Homemade Firearms Accountability Act of 2014
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Homemade Firearms Accountability Act of 2014 - Amends the federal criminal code to authorize a person who has attained age 18 and desires to make a handgun, or to obtain a unique serial number or other identifying mark for a handgun made by the person after 1968, to request a licensed firearms dealer to issue such serial number or identifying mark for such handgun. Treats such request as a proposed transfer of the firearm from the dealer to the applicant for purposes of National Instant Criminal Background Check System provisions.
Allows a licensed dealer to: (1) issue such serial number and identifying mark if federal firearms provisions would not prohibit the dealer from transferring the firearm to the applicant, and (2) charge an applicant a fee for the costs of issuing each serial number and identifying mark and contacting the System.
Prohibits a person from: (1) making a firearm unless the person has obtained a serial number and identifying mark under this Act, or (2) possessing or transferring a firearm made by the person after 1968 (with exceptions) unless a serial number and identifying mark have been issued under this Act and are stamped on or otherwise permanently affixed to the firearm within 10 days after issuance. Requires any such firearm that is made from polymer plastic to be imbedded with 3.7 ounces of material type 17-4 PH stainless steel on which the serial number or identifying mark is permanently affixed.
Directs the Attorney General to maintain, and make available on request, information on: (1) the number of serial numbers and identifying marks issued under this Act, and (2) the number of arrests for violations of this Act.
Sets penalties for violating this Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on September 18, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 28, 2014: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MICHAEL HONDA (D-CA) introduced it on September 18, 2014, and 9 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 9 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 18, 2014, 4375 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4335 days ago, on October 28, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers