H.R. 3228 — Constitutional Hearing Protection Act

This section removes silencers from the definition of a "firearm" under Section 5845(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (i.e., the National Firearms Act), which currently regulates certain devices—including silencers—with registration requirements and a $200 transfer tax. The amendment applies to calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after enactment.

This section establishes that a person acquiring or possessing a firearm silencer in accordance with chapter 44 of title 18, U.S. Code (Gun Control Act of 1968), is treated as meeting all registration and licensing requirements of the National Firearms Act (NFA). (Thus, such silencers are exempt from separate NFA registration, $200 transfer tax stamps, and ATF approval processes.)

This section preempts, notwithstanding the general preservation of state law absent direct conflict with federal firearms law, state and political subdivision laws that (1) impose a tax—other than a generally applicable sales or use tax—on making, transferring, using, possessing, or transporting a firearm silencer in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or (2) impose a marking, recordkeeping, or registration requirement with respect to such a firearm silencer.

This section directs the Attorney General, not later than 365 days after enactment, to destroy all silencer-related records maintained in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR)—including registrations pursuant to section 5841 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, transfer applications under section 5812 identifying the transferee, and manufacturing applications under section 5822 identifying the maker. (The NFRTR is the federal registry for National Firearms Act-regulated items such as silencers; thus, this eliminates all such records.)

This section revises the definition of firearm silencer and firearm muffler in 18 U.S.C. §921(a)(25) to mean any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including its "keystone part" (i.e., a single externally visible part without which such a device cannot be assembled to function, excluding interchangeable mounting parts). It expands licensed dealer restrictions in 18 U.S.C. §922(b)(1) and (3) on sales and delivery of rifles and shotguns to also cover firearm silencers and mufflers. (Thus, federally licensed dealers may sell silencers and mufflers to out-of-state residents if legal in the purchaser's state.) It further revises serialization requirements in 18 U.S.C. §923(i) to require licensed importers and manufacturers to engrave or cast a serial number (per Attorney General regulations) on the keystone part of each imported or manufactured firearm silencer or muffler, with variances granted for devices lacking a single identifiable keystone part absent good cause.

This section provides a rule of construction stating that nothing in this Act or its amendments places firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act (chapter 53 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986)—which covers items such as machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and suppressors—under the jurisdiction of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission.