Sponsors (32)
The bill provides federal funding and financial incentives to support buybacks and restrict anonymous prepaid-card gun transactions to improve public safety and enforcement, but it does so with substantial federal spending, new compliance costs, possible criminalization risks for ordinary users, and limits on local program flexibility.
Local, state, tribal, and dealer-run buyback events receive grant funding that supports removing firearms from communities, which can lower accidental shootings and reduce opportunities for gun theft.
Individuals who surrender firearms are paid prepaid cards worth 125% of the Director-determined market value, giving owners an immediate financial incentive to turn in guns.
Prohibiting the use of anonymous or 'smart' prepaid cards in firearm transactions gives law enforcement a clearer federal tool to deter illicit trafficking and make it harder to evade background checks and tracing.
Taxpayers face new federal spending of about $360 million per year (FY2025–2027) to fund the buyback program, increasing federal outlays over the covered period.
Individuals who receive or use smart prepaid cards could face severe fines (up to $100,000) or criminal exposure if a card is later linked to a firearm transfer, risking overcriminalization and due-process concerns for ordinary transactions or gifts.
Ambiguities in the definition of 'smart prepaid card' and the bill's transaction restrictions create compliance uncertainty and new administrative burdens for dealers, businesses, and governments participating in buybacks.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes BJA grants to states, localities, tribes, and covered gun dealers for gun buybacks, sets program rules and card-use limits, and criminalizes using "smart prepaid cards" to buy or transfer firearms or ammo.
Introduced April 17, 2025 by LaMonica McIver · Last progress April 17, 2025
Creates a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant program to fund gun buyback programs run by States, local governments, Tribal governments, or eligible covered gun dealers, sets application, funding, and reporting rules, and limits administrative costs. Establishes rules for distribution and return of unused smart prepaid cards and grant funds, requires that at least 5% of collected firearms and ammunition be destroyed, and requires covered gun dealers to be licensed and to load smart prepaid cards at 125% of a Director-published market value. Makes it a new federal crime to use or accept a "smart prepaid card" to acquire or transfer a firearm or ammunition in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, with fines up to $100,000.