(A) stores, preserves, and exhibits—
“(i) objects of art, history, science, or
“(ii) other objects of historical, educational or cultural value,
“(B) with respect to objects described in subparagraph (A), stores, preserves, and exhibits such objects on a permanent basis in a building, portion of a building, or outdoor location, and
“(C) provides museum services to the public on a regular basis.
“(c) Rule of construction—Except in the case of a museum electing to modify a firearm pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii), nothing in this section shall be construed to require any firearm which is lawfully registered and possessed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter to be modified to prevent the functioning of such firearm.”
Amendments to Firearm Owners’ Protection Act— Section 922(o)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
in subparagraph (A), by striking “or” at the end;
in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(C) a transfer of a machinegun to, or possession of a machinegun by, a museum in accordance with section 5855 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.”
Technical amendment— The table of sections for part II of subchapter B of chapter 53 of subtitle E of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 4 Importation of certain National Firearms Act firearms
In general— Section 5844 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
“5844. Importation
“(a) In general—Subject to subsection (b), no firearm shall be imported or brought into the United States or any territory under its control or jurisdiction unless the importer—
“(1) is a licensed importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of title 18, United States Code),
“(2) has paid the special (occupational) tax required by section 5801 for their business, and
“(3) has registered as required by section 5802.
“(b) Nonapplication to machineguns—In the case of a firearm which is a machinegun, such firearm shall not be imported or brought into the United States or any territory under its control or jurisdiction unless the importer establishes that such firearm—
“(1) is being imported or brought in for the purposes set forth in section 5855(a), or
“(2) complies with the requirements established under this section (as well as any regulations prescribed by the Secretary) as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the Lawful Purpose and Historical Firearms Act.
“(c) No additional requirements—Other than the requirements described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) and subsection (b), the Secretary shall not establish any additional requirements or conditions through any regulation or other guidance with respect to the importation of firearms into the United States or any territory under its control or jurisdiction.”
Effective date— The amendment made by this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 5 Protection of shotguns, shotgun shells, and large caliber rifles from arbitrary classification as “destructive devices”
Amendments to the National Firearms Act— Section 5845(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—
in paragraph (2) of the first sentence, by striking “recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes” and inserting “recognized as suitable for lawful purposes”; and
in the second sentence, by striking “use solely for sporting purposes” and inserting “use for lawful purposes”.
Amendments to title 18, United States Code— Section 921(a)(4) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
in subparagraph (B) of the 1st sentence, by striking “particularly suitable for sporting” and inserting “suitable for lawful”; and
in the 2nd sentence, by striking “solely”.
Sec. 6 Rifle and shotgun ammunition
Section 921(a)(17) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
in subparagraph (B)—
in clause (i), by striking “may be used” and inserting “is designed and intended by the manufacturer or importer for use”; and
in clause (ii), by inserting “by the manufacturer or importer” before “for use”; and
in subparagraph (C), by striking “the Attorney General finds is primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes” and inserting “is primarily intended by the manufacturer or importer to be used in a rifle or shotgun, a handgun projectile that is designed and intended by the manufacturer or importer to be used for hunting, recreational, or competitive shooting”.
Sec. 7 Temporary interstate loans for all lawful purposes; Elimination of restrictions on importation of firearms or ammunition that may otherwise be lawfully possessed and sold in the United States
in subsection (a)—
in paragraph (5)(B), by striking “sporting”;
in paragraph (6), by adding “or” at the end;
by striking paragraphs (7) and (8);
by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (7); and
in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, by striking “sporting”;
in subsection (b)(3)(B), by striking “sporting”; and
by striking subsection (r).
Licensing— Section 923(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking “The Attorney General may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, revoke the license of a dealer who willfully transfers armor piercing ammunition.”.
Broadening of exceptions—
in subsection (a)—
in paragraph (3), by striking “determined” and all that follows through the end and inserting “intended for the lawful personal use of such member or club.”; and
in paragraph (4), by striking “(A)” and all that follows through “for the” and inserting “intended for the lawful”; and
by striking subsections (d), (e), and (f) and inserting the following:
“(d)
“(1) Not later than 30 days after the Attorney General receives an application therefor, the Attorney General shall authorize a firearm or ammunition to be imported or brought into the United States or any possession thereof if—
“(A) the firearm or ammunition is being imported or brought in for scientific, research, testing, or experimentation purposes;
“(B) the firearm is an unserviceable firearm (other than a machinegun as defined in section 5845(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is readily restorable to firing condition);
“(C) except as otherwise provided by this paragraph or another provision of law, the firearm is not a machinegun, as defined in section 5845(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
“(D) the ammunition is not armor piercing ammunition (as defined in section 921(a)(17)(B) of this title), unless subparagraph (A), (E), (F), or (G) of this paragraph applies;
“(E) the firearm or ammunition is being imported or brought in for the use of the United States, any department or agency of the United States, any State, or any department, agency, or political subdivision of a State;
“(F) the firearm or ammunition is being imported or brought in for the purpose of exportation;
“(G) the firearm or ammunition was previously taken out of the United States or a possession thereof by the person who is bringing in the firearm or ammunition;
“(H) the firearm is a firearm defined as curio or relic by the Attorney General under section 921(a)(13) of this title; or
“(I) the firearm is being imported or brought in by a museum (as defined in section 5855 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) for the purpose of display to the public or for research purposes, including the importation of a machinegun for a purpose described in section 5855 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
“(2) Not later than 30 days after the Attorney General receives an application therefor, the Attorney General shall permit the conditional importation or bringing in of a firearm or ammunition for examination and testing in connection with the making of a determination as to whether the importation or bringing in of the firearm or ammunition will be allowed under this subsection.
“(3) The Attorney General shall not authorize, under this subsection, the importation of any firearm the importation of which is prohibited by section 922(p).”
Conforming amendment— Section 922(l) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking “925(d) of this chapter” and inserting “925”.