Bill Details
View committees (1)
View cosponsors (16)
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-Connecticut]
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-Hawaii]
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-New Jersey]
- Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-Arizona]
- Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-Virginia]
- Sen. Kim, Andy [D-New Jersey]
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-Arizona]
- Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-Connecticut]
- Sen. Reed, Jack [D-Rhode Island]
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-Oregon]
- Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-California]
- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-Massachusetts]
- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-Vermont]
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-Illinois]
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-California]
- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-Maryland]
AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would make it illegal to import, sell, make, transfer, or possess rifles that can fire .50 caliber ammunition, with a few narrow exceptions. It would let the federal government and state and local governments keep using or receiving these rifles, and it would also allow people who already legally owned one before the law takes effect to keep it. Those existing rifles would be treated like regulated firearms after a 12-month period, and owners would have to register them without paying a fee or tax. The bill also adds new rules aimed at stopping firearms from reaching major foreign drug traffickers and certain other foreign persons, and it expands gun sale reporting rules to include rifles when dealers make multiple sales.
- It bans the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of .50 caliber rifles in interstate or foreign commerce, with exceptions for government use and rifles already owned lawfully before the bill becomes law.
- People who already own one of these rifles would have 12 months to register it in the federal firearms registry. The bill says no fee or tax can be charged for this registration, and the information cannot be used against the person in a criminal case for earlier or overlapping offenses.
- It would make it unlawful to sell or transfer guns to certain foreign drug traffickers and other foreign persons designated under federal anti-narcotics laws. It also updates the background check system to reflect these new restrictions.
- Firearms dealers would have to include rifles, not just pistols and revolvers, in certain multiple-sale reporting requirements.
Official Summaries
Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2025
This bill expands the regulation of .50 caliber rifles under federal firearms laws and authorizes new civil remedies for certain violations.
Firearms that are trafficked from the United States to Mexico are often routed to transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), including cartels. In recent years, TCOs increasingly use .50 caliber rifles in attacks on Mexican security forces.
In 2025, in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) bars a civil lawsuit by Mexico against U.S. firearms manufacturers and one U.S. firearms distributor for costs associated with gun violence in Mexico. (The PLCAA limits the civil liability of firearms manufacturers and sellers for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearms.)
This bill generally criminalizes the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, and possession of .50 caliber rifles under the Gun Control Act and subjects .50 caliber rifles to regulation (i.e., registration and licensing requirements) under the National Firearms Act.
Additionally, the bill criminalizes the sale or transfer of firearms and ammunition to foreign individuals or entities designated as significant foreign narcotics traffickers or as part of their networks and sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).
Finally, the bill creates an exception under the PLCAA to allow civil lawsuits against firearms manufacturers or sellers that knowingly sell or transfer a firearm or ammunition to a foreign individual or entity designated and sanctioned under the Kingpin Act.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 367 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 367
To prohibit the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession
of .50 caliber rifles, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 3, 2025
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Booker, Mr.
Kelly, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Kim, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Reed, and Mr.
Wyden) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession
of .50 caliber rifles, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON RIFLES CAPABLE OF FIRING .50 CALIBER AMMUNITION.
(a) In General.--Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in section 922, by adding at the end the following:
``(aa) Rifles Capable of Firing .50 Caliber Ammunition.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), it
shall be unlawful for any person to import, sell, manufacture,
transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign
commerce, a rifle capable of firing .50 caliber ammunition.
``(2) Exceptions.--
``(A) Government use.--Paragraph (1) shall not
apply to the importation for, manufacture for, sale to,
transfer to, or possession by the United States, a
department or agency of the United States, a State, or
a department, agency, or political subdivision of a
State, of a rifle capable of firing .50 caliber
ammunition.
``(B) Grandfathered rifles.--Paragraph (1) shall
not apply to the sale, transfer, or possession of any
rifle otherwise lawfully possessed on or before the
date of enactment of the Stop Arming Cartels Act of
2025.''; and
(2) in section 924(a)(1)(B), by striking ``or (q)'' and
inserting ``(q), or (aa)''.
