Sponsors (96)
The bill clarifies and streamlines rules for certain less‑than‑lethal projectile devices—reducing taxes and regulatory burdens for businesses and expanding law‑enforcement options—but does so at the cost of weaker firearms-style safeguards, potential safety loopholes, administrative complexities, and reduced federal revenue, raising public-safety and civil‑liberties concerns.
Manufacturers, importers, small businesses, and local governments can get faster, clearer federal determinations and public guidance (AG/IRS determinations and lists), improving market predictability and speeding regulatory decisions.
Small businesses, producers, and consumers of qualifying less-than-lethal devices are removed from the statutory "firearm" definition, reducing firearms-specific regulatory burdens and compliance constraints for those products.
Manufacturers, importers, and buyers of qualified less-than-lethal devices pay no federal excise tax on those items, lowering costs for producers and consumers.
Urban communities and the general public may face increased risk of serious injury because broader carve-outs and looser limits can lead to more frequent deployment of forceful crowd-control tools.
Racial and ethnic minorities and residents of high-policing areas may experience greater civil‑liberties and misuse risks because easier access and weaker oversight could increase improper deployments by private actors or agencies with limited accountability.
The public and law enforcement could lose firearms-style safeguards (like background checks) for some devices because reclassifying them as non‑firearms removes certain statutory controls, potentially raising misuse risks.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Defines "less-than-lethal projectile devices," exempts them from a firearm definition and an excise tax, and requires AG/IRS classification decisions and public lists.
Introduced March 18, 2025 by Scott Fitzgerald · Last progress February 24, 2026
Creates a legal category called “less-than-lethal projectile device,” removes such devices from a federal statutory firearms restriction, and exempts them and their shells/cartridges from a federal excise tax. The bill sets out technical criteria for what counts as a less-than-lethal projectile device, requires the Attorney General and the IRS to issue classification determinations within 90 days when asked, and requires the IRS to publish and annually update lists of qualifying devices and near-qualifying devices (those that exceed a 500 ft/s velocity limit). Applications and sales rules apply to articles sold after enactment and include a 180‑day handling rule for early requests.