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Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2025
3/5/2025, 1:23 PM
Summary of Bill HR 923
If passed, the bill would make it illegal to bring .50 caliber rifles into the country, sell them, make them, transfer them to others, or possess them. Supporters of the bill argue that these weapons are too powerful and pose a significant risk to public safety. They point to incidents where .50 caliber rifles have been used in mass shootings and other violent crimes.
Opponents of the bill, however, argue that .50 caliber rifles are rarely used in crimes and are primarily owned by law-abiding citizens for sporting and recreational purposes. They argue that banning these firearms would infringe on the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. Overall, the bill has sparked a heated debate between those who believe that .50 caliber rifles should be banned to protect public safety and those who believe that such a ban would be an infringement on the rights of gun owners. The outcome of the bill remains uncertain as it makes its way through the legislative process.
Congressional Summary of HR 923
Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2025
This bill expands the regulation of .50 caliber rifles under federal firearms laws and authorizes new civil remedies for certain violations.
Firearms that are trafficked from the United States to Mexico are often routed to transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), including cartels. In recent years, TCOs increasingly use .50 caliber rifles in attacks on Mexican security forces.
In 2025, in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) bars a civil lawsuit by Mexico against U.S. firearms manufacturers and one U.S. firearms distributor for costs associated with gun violence in Mexico. (The PLCAA limits the civil liability of firearms manufacturers and sellers for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearms.)
This bill generally criminalizes the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, and possession of .50 caliber rifles under the Gun Control Act and subjects .50 caliber rifles to regulation (i.e., registration and licensing requirements) under the National Firearms Act.
Additionally, the bill criminalizes the sale or transfer of firearms and ammunition to foreign individuals or entities designated as significant foreign narcotics traffickers or as part of their networks and sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).
Finally, the bill creates an exception under the PLCAA to allow civil lawsuits against firearms manufacturers or sellers that knowingly sell or transfer a firearm or ammunition to a foreign individual or entity designated and sanctioned under the Kingpin Act.