(b) Inclusion of Certain Rifles as Firearms Under National Firearms
Act.--
(1) In general.--Section 5845(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``and (8) a destructive
device'' and inserting ``(8) a destructive device; and (9) a
rifle which is capable of firing .50 caliber ammunition and is
lawfully possessed on or before the date of enactment of the
Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2025''.
(2) Effective date.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
amendments made by this subsection shall take effect on
the date which is 12 months after the date of enactment
of this Act.
(B) Registration.--
(i) In general.--Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A) or any other provision of law,
any person possessing a rifle which is capable
of firing .50 caliber ammunition which is not
registered to such person in the National
Firearms Registration and Transfer Record shall
register each such rifle so possessed with the
Secretary in such form and manner as the
Secretary may require within the 12-month
period immediately following the date of
enactment of this Act. No fee or tax shall be
imposed with respect to any registration
required under this subparagraph.
(ii) Inclusion in registry.--Any
registration described in clause (i) shall
become a part of the National Firearms
Registration and Transfer Record. No
information or evidence required to be
submitted or retained by a natural person to
register a firearm under this subparagraph
shall be used, directly or indirectly, as
evidence against such person in any criminal
proceeding with respect to a prior or
concurrent violation of law.
(C) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
(i) National firearms registration and
transfer record.--The term ``National Firearms
Registration and Transfer Record'' means the
registry established pursuant to section 5841
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(ii) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' has
the same meaning given such term under section
7701(a)(11)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986.
SEC. 3. EXCEPTION TO COVERAGE UNDER PROTECTION OF LAWFUL COMMERCE IN
ARMS ACT.
Section 4(5)(A) of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
(15 U.S.C. 7903(5)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (v), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(vii) an action brought against a
manufacturer or seller that knowingly sells or
transfers a qualified product, or attempts or
conspires to do so, knowing or having
reasonable cause to believe that the
transaction is prohibited under section 805(c)
of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation
Act (21 U.S.C. 1904(c)).''.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL FIREARM PROHIBITOR FOR SIGNIFICANT FOREIGN NARCOTICS
TRAFFICKERS AND CERTAIN OTHER FOREIGN PERSONS.
(a) In General.--Section 922(d) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (10), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) by redesignating paragraph (11) as paragraph (12);
(3) by inserting after paragraph (10) the following:
``(11) is--
``(A) a significant foreign narcotics trafficker
publicly identified by the President in a report under
subsection (b) or (h)(1) of section 804 of the Foreign
Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1903); or
``(B) a foreign person designated by the Secretary
of the Treasury under section 805(b) of the Foreign
Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1904(b));
or''; and
(4) in paragraph (12), as so redesignated, by striking
``(10)'' and inserting ``(11)''.
(b) Conforming Amendments Relating to NICS.--Section 103 of the
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(2)(D), by inserting ``or that
transfer of a firearm or ammunition to the individual would
violate subsection (d)(11) of such section 922'' after
``section 922 of title 18, United States Code,'';
(2) in subsection (e)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or to whom
transfer of a firearm would violate subsection (d)(11)
of such section 922,'' after ``section 922 of title 18,
United States Code or State law,'';
(B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``or that
transfer of a firearm or ammunition to the person would
violate subsection (d)(11) of such section 922,'' after
``section 922 of title 18, United States Code,'';
(C) in subparagraph (F)(iii)(I), by striking ``(g)
or (n)'' and inserting ``(d)(11), (g), or (n)''; and
(D) in subparagraph (G)(i), by striking ``(g) or
(n)'' and inserting ``(d)(11), (g), or (n)'';
(3) in subsection (g), by inserting ``or that transfer of a
firearm to a prospective transferee would violate subsection
(d)(11) of such section 922,'' after ``section 922 of title 18,
United States Code or State law,''; and
(4) in subsection (i)(2)--
(A) by striking ``persons,'' and inserting
``persons who are''; and
(B) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``, or to whom transfer of a firearm would
violate subsection (d)(11) of such section 922''.
SEC. 5. ADDING RIFLES TO MULTIPLE FIREARM SALES REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
Section 923(g)(3)(A) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
striking ``pistols, or revolvers, or any combination of pistols and
revolvers'' and inserting ``pistols, revolvers, or rifles, or any
combination of pistols, revolvers, and rifles''.
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