18 USC §§921-931:
Gun Control Act Overview

Title 18, Chapter 44 currently contains Sections 921 through 934.^[1] The Gun Control Act of 1968 created the core federal framework, and later laws added and amended provisions within the chapter.

Structure

Chapter 44 includes Section 921 (definitions), Section 922 (unlawful acts), Section 923 (licensing), Section 924 (penalties), Section 925 (exceptions and relief), Section 925A (a remedy for an erroneous firearm denial), Section 925B (reporting of background check denials to State authorities), Section 925C (an annual report to Congress), and Section 925D (special assistant U.S. attorneys and cross-deputized attorneys), Sections 926 through 926C (regulations, interstate transport, and qualified-law-enforcement provisions), Sections 927 through 931, and Sections 932 through 934. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 added Sections 932 through 934, including the straw-purchasing and trafficking offenses.

Key Penalties Under Section 924

• False statements on Form 4473: Up to 10 years
• Section 922(g) violations: Up to 15 years
• Armed Career Criminal Act (Section 924(e)), for a Section 922(g) violator with three prior violent felony or serious drug offense convictions for offenses committed on different occasions: 15-year mandatory minimum
• Using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a federal crime of violence or drug trafficking crime (Section 924(c)): 5-year mandatory minimum (consecutive); brandishing: 7 years; discharging: 10 years; machine gun/silencer: 30 years
• Second Section 924(c) after a prior final conviction under that subsection: 25-year mandatory minimum, or life imprisonment if the firearm is a machine gun or destructive device, or is equipped with a firearm silencer or muffler
• Straw purchasing (Section 932): Up to 15 years, or up to 25 years when the purchaser knows or has reasonable cause to believe the firearm will be used to commit a felony, federal crime of terrorism, or drug-trafficking crime. Firearms trafficking (Section 933): Up to 15 years.

Federal-State Relationship

Section 927 states: "No provision of this chapter shall be construed as indicating an intent on the part of the Congress to occupy the field in which such provision operates to the exclusion of the law of any State on the same subject matter, unless there is a direct and positive conflict between such provision and the law of the State so that the two cannot be reconciled or consistently stand together." Congress declined field preemption but kept conflict preemption, so state law is displaced only where obeying both is impossible. Federal law sets a minimum floor. Massachusetts adds mandatory licensing for all possession, universal background checks, an assault-style firearm ban, a complete suppressor ban, mandatory safe storage, a registration system, prohibited carry areas, and broader prohibited persons categories.

Major Amendments

• Firearms Owners' Protection Act (1986): Relaxed some provisions, added safe passage (Section 926A), banned new civilian machine guns
• Brady Act (1993): Created NICS
• Violent Crime Control Act (1994): Federal assault weapons ban (expired 2004)
• Section 922(g)(9) (1996): Domestic violence misdemeanor prohibition
• LEOSA (2004/2010): Law enforcement officer carry protections
• BSCA (2022): Enhanced under-21 checks, boyfriend loophole closure, straw purchasing/trafficking offenses, penalty increases