Summary

Prohibits most import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or new possession of rifles capable of firing .50-caliber ammunition while exempting government entities and rifles lawfully possessed on enactment; requires owners of existing unregistered .50-caliber-capable rifles to register them within 12 months without a fee or tax. It also reclassifies those rifles under the National Firearms Act (effective 12 months after enactment), expands criminal-transfer prohibitions to cover certain foreign narcotics traffickers, narrows industry immunity in certain trafficking-related civil suits, and adds rifles to dealers' multiple-sales reporting and NICS reporting requirements. The measure changes several federal statutes (criminal firearms law, the National Firearms Act definitions, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act exception, and Brady/NICS reporting rules), creates new registration obligations for private owners of covered rifles, and adjusts background-check and civil-liability pathways tied to arms transfers to designated foreign narcotics traffickers.

• Prohibits import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or new possession of rifles capable of firing .50-caliber ammunition, while exempting government entities and pre-enactment lawful owners.
• Reclassifies covered rifles under the National Firearms Act and requires owners of unregistered such rifles to register within 12 months without a fee or tax.
• Adds an exception to firearm-industry immunity for sellers or manufacturers who knowingly facilitate transfers prohibited under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
• Creates a prohibited-transfer category for foreign persons designated as significant foreign narcotics traffickers or designated by the Treasury, and links that category into NICS/Brady reporting.
• Requires federally licensed dealers to report multiple sales or dispositions of rifles (expands existing multiple-sales reporting for handguns to include rifles).
• Registration records submitted under the new requirement cannot be used as evidence in criminal cases against the registrant for prior or concurrent violations.
• Amends multiple federal statutes (criminal code, Internal Revenue Code/NFA, PLCAA, and Brady/NICS law) to coordinate the ban, registration, liability, and reporting changes.
• Grandfather clause preserves legal possession for rifles owned on enactment, while new commerce in covered rifles is disallowed.
• No new fees for the mandated registration are imposed, but the NFA reclassification could change future transfer and compliance requirements for newly classified firearms.