18 U.S.C. § 922 — Unlawful acts

(a) It is illegal to: (1)(A) deal in firearms as a business — importing, manufacturing, or selling guns, or shipping, transporting, or receiving them across state or international lines as part of that business — unless you are a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer; (B) do the same with ammunition (import or manufacture it as a business) unless you are a licensed importer or manufacturer. (2) For licensed importers, manufacturers, dealers, or collectors: you cannot ship a firearm across state or international lines to anyone who is not also licensed. Exceptions: (A) you may still return a firearm (or a same-kind replacement) to the person you got it from, and an individual may mail a legally owned firearm to a licensed dealer; (B) a licensed dealer may mail a concealable firearm to an officer, employee, agent, or watchman who is allowed under section 1715 to receive one through the mail for official duty; (C) this rule applies the same way in Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and U.S. possessions as it would in any state. (3) If you are not a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector, you cannot bring into your home state (or, for a business, the state where it operates) a firearm you bought or got somewhere else, and receive it there. Exceptions: (A) this does not stop you from receiving a firearm you inherited or got through intestate succession from another state, as long as you may lawfully buy or possess it in your own state; (B) it does not apply to firearms obtained the way subsection (b)(3) allows; (C) it does not apply to a firearm you already owned in a state before this law took effect. (4) Unlicensed people cannot transport a destructive device, machine gun, short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle across state or international lines, unless the Attorney General specifically authorizes it as consistent with public safety. (5) An unlicensed person cannot sell, trade, give, transport, or deliver a firearm to another unlicensed person if the seller knows or has reasonable cause to believe the buyer does not live in (or, for a business, does not have a place of business in) the seller's state. Exceptions: (A) firearms passed on by inheritance or intestate succession to someone who may lawfully own guns under their home state's law; (B) lending or renting a firearm for temporary, lawful sporting use. (6) When buying, or trying to buy, a firearm or ammunition from a licensed dealer, you cannot knowingly make a false statement (spoken or written) or show fake or misleading ID, if doing so is meant or likely to deceive the dealer about anything that matters to whether the sale is lawful. (7) You cannot manufacture or import armor-piercing ammunition unless (A) it is for the United States, a state, or one of their agencies; (B) it is for export; or (C) it is for Attorney-General-authorized testing or experimentation. (8) Manufacturers and importers cannot sell or deliver armor-piercing ammunition unless the same three purposes in (7) apply. (9) An unlicensed person who does not live in any state (for example, a foreign resident) cannot receive firearms unless it is for lawful sporting purposes. (b) Licensed importers, manufacturers, dealers, or collectors cannot sell or deliver: (1) a firearm or ammunition to someone they know or have reasonable cause to believe is under 18 — or, if it is not a shotgun, rifle, or ammunition for one, under 21; (2) a firearm to someone in a state where possessing it would break that state's law or a local ordinance, unless the dealer reasonably believes it would not; (3) a firearm to someone who does not live in (or, for a business, does not have a place of business in) the state where the dealer operates. Exceptions: (A) a rifle or shotgun may be sold to a resident of another state if buyer and seller meet in person and the sale follows the legal requirements of both states — dealers are presumed to know both states' laws unless shown otherwise; (B) temporary loan or rental for lawful sporting use; (4) a destructive device, machine gun, short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle to anyone, unless the Attorney General specifically authorizes it; (5) a firearm or armor-piercing ammunition unless the dealer records the buyer's name, age, and residence (or, for a business, its identity and places of business) in the records section 923 requires. Rules (1) through (4) do not apply to sales between licensed dealers, importers, manufacturers, and collectors. Rule (4) does not apply to sales to a research organization the Attorney General has designated. (c) A licensed dealer may sell a firearm to a buyer who does not appear in person only if: (1) the buyer signs a sworn statement (in the exact wording the law sets out) swearing they are old enough, are not barred from receiving a firearm under federal law, and that receiving it will not break any state law or local ordinance where they live, and naming their local police chief, with any required permit attached; (2) before shipping, the dealer sends a copy of that statement and a description of the firearm to the buyer's local police chief, by certified or registered mail (return receipt requested) or verified electronic notice, and (A) for mailed notice, either gets back a signed return receipt or has the letter refused by the addressee under postal rules, or (B) for electronic notice, gets a receipt confirming delivery; (3) the dealer then waits at least seven days after learning whether the notice was accepted or refused before shipping. The dealer must keep a copy of the sworn statement, the notice to police, and proof of its receipt or rejection, as part of the records section 923(g) requires. (d) It is illegal to sell or otherwise give a firearm or ammunition to someone you know or have reasonable cause to believe — even if they are a minor — (1) is under indictment for, or has been convicted of, a crime punishable by more than a year in prison; (2) is a fugitive from justice; (3) illegally uses or is addicted to a controlled substance; (4) has been ruled mentally defective, or committed to a mental institution at 16 or older; (5) is an alien who is (A) in the U.S. illegally, or (B) — except as (y)(2) allows — here on certain nonimmigrant visas; (6) was discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions; (7) renounced U.S. citizenship after having been a citizen; (8) is subject to a domestic-violence restraining order — but only one issued after a hearing where the person got actual notice and a chance to take part, and that either finds the person a credible threat, or specifically bars them from using or threatening force against the partner or child; (9) has a misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction; (10) intends to sell or give away the firearm or ammunition to help commit a felony, an act of terrorism, or drug trafficking; or (11) intends to give it to anyone described in (1) through (10). This rule does not apply to selling to a licensed dealer who is not barred under section 925(b), or to someone whose rights have been restored under section 925(c). (e) It is illegal to knowingly hand a package containing a firearm or ammunition to a common or contract carrier for interstate or international shipping to people other than licensees, without written notice to the carrier that it contains a firearm or ammunition. A passenger legally carrying a firearm or ammunition may still hand it to the pilot, captain, conductor, or operator for safekeeping during the trip. Carriers cannot require any outside label revealing that a package contains a firearm. (f)(1) It is illegal for a common or contract carrier to transport or deliver a firearm or ammunition interstate knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it would break this chapter's rules. (2) A carrier must get a written acknowledgment of receipt whenever it delivers a package containing a firearm. (g) It is illegal for the following people to ship, transport, or possess — in or affecting commerce — a firearm or ammunition, or to receive one that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce: (1) anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison; (2) a fugitive from justice; (3) an unlawful user of, or addict to, a controlled substance; (4) anyone adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution; (5) an alien who is (A) here illegally, or (B) — with the exceptions in (y)(2) — here on certain nonimmigrant visas; (6) someone dishonorably discharged from the military; (7) someone who renounced U.S. citizenship; (8) someone subject to a qualifying domestic-violence restraining order, on the same terms as (d)(8); (9) someone with a misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction. (h) It is illegal for someone who, to their knowledge, works for a person described anywhere in subsection (g), to, in the course of that job, (1) receive, possess, or transport a firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce, or (2) receive one that has traveled interstate. (i) It is illegal to transport or ship a stolen firearm or stolen ammunition interstate, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it is stolen. (j) It is illegal to receive, possess, hide, store, trade, sell, dispose of, or pawn a stolen firearm or stolen ammunition that has moved in interstate commerce before or after being stolen, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it is stolen. (k) It is illegal to knowingly transport, ship, or receive a firearm whose serial number has been removed, obliterated, or altered, or to possess or receive one, if it has ever traveled in interstate or foreign commerce. (l) Except as section 925(d) allows, it is illegal to knowingly import a firearm or ammunition into the United States or its possessions, and it is illegal to knowingly receive one that was imported in violation of this chapter. (m) A licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector cannot knowingly make a false entry, fail to make a required entry, or fail to properly keep the records section 923 requires. (n) Someone under indictment for a crime punishable by more than a year in prison cannot ship or transport a firearm or ammunition interstate, or receive one that has traveled interstate. (o)(1) It is illegal to transfer or possess a machine gun. (2) This does not apply to (A) transfers to, or possession by, the United States (or one of its departments or agencies) or a state (or one of its departments, agencies, or subdivisions), or (B) any machine gun lawfully possessed before this subsection took effect. (p) Undetectable firearms. (1) It is illegal to manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive a firearm that (A) after removing its grips, stocks, and magazines, is not as detectable by a calibrated walk-through metal detector as the government's "Security Exemplar," or (B) has a major component that, under airport-style x-ray, does not produce an accurate image of its shape — though materials like barium sulfate may be used to help. (2) For this subsection, (A) "firearm" excludes the bare frame or receiver; (B) "major component" means the barrel, slide or cylinder, or frame or receiver; (C) the "Security Exemplar" is an object the Attorney General has built — made, during the law's first 12 months, from 3.7 ounces of a specific stainless steel shaped like a handgun, and suitable for calibrating detectors — and afterward the Attorney General must issue rules letting through firearms that are just as detectable as an Exemplar with that much steel, or a lesser amount as detection technology improves. (3) The Attorney General may, by rule, exempt a licensed manufacturer (or someone under contract with one) from this ban for the purpose of testing whether a firearm actually complies — while making sure such rules do not block prototype development or new technology. (4) The Attorney General must allow a firearm to be conditionally imported so it can be tested for compliance before a final import decision. (5) This subsection does not apply to a firearm the Secretary of Defense or the Director of Central Intelligence has certified as needed for military or intelligence use (after consulting the Attorney General and the FAA), and which is made for and sold only to military or intelligence agencies. (6) It does not apply to any firearm made, imported, or possessed in the U.S. before the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988. (q) Gun-free school zones. (1) Congress finds that gun and drug crime is a nationwide problem worsened by interstate movement; guns increasingly turn up in and around schools; guns, their parts, and their raw materials move in interstate commerce even before a sale happens; fear of crime affects travel and school attendance; this hurts education, which in turn hurts interstate and foreign commerce; states and school systems cannot fully solve this alone; and Congress has power under the Commerce Clause and other constitutional provisions to act. (2)(A) It is illegal to knowingly possess a firearm that has moved in or affects interstate commerce in a place you know or have reasonable cause to believe is a school zone. (B) This does not apply to a firearm (i) on private property that is not part of school grounds; (ii) possessed by someone licensed for it by the state or local government where that license requires law enforcement to verify eligibility first; (iii) that is unloaded and locked in a container or gun rack on a vehicle; (iv) used in a school-approved program; (v) used under a contract between the school and the person or their employer; (vi) carried by a law enforcement officer on official duty; or (vii) unloaded and carried across school grounds to reach hunting land, with the school's permission. (3)(A) It is illegal to knowingly, or with reckless disregard for others' safety, discharge or try to discharge such a firearm in a school zone. (B) This does not apply to discharging a firearm (i) on private property outside school grounds; (ii) as part of a school-approved program; (iii) under a contract with the school; or (iv) by an on-duty law enforcement officer. (4) Nothing here stops a state or local government from passing its own gun-free school zone law. (r) It is illegal to assemble, from imported parts, a semiautomatic rifle or shotgun that is identical to one barred from import under section 925(d)(3) because it is not suited to sporting purposes. Exceptions: (1) assembly by a licensed manufacturer to sell to the United States or a state government; (2) assembly for testing or experiments the Attorney General has authorized. (s) This subsection applied only during a set window — starting 90 days after enactment and ending the day before the 60-month mark. During that window, a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer could not sell, deliver, or transfer a handgun (other than returning one to the person it came from) to an unlicensed person unless one of several paths was followed: (A) the standard path — the dealer got a signed statement from the buyer with the required information, verified the buyer's ID, and within one day sent notice of the statement's contents, plus a copy of it, to the buyer's local police chief; then either five business days passed with no word that the sale would be unlawful, or the chief affirmatively said there was no problem; (B) the buyer presented a written statement from their local police chief, issued in the last 10 days, saying they needed a handgun because of a threat to their life or a household member's; (C) the buyer held a state permit, issued no more than 5 years earlier, that state law only issues after an official verifies the buyer would not be breaking the law; (D) state law itself required an official to verify this before any dealer could complete the sale; (E) the Attorney General approved the transfer under a specific tax-code provision; or (F) on the dealer's application, the Attorney General certified that following (A)(i)(III) was impractical because the state has fewer than 0.0025 law enforcement officers per square mile, the dealer's premises are extremely remote from the police chief, and the area lacks telecommunications. (2) A notified police chief had to make a reasonable effort, within 5 business days, to check available state, local, and national records. (3) The buyer's statement could contain only: ID information and a description of the ID used; a sworn statement that the buyer is not disqualified under a list matching most of subsection (d)'s categories; the date; and notice that the buyer intends to get a handgun. (4) If a dealer later learned from a police chief that a completed sale broke the law, the dealer had one business day to report everything they knew about the sale and buyer to both the local chief where the dealer does business and the chief where the buyer lives. (5) A dealer who received non-public information in such a report could not disclose it except to the buyer, to law enforcement, or under court order. (6)(A) Dealers had to keep the buyer's statement and proof they had complied. (B) Unless the chief found a legal problem, the chief had to destroy the statement and related records within 20 business days, could not share the information except as needed to carry out this subsection, and could not use it for any other purpose. (C) If a chief found someone ineligible and that person asked why, the chief had to explain in writing within 20 business days. (7) A police chief or anyone else providing this background information could not be sued for damages, either for failing to stop an unlawful sale or for stopping a lawful one. (8) "Chief law enforcement officer" means the police chief, sheriff, an equivalent officer, or their designee. (9) The Attorney General had to publish and share this subsection's requirements with dealers, law enforcement, and the public. (t) The Attorney General must notify licensees when the national instant criminal background check system ("NICS") is up and running; 30 days after that, a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer cannot transfer any firearm to an unlicensed person unless: (A) before completing the sale, the dealer contacts NICS; (B) either NICS gives the dealer a unique ID number, or — subject to (C) — three business days pass with no word from NICS that the sale would violate subsection (g), (n), or state, local, or tribal law; (C) for a buyer under 21, extra steps apply: NICS must give an ID number, or three