H.R. 95 (117 th ): Hearing Protection Act

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About the bill

Are the silencers themselves weapons, or merely add-ons for weapons?

Context and what the bill does

Under federal law, eight different descriptions of devices officially count as a “firearm.” Seven of the eight descriptions are unambiguously weapons: from shotguns with barrels shorter than 18 inches, to rifles with barrels less than 16 inches, to machine guns of any length.

One of the eight descriptions, though, isn’t a weapon in and of itself but rather a weapon accessory: a silencer, used to mute the sound of a shooting.

Under both the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968, silencers are subject to certain regulations, including a ban on interstate transfers between unlicensed people, a ban on interstate sales entirely, and a federal registry.

What …

Sponsor and status

Jeff Duncan

Sponsor. Representative for South Carolina's 3rd congressional district. Republican.

This bill was introduced on January 4, 2021, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.

Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).

History

This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 155 (116th).

Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.

This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 152.

H.R. 95 (117th) was a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 95. This is the one from the 117 th Congress.

This bill was introduced in the 117 th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2021 to Jan 3, 2023. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.

How to cite this information.

We recommend the following MLA -formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:

GovTrack.us. (2024). H.R. 95 — 117th Congress: Hearing Protection Act. Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr95

“H.R. 95 — 117th Congress: Hearing Protection Act.” www.GovTrack.us. 2021. September 20, 2024

Hearing Protection Act, H.R. 95, 117th Cong. (2021).

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|title=H.R. 95 (117th)
|accessdate=September 20, 2024
|author=117th Congress (2021)
|date=January 4, 2021
|work=Legislation
|publisher=GovTrack.us
|quote=Hearing Protection Act
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