H.R. 4676 — Modern Firearm Safety Act

This section sets forth congressional findings that state and local governmental requirements for handgun design features not ordinarily present on affected models limit handgun selection for law-abiding citizens, inflate prices of constitutionally protected arms, present safety concerns by altering intended design and function, violate the Second Amendment, and restrain interstate commerce. The section states that the purpose of the Act is to preempt such requirements exceeding those imposed by federal statute.

This section amends the preemption provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. §927)—which generally preserves state firearms laws absent a direct conflict with federal law—by adding an exception that prohibits any federal, state, or local department, agency, or instrumentality from implementing, enforcing, or promulgating any law or regulation requiring a handgun in interstate or foreign commerce to incorporate certain design features, functionalities, safety mechanisms, or performance standards not required by federal statute, including: (1) a device that indicates whether the handgun is loaded; (2) a mechanism that prevents a handgun from being fired if an ammunition magazine is not fully inserted; (3) the capability of imprinting the cartridge casing or projectile of ammunition fired from the handgun with identifying characters (i.e., microstamping); (4) any device, mechanism, or technology designed to perform such functions or readily convertible to do so; or (5) the capability of accepting attachments of devices or mechanisms described in (4).