business days must pass with no flag of a possible disqualifying juvenile record, or — if NICS does flag one — ten business days must pass with no word that the sale would violate subsection (d), (g), or (n), or state, local, or tribal law; and (D) the dealer verifies the buyer's identity with a valid photo ID. (2) If the transfer would not break the law, NICS must assign a unique ID number, give it to the dealer, and destroy its records of the inquiry, except the number and date. (3) This background-check requirement does not apply if (A) the buyer holds a state permit, issued no more than 5 years earlier, that the state only issues after verifying the buyer would not break the law; (B) the Attorney General approved the transfer under the same tax-code provision as in (s); or (C) the Attorney General certified the same remote-area impracticality factors as in (s). (4) When NICS clears a sale and the dealer completes it, the dealer must record the ID number NICS gave. (5) If a dealer knowingly transfers a firearm while knowingly skipping these steps, and at the time NICS actually had information showing the sale would violate subsection (d), (g), or (n) or state, local, or tribal law, the Attorney General may — after notice and a hearing — suspend the dealer's license for up to 6 months, revoke it, and fine the dealer up to $5,000. (6) Neither a local government nor a federal, state, or local employee who supplies information to NICS can be sued for damages for failing to prevent an unlawful sale or for preventing a lawful one. (u) It is illegal to steal, or unlawfully take, a firearm from the person or business premises of a licensed dealer, importer, or manufacturer, if that firearm is part of their business inventory and has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce. (v) and (w) were repealed in 1994. (x)(1) It is illegal to sell, deliver, or transfer to someone you know or have reasonable cause to believe is a minor (A) a handgun, or (B) ammunition suitable only for a handgun. (2) It is illegal for a minor to knowingly possess a handgun, or ammunition suitable only for a handgun. (3) This does not apply to (A) temporary transfer or use by a minor for work, ranching or farming, target practice, hunting, or a safe-handling course — but only with the parent's or guardian's prior written consent (with narrow carve-outs for directly transporting an unloaded, locked handgun to and from the activity, and for ranching/farming use under an approving adult's direction), the minor must carry that written consent at all times while holding the handgun, and everything must follow state and local law; (B) a minor in the military or National Guard armed in the line of duty; (C) inheriting title — but not possession — of a handgun or ammunition; or (D) a minor possessing a handgun or ammunition to defend themselves or others against an intruder in their own home or one where they are an invited guest. (4) A handgun or ammunition legally given to a minor is not permanently confiscated by the government just because the minor later misuses it — it must be returned to its lawful owner once no longer needed for investigation or prosecution. (5) "Juvenile" means someone under 18. (6)(A) In a prosecution under this subsection, the court must require the minor's parent or guardian to attend every proceeding. (B) The court may use its contempt power to enforce that. (C) The court may excuse the parent or guardian from a proceeding for good cause. (y) Rules for nonimmigrant-visa aliens. (1) "Alien" and "nonimmigrant visa" mean what they mean under the Immigration and Nationality Act. (2) The visa-related bans in (d)(5)(B), (g)(5)(B), and (s)(3)(B)(v)(II) do not apply to a nonimmigrant-visa holder who is (A) here for lawful hunting or sporting purposes, or holds a U.S. hunting license or permit; (B) an accredited official representative of a foreign government or of a mission to a U.S.-based international organization, or traveling to or from that post; (C) a foreign official or distinguished visitor the State Department has designated; or (D) a foreign law enforcement officer from a friendly government on official business. (3)(A) A nonimmigrant-visa holder can get a waiver from the (g)(5) ban if they petition the Attorney General under (B) and the Attorney General approves it. (B) The petition must show at least 180 days of continuous U.S. residence and include a letter from the petitioner's embassy or consulate authorizing the firearm purchase and certifying the person would not otherwise be barred. (C) The Attorney General must approve the petition if granting the waiver would serve the interests of justice and would not endanger public safety. (z) Secure gun storage. (1) A licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer cannot sell, deliver, or transfer a handgun to anyone other than another licensee without also providing a secure gun storage or safety device (as section 921(a)(34) defines it) for that handgun. (2) This does not apply to (A) a handgun made for, transferred to, or possessed by the United States or a state (or their agencies), or possessed by an on- or off-duty law enforcement officer employed by them for law enforcement purposes; (B) a handgun transferred to or possessed by a state-certified rail police officer for law enforcement purposes, on or off duty; (C) a handgun classified by the Secretary as a curio or relic; or (D) a sale where a device is temporarily unavailable for the reasons section 923(e) allows, as long as the dealer delivers one within 10 days of the sale. (3)(A) Someone who lawfully possesses and controls a handgun, and uses a secure storage or safety device with it, is immune from a "qualified civil liability action." (B) Such an action cannot be brought in any federal or state court. (C) A "qualified civil liability action" (i) means a suit against that person for harm caused by a third party's criminal or unlawful misuse of the handgun, where an unauthorized person gained access to it and, at that time, it had been made inoperable by a secure storage or safety device; but (ii) does not include a suit for negligent entrustment or negligence per se. Appendix A was also repealed in 1994.