I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 646
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove short-barreled
rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and certain other weapons from the defini-
tion of firearms for purposes of the National Firearms Act, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY31, 2023
Mr. C
LYDE(for himself, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mrs. MILLERof
West Virginia, Mrs. M
ILLERof Illinois, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. CRAWFORD,
Ms. G
REENEof Georgia, Mr. OGLES, Mr. AUSTINSCOTTof Georgia, Mr.
G
REENof Tennessee, Mr. HUNT, Mr. WEBERof Texas, Mr.
M
OOLENAAR, Mr. WALBERG, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. MOOREof
Alabama, Mrs. L
UNA, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. WEB-
STERof Florida, Mr. FRY, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. NEHLS, Mr.
P
ERRY, Mr. HIGGINSof Louisiana, Mr. BABIN, Mr. DAVIDSON, and Mrs.
B
ICE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove
short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and certain
other weapons from the definition of firearms for pur-
poses of the National Firearms Act, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H646.IH H646
pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2
•HR 646 IH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Harassing Own-2
ers of Rifles Today Act’’ or as the ‘‘SHORT Act’’. 3
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF FIREARM. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 5845 of 5
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 6
as follows: 7
‘‘(a) F
IREARM.— 8
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL .—The term ‘firearm’ 9
means— 10
‘‘(A) a machinegun, 11
‘‘(B) any silencer (as defined in section 12
921 of title 18, United States Code), and 13
‘‘(C) a destructive device. 14
‘‘(2) E
XCEPTION.—The term ‘firearm’ shall not 15
include an antique firearm or any device (other than 16
a machinegun or destructive device) which, although 17
designed as a weapon, the Secretary finds by reason 18
of the date of its manufacture, value, design, and 19
other characteristics is primarily a collector’s item 20
and is not likely to be used as a weapon.’’. 21
(b) S
HOTGUNSNOTTREATED ASDESTRUCTIVEDE-22
VICES.—Section 5845(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 23
1986 is amended by striking ‘‘except a shotgun or shotgun 24
shell which the Secretary finds is generally recognized as 25
particularly suitable for sporting purposes’’ and inserting 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H646.IH H646
pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3
•HR 646 IH
‘‘except shotgun shells and any weapon that is designed 1
to shoot shotgun shells’’. 2
(c) C
ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 5811(a) of 3
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 4
‘‘, except, the transfer tax on any firearm classified as any 5
other weapon under section 5845(e) shall be at the rate 6
of $5 for each such firearm transferred’’. 7
(d) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 8
this section shall apply to calendar quarters beginning 9
after the 90-day period that starts on the date of the en-10
actment of this Act. 11
SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF DISPARATE TREATMENT OF 12
SHORT-BARRELED RIFLES AND SHORT-BAR-13
RELED SHOTGUNS USED FOR LAWFUL PUR-14
POSES. 15
Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 16
amended— 17
(1) in subsection (a)(4)— 18
(A) by striking ‘‘, machinegun’’ and insert-19
ing ‘‘or machinegun’’; and 20
(B) by striking ‘‘short-barreled shotgun, or 21
short-barreled rifle,’’; and 22
(2) in subsection (b)(4)— 23
(A) by striking ‘‘, machinegun’’ and insert-24
ing ‘‘or machinegun’’; and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H646.IH H646
pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4
•HR 646 IH
(B) by striking ‘‘short-barreled shotgun, or 1
short-barreled rifle,’’. 2
SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF SHORT-BARRELED RIFLES, SHORT- 3
BARRELED SHOTGUNS, AND OTHER WEAP-4
ONS DETERMINED BY REFERENCE TO NA-5
TIONAL FIREARMS ACT. 6
Section 5841 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 7
is amended by adding at the end the following: 8
‘‘(f) R
EQUIREMENTS FOR SHORT-BARRELEDRI-9
FLES, SHORT-BARRELEDSHOTGUNS, ANDOTHERWEAP-10
ONSDETERMINED BY REFERENCE.—In the case of any 11
registration or licensing requirement under State or local 12
law with respect to a short-barreled rifle, short-barreled 13
shotgun, or any other weapon (as defined in section 14
5845(e)) which is determined by reference to the National 15
Firearms Act, any person who acquires or possesses such 16
rifle, shotgun, or other weapon in accordance with chapter 17
44 of title 18, United States Code, shall be treated as 18
meeting any such registration or licensing requirement 19
with respect to such rifle, shotgun, or other weapon.’’. 20
SEC. 5. PREEMPTION OF CERTAIN STATE LAWS IN RELA-21
TION TO SHORT-BARRELED RIFLES AND 22
SHORT-BARRELED SHOTGUNS. 23
Section 927 of title 18, United States Code, is 24
amended— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H646.IH H646
pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5
•HR 646 IH
(1) by striking ‘‘No provision’’ and inserting 1
the following: 2
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—No provision.’’; and 3
(2) by adding at the end the following: 4
‘‘(b) T
AXES ON SHORT-BARRELEDRIFLES OR 5
S
HORT-BARRELED SHOTGUNS.—Notwithstanding sub-6
section (a), a law of a State or a political subdivision of 7
a State that imposes a tax, other than a generally applica-8
ble sales or use tax, on making, transferring, using, pos-9
sessing, or transporting a short-barreled rifle or short-bar-10
reled shotgun in or affecting interstate or foreign com-11
merce, or imposes a marking, recordkeeping, or registra-12
tion requirement with respect to such a rifle or shotgun, 13
shall have no force or effect.’’. 14
SEC. 6. DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS. 15
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 365 days after the 16
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 17
shall destroy— 18
(1) any registration of an applicable weapon 19
maintained in the National Firearms Registration 20
and Transfer Record pursuant to section 5841 of 21
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 22
(2) any application to transfer filed under sec-23
tion 5812 of such Code that identifies the transferee 24
of an applicable weapon, and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H646.IH H646
pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6
•HR 646 IH
(3) any application to make filed under section 1
5822 of such Code that identifies the maker of an 2
applicable weapon. 3
(b) A
PPLICABLEWEAPON.—For purposes of this sec-4
tion, the term ‘‘applicable weapon’’ means— 5
(1) a rifle, or weapon made from a rifle, de-6
scribed in paragraph (3) or (4) of section 5845(a) 7
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as in effect 8
on the day before the enactment of this Act), 9
(2) any shotgun— 10
(A) described in paragraph (1) or (2) of 11
section 5845(a) of the Internal Revenue Code 12
of 1986 (as in effect on the day before the en-13
actment of this Act), or 14
(B) treated as destructive device under 15
5845(f) of such Code (as in effect on the day 16
before the enactment of this Act) and not so 17
treated under such section as in effect imme-18
diately after such date, and 19
(3) any other weapon, as defined in section 20
5845(e) of such Code. 21
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H646.IH H646
pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS