---
kind: "section"
citation: "15 U.S.C. § 1173"
title: "15"
title_heading: "Commerce and Trade"
number: "1173"
heading: "Registration of manufacturers and dealers"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/15/1173"
units:
  - "Chapter 24 — Transportation of Gambling Devices"
---

# §1173. Registration of manufacturers and dealers

- (a) **Activities requiring registration; contents of registration statement—**
  - (1) It shall be unlawful for any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) engaged in the business of manufacturing [gambling devices](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a), if the activities of such business in any way affect [interstate or foreign commerce](/usc/15/1171.md?p=d), to manufacture any [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) during any calendar year, unless, after November 30 of the preceding calendar year, and before the date on which such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d) is manufactured, such [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) has registered with the Attorney General under this subsection, regardless of whether such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d) ever enters [interstate or foreign commerce](/usc/15/1171.md?p=d).
  - (2) It shall be unlawful for any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) during any calendar year to engage in the business of repairing, reconditioning, buying, selling, leasing, using, or making available for use by others any [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a), if in such business he sells, ships, or delivers any such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d) knowing that it will be introduced into [interstate or foreign commerce](/usc/15/1171.md?p=d) after the effective date of the Gambling Devices Act of 1962, unless, after November 30 of the preceding calendar year, and before the date such sale, shipment, or delivery occurs, such [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) has registered with the Attorney General under this subsection.
  - (3) It shall be unlawful for any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) during any calendar year to engage in the business of repairing, reconditioning, buying, selling, leasing, using, or making available for use by others any [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a), if in such business he buys or receives any such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d) knowing that it has been transported in [interstate or foreign commerce](/usc/15/1171.md?p=d) after the effective date of the Gambling Devices Act of 1962, unless, after November 30, of the preceding calendar year and before the date on which he buys or receives such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d), such [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) has registered with the Attorney General under this subsection.
  - (4) Each [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) who registers with the Attorney General pursuant to this subsection shall set forth in such registration (A) his name and each trade name under which he does business, (B) the address of each of his places of business in any [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or [possession of the United States](/usc/15/1171.md?p=c), (C) the address of a place, in a [State](/usc/15/1171.md?p=b) or [possession of the United States](/usc/15/1171.md?p=c) in which such a place of business is located, where he will keep all rec­ords required to be kept by him by [subsection (c)](#c) of this section, and (D) each activity described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this subsection which he intends to engage in during the calendar year with respect to which such registration is made.
- (b) **Numbering of devices—**
  - (1) Every manufacturer of a [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) defined in paragraph (a)(1) or (a)(2) of [section 1171 of this title](/usc/15/1171.md) shall number seriatim each such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) manufactured by him and permanently affix on each such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d), so as to be clearly visible, such number, his name, and, if different, any trade name under which he does business, and the date of manufacture of such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d).
  - (2) Every manufacturer of a [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) defined in paragraph (a)(3) of [section 1171 of this title](/usc/15/1171.md) shall, if the size of such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d) permits it, number seriatim each such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) manufactured by him and permanently affix on each such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d), so as to be clearly visible, such number, his name, and, if different, any trade name under which he does business, and the date of manufacture of such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d).
- (c) **Records; required information—**
  - (1) Every [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) required to register under [subsection (a)](#a) of this section for any calendar year shall, on and after the date of such registration or the first day of such year (whichever last occurs), maintain a record by calendar month for all periods thereafter in such year of—
    - (A) each [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) manufactured, purchased, or otherwise acquired by him,
    - (B) each [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) owned or possessed by him or in his custody, and
    - (C) each [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) sold, delivered, or shipped by him in intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce.
  - (2) Such record shall show—
    - (A) in the case of each such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) defined in paragraph (a)(1) or (a)(2) of [section 1171 of this title](/usc/15/1171.md), the information which is required to be affixed on such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) by [subsection (b)(1)](#b-1) of this section; and
    - (B) in the case of each such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) defined in paragraph (a)(3) of [section 1171 of this title](/usc/15/1171.md), the information required to be affixed on such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) by [subsection (b)(2)](#b-2) of this section, or, if such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) does not have affixed on it any such information, its catalog listing, description, and, in the case of each such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d) owned or possessed by him or in his custody, its location.

    Such record shall also show (i) in the case of any such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) described in paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection, the name and address of the [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) from whom such [device](/usc/15/55.md?p=d) was purchased or acquired and the name and address of the carrier; and (ii) in the case of any such [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) described in paragraph (1)(C) of this subsection, the name and address of the buyer and consignee thereof and the name and address of the carrier.

- (d) **Retention of records—** Each record required to be maintained under this section shall be kept by the [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) required to make it at the place designated by him pursuant to subsection (a)(4)(C) of this section for a period of at least five years from the last day of the calendar month of the year with respect to which such record is required to be maintained.
- (e) **Dealing in, owning, possessing, or having custody of devices not marked or numbered; false entries in records—**
  - (1) It shall be unlawful (A) for any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) during any period in which he is required to be registered under [subsection (a)](#a) of this section to sell, deliver, or ship in intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce or own, possess, or have in his custody any [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) which is not marked and numbered as required by [subsection (b)](#b) of this section; or (B) for any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) to remove, obliterate, or alter any mark or number on any [gambling device](/usc/15/1171.md?p=a) required to be placed thereon by such [subsection (b)](#b).
  - (2) It shall be unlawful for any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) knowingly to make or cause to be made, any false entry in any record required to be kept under this section.
- (f) **Authority of Federal Bureau of Investigation—** Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall, at any place designated pursuant to subsection (a)(4)(C) of this section by any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) required to register by [subsection (a)](#a) of this section, at all reasonable times, have access to and the right to copy any of the records required to be kept by this section, and, in case of refusal by any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) registered under such [subsection (a)](#a) to allow inspection and copying of such records, the United States district court for the district in which such place is located shall have jurisdiction to issue an order compelling production of such records for inspection or copying.

## Source credit

(Jan. 2, 1951, ch. 1194, § 3, 64 Stat. 1135; Pub. L. 87–840, § 5, Oct. 18, 1962, 76 Stat. 1075.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The effective date of the Gambling Devices Act of 1962, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), (3), is the effective date of Pub. L. 87–840, which is the sixtieth day after Oct. 18, 1962. See Effective Date of 1962 Amendment note set out under section 1171 of this title.

### Amendments

1962—Pub. L. 87–840 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: “Upon first engaging in business, and thereafter on or before the 1st day of July of each year, every manufacturer of and dealer in gambling devices shall register with the Attorney General his name or trade name, the address of his principal place of business, and the addresses of his places of business in such district. On or before the last day of each month every manufacturer of and dealer in gambling devices shall file with the Attorney General an inventory and record of all sales and deliveries of gambling devices as of the close of the preceding calendar month for the place or places of business in the district. The monthly record of sales and deliveries of such gambling devices shall show the mark and number identifying each article together with the name and address of the buyer or consignee thereof and the name and address of the carrier. Duplicate bills or invoices, if complete in the foregoing respects, may be used in filing the record of sales and deliveries. For the purposes of this chapter, every manufacturer or dealer shall mark and number each gambling device, so that it is individually identifiable. In cases of sale, delivery, or shipment of gambling devices in unassembled form, the manufacturer or dealer shall separately mark and number the components of each gambling device with a common mark and number as if it were an assembled gambling device. It shall be unlawful for any manufacturer or dealer to sell, deliver, or ship any gambling device which is not marked and numbered for identification as herein provided; and it shall be unlawful for any manufacturer or dealer to manufacture, recondition, repair, sell, deliver, or ship any gambling device without having registered as required by this section, or without filing monthly the required inventories and records of sales and deliveries.”

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1962 Amendment

Amendment effective on sixtieth day after Oct. 18, 1962, see section 7 of Pub. L. 87–840, set out as a note under section 1171 of this title.