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Aaron Salter, Jr., Responsible Body Armor Possession Act
To prohibit the purchase, ownership, or possession of enhanced body armor by civilians, with exceptions.
Summary
This bill prohibits civilians from purchasing, owning, or possessing enhanced body armor, defined as armor with ballistic resistance meeting or exceeding RF1 standards as determined by the National Institute of Justice. Exceptions to the ban include federal, state, and tribal governments and agencies, law enforcement officers (including corrections officers), and civilians who lawfully possessed such armor before the law takes effect. Violations of the ban are punishable by fines and up to 5 years imprisonment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
28 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Amo, Gabe [D-RI-1] (D-RI)
- Rep. Budzinski, Nikki [D-IL-13] (D-IL)
- Rep. Carter, Troy A. [D-LA-2] (D-LA)
- Rep. Casten, Sean [D-IL-6] (D-IL)
- Rep. Espaillat, Adriano [D-NY-13] (D-NY)
- Rep. Fletcher, Lizzie [D-TX-7] (D-TX)
- Rep. Friedman, Laura [D-CA-30] (D-CA)
- Rep. Garcia, Robert [D-CA-42] (D-CA)
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY)
- Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] (D-GA)
- Rep. Landsman, Greg [D-OH-1] (D-OH)
- Rep. Latimer, George [D-NY-16] (D-NY)
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA)
- Rep. McIver, LaMonica [D-NJ-10] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6] (D-NY)
- Rep. Morelle, Joseph D. [D-NY-25] (D-NY)
- Rep. Moskowitz, Jared [D-FL-23] (D-FL)
- Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-12] (D-NY)
- Rep. Olszewski, Johnny [D-MD-2] (D-MD)
- Rep. Pou, Nellie [D-NJ-9] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5] (D-PA)
- Rep. Suozzi, Thomas R. [D-NY-3] (D-NY)
- Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (D-MS)
- Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4] (D-CA)
- Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (D-NY)
- Rep. Velázquez, Nydia M. [D-NY-7] (D-NY)
- Rep. Williams, Nikema [D-GA-5] (D-GA)
Actions (2)
- May 14, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- May 14, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 14, 2025
Mr. Kennedy of New York (for himself, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Norton, Ms. Meng, Mr. Latimer, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Morelle, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Suozzi, Ms. Friedman, Mr. Olszewski, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Lieu, and Mr. Thompson of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To prohibit the purchase, ownership, or possession of enhanced body armor by civilians, with exceptions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Aaron Salter, Jr., Responsible Body Armor Possession Act”.
SEC. 2. BAN ON PURCHASE, OWNERSHIP, OR POSSESSION OF ENHANCED BODY ARMOR BY CIVILIANS; EXCEPTIONS.
(a) Ban.—
(1) In general.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “Sec. 935. Ban on purchase, ownership, or possession of enhanced body armor by civilians
“(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), it shall be unlawful for a person to purchase, own, or possess enhanced body armor.
“(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to—
“(1) a purchase, ownership, or possession by or under the authority of—
“(A) the United States or any department or agency of the United States;
“(B) a State, or a department, agency, or political subdivision of a State; or
“(C) a Tribe or law enforcement agency of a Tribe;
“(2) a covered law enforcement officer; or
“(3) enhanced body armor that was lawfully possessed by any person at any time before the date this section takes effect.
“(c) In this section, the term ‘covered law enforcement officer’—
“(1) has the meaning given the term ‘qualified law enforcement officer’ in section 926B and the term ‘qualified retired law enforcement officer’ in section 926C; and
“(2) includes corrections officers.”.
(2) Clerical amendment.—The table of sections for chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“935. Ban on purchase, ownership, or possession of enhanced body armor by civilians.”.
(b) Enhanced Body Armor Defined.—Section 921(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(39) The term ‘enhanced body armor’ means body armor, including a helmet or shield, the ballistic resistance of which meets or exceeds the ballistic performance of RF1 armor, determined using such standard as the National Institute of Justice has in effect at the time at which a person purchases, owns, or possesses such armor.”.
(c) Penalties.—Section 924(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(9) Whoever knowingly violates section 935 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.”. <all>
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