Proposed Amendments To HR 38 That The Rules Committee Must Take Up

The House Rules Committee was scheduled to start their hearings on the rule for HR 38 which now combines the original HR 38 plus HR 4477 or the Fix NICS Act. Amendments for consideration have begun to pile up. Most are from Democrats who want to gut the bill with a few from Republicans who either want to clarify some aspects or who want to decouple the two bills.

In my opinion, the “bipartisan” amendment from Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) is the most dangerous as it would graft their so-called anti-bump stock bill which really is any modification on to HR 38.


As of 2:25PM EST:

Amendments (click headers to sort)

# Version # Sponsor(s) Party Summary Status
1 Version 1 Titus (NV) Democrat Strikes Title I of H.R. 38. Submitted
2 Version 1 Thompson, Mike (CA), Demings (FL) Democrat SUBSTITUTE Invests in the NICS system and expand background checks to all commercial sales. Submitted
3 Version 1 Thompson, Mike (CA) Democrat Establishes a select committee on gun violence. Submitted
4 Version 1 Norton (DC) Democrat Prohibits Title I (Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017) from taking effect until the law banning guns in U.S. Capitol buildings and grounds is repealed. Submitted
5 Version 1 Lofgren (CA) Democrat Prevents forum shopping by limiting concealed carry reciprocity to those who have a permit from their state of residence. Submitted
6 Version 1 Deutch (FL) Democrat Prohibits a person from carrying a concealed firearm across state lines if they have been convicted in the past 5 years of cruelty to animals. Submitted
7 Version 1 Deutch (FL) Democrat Preserves a State or local governments right to restrict concealed weapons on private property. Submitted
8 Version 1 Bacon (NE) Republican Extends the renewal of concealed carry permits under LEOSA from every year to every 3 years. Submitted
9 Version 1 Raskin (MD) Democrat Permits law enforcement officers to conduct reasonable investigations to verify with the issuing State that an individual producing a concealed carry permit/license is eligible to carry such a firearm. Precludes the payment of attorney fees if an individual is convicted of a crime in the same proceeding in which this Act is successfully used as an affirmative defense. Submitted
10 Version 1 Raskin (MD) Democrat Provides that concealed carry reciprocity will not be permitted between states unless the reciprocating state issues a joint certification from the Attorney General, head of the State police, and Secretary of State that the laws of both states involved are substantially similar. Precludes reciprocity in states with no restrictions on concealed carry to similarly situated states. Submitted
11 Version 1 Raskin (MD) Democrat Provides that concealed carry reciprocity will not be permitted between states unless the issuing state provides a means of permit/license verification on a 24-hour basis, conducts reverification checks at least biannually, and has the authority to revoke permits/licenses if ineligibility is determined. It also creates a GAO study regarding firearms crimes committed by concealed carry permit holders. Submitted
12 Version 1 Raskin (MD), Norton (DC) Democrat Precludes application of this Act in the District of Columbia. Submitted
13 Version 1 Nadler (NY) Democrat States that a person who has been convicted of a violent crime within the preceding three years may not possess or carry a concealed handgun under this section in a State that by law prohibits a person from doing so on the basis of a conviction for such offense. Submitted
14 Version 1 Schneider (IL) Democrat Prohibits a person who has been convicted of two (2) or more offenses related to driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances within the preceding five (5) years from possessing or carrying a concealed handgun in a State that by law prohibits a person from doing so on the basis of such convictions. Submitted
15 Version 1 McKinley (WV) Republican Clarifies that complete records submitted by State authorities reporting to NICS shall include disposition records. Submitted
16 Version 1 Moulton (MA), Curbelo (FL) Bi-Partisan Bans the manufacture, possession, or transfer of any part or combination of parts that is designed and functions to increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle (i.e. bump stocks and similarly functioning devices of different names). Submitted
17 Version 1 Jackson Lee (TX) Democrat Takes an affirmative step towards addressing public safety threats posed by gun violence when perpetrated by former military personnel with convictions through accountability of the Department of Defense. Submitted
18 Version 1 Jackson Lee (TX) Democrat Prohibits any person convicted of a hate crime, as defined under section 249 or any substantially similar offense under the law of any State, from carrying under this bill. Submitted
19 Version 1 Jackson Lee (TX) Democrat Provides that States not be required to allow an individual to carry where such person is convicted of an offense of domestic violence or stalking as defined under the law of a State or Indian tribe, or as defined under the Violence Against Women Act. Submitted
20 Version 1 Demings (FL) Democrat Strikes the provision that would allow persons from other states to carry concealed weapons in school zones. Submitted
21 Version 1 Demings (FL) Democrat Strikes the new private right to sue a law enforcement officer in that officer’s individual capacity for any alleged violation, and to allow judges discretion in determining whether to award attorney’s fees to a prevailing party. Submitted
22 Version 1 Kildee (MI) Democrat Eliminates the study on crimes committed using bumps stocks and inserts a provision mandating that bump stocks be treated like machine guns and silencers under the National Fire Arms Act. Submitted
23 Version 1 King, Steve (IA) Republican Ensures that Members of Congress are afforded the greatest latitude regarding interstate concealed carry, commensurate with that of Federal Judges under this legislation. Submitted
24 Version 1 King, Steve (IA) Republican Ensures that Judges are treated the same as all other law-abiding citizens regarding interstate concealed carry. Submitted
25 Version 1 Biggs (AZ), King, Steve (IA) Republican Strikes Title II, the Fix NICS Act, from the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017. Submitted

UPDATE: The hearings are being carried on YouTube Live.

HR 38 Is Moving To A Floor Vote

The House Rules Committee will issue a rule for HR 38 – Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 – on Tuesday, December 5th. This news was announced on Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk Radio show by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) on Sunday.

It is expected that the bill will come before the House for debate and a vote starting on Wednesday.

However, as predicted by Rep. Tom Massie (R-KY) the Fixed NICS bill has been merged with concealed carry reciprocity. It is now Title II of HR 38. Massie goes on to say that when the bill hits the Senate, carry reciprocity will be dropped and only the Fix NICS portion approved. Then given different bills have passed the House and Senate it will go to a conference committee who will only report out the Fix NICS portion of the bill. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) has offered an amendment to the bill being considered in the Rules Committee that would drop the carry portion of the bill.

It should be noted that Massie, despite being chairman of the Second Amendment Caucus, has opposed HR 38 from the start according to Dave Cole who is both a constituent of Massie and a blogger at Black Man with a Gun.

I think it was to be expected that that bills would be combined in that they both dealt with guns and both came out of the House Judiciary Committee at the same time. The NSSF is supporting both parts of the bill including the Fix NICS portion.

HR 4477 – Fix NICS – as it passed the House Judiciary Committee includes a provision to require the Attorney General to provide a report on how often bump stocks had been used in crimes. This would be part of the combined bill. That said, I think the actual instances of a bump stock equipped carbine or rifle being used in a crime will be very few.