High-powered air guns now treated as federal firearms—licensing required.
H.R. 10583 — Garrett’s Law · Filed by Kevin Mullin (D-CA) · Introduced Sep 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill reclassifies high-powered air guns as federal firearms under existing gun law. Air guns meeting specific velocity and caliber thresholds (e.g., .177 caliber at 800+ feet per second) will now be treated the same as traditional firearms—requiring federal licensing, serialization, and background checks. The change takes effect 850 days after enactment, giving manufacturers time to comply.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward reclassification: it expands the federal definition of 'firearm' to include high-powered air guns, bringing them under existing firearms regulations. This is a regulatory expansion, not a deregulation or carve-out.
What the text implies
- The Attorney General gains rulemaking authority to designate additional air guns as lethal without further congressional action, potentially expanding the scope beyond the stated caliber/velocity thresholds.
- Existing air-gun owners may face retroactive compliance obligations or confiscation risk depending on implementation and whether grandfathering is permitted.
- The 850-day implementation window may create a rush to purchase air guns before the rule takes effect, followed by a secondary market for compliant or licensed weapons.
- Manufacturers of air guns will incur costs to obtain federal firearms licenses, comply with serialization and record-keeping, and potentially exit the market if compliance is prohibitively expensive.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens gain a potential public-safety benefit: high-powered air guns capable of lethal force face the same regulatory scrutiny as traditional firearms, reducing access by prohibited persons and creating accountability through licensing and record-keeping. However, citizens who lawfully own or wish to purchase air guns for sport or self-defense face new compliance costs, licensing delays, and potential restrictions; the practical effect on legitimate ownership depends on how strictly the Attorn
Who stands to gain
- Federal firearms licensing infrastructure (ATF administrative costs may increase)
- Firearms manufacturers and dealers (if they expand into air-gun licensing and sales)
Named in the bill
Attorney General, Federal firearms licensees, Air gun manufacturers, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)
Where it stands
- Sep 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 24, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,572 characters) on Oct 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“High-powered air guns now treated as federal firearms—licensing required.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr10583 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.