H.R. 2948 — Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2025

This section authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to eligible entities for conducting gun buyback programs. Eligible entities include (1) a state, (2) a unit of local government, (3) a tribal government, or (4) a covered gun dealer.

This section establishes application requirements for grants and subgrants under this title, requiring (1) the chief executive of an eligible entity seeking a grant to submit an application to the Director containing information specified by the Director and (2) a covered gun dealer seeking a subgrant to submit an application to the chief executive of the relevant unit of local government or State, including proof of the dealer’s Federal Firearms License.

This section establishes a two-year term for grants awarded under this title and requires return of any remaining smart prepaid cards and unused grant funds as follows: (1) by states or units of local government, at the end of the two-year and 270-day period beginning on the grant award date; and (2) by gun dealers, at the end of the two-year period beginning on the date of the gun dealer's grant award (for direct grants) or the state or local government's grant award date (for subgrants). The Director must deposit returned amounts into the general fund of the Treasury.

This section authorizes the Director, in administering grants under section 101, to reserve funds as necessary to acquire and distribute unloaded smart prepaid cards to grantees. The section further requires the Director to determine and publicly disclose the market value of each gun included in the buyback program and prohibits any person from using such a card—or accepting it in transfer—to acquire a gun or ammunition, with violators required to pay the Director an amount equal to the value of the prohibited sale.

This section establishes requirements for the use of grant funds by states, units of local government, and gun dealers under the gun buyback grant program as follows: (1) states and units of local government must use funds to conduct gun buyback programs (directly or via subgrants to gun dealers, with distribution of smart prepaid cards), at least 5% of funds to destroy collected guns (including all parts, components, and accessories) and ammunition, and no more than 15% for administrative costs (including criminal database checks); (2) gun dealers must conduct buybacks by loading smart prepaid cards with 125% of a gun's market value (or more if altered to increase value, as determined under section 104(b)), verify firearms are not stolen (notifying ATF within 24 hours if stolen), and deliver received guns and ammunition as-is to the closest ATF office (if directly granted) or state/unit of local government (if subgranted) within 30 days; (3) authorizes acceptance (but not purchase via smart cards) of ammunition for destruction; (4) permits incentives to gun dealers (treated as subgrants); and (5) prohibits resale of received guns, parts, components, accessories, or ammunition. This section further requires states, units of local government, or ATF offices receiving guns to check criminal databases within 21 days and, if a gun was used in a crime, deliver it to the appropriate prosecuting authority.

This section defines terms for purposes of this title, including: (1) ammunition, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(A); (2) covered gun dealer, as a licensed firearms dealer without an ATF warning letter or conference for federal law violations in the prior five years and not located in a grant-recipient state or local government; (3) gun, as a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3); (4) gun buyback program, as a state, local government, or licensed dealer program using smart prepaid cards to purchase specified guns from individuals; (5) gun dealer, as a dealer licensed under 18 U.S.C. 923; (6) smart prepaid card, as a restricted prepaid card redeemable only for non-gun/ammunition goods or services at non-licensed dealers, loaded for buybacks, and marked to prohibit gun/ammunition purchases; (7) state, to include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and U.S. territories; and (8) tribal government, as federally recognized Indian tribes, bands, nations, or Alaska Native entities.

This section establishes a new criminal offense under 18 U.S.C. §932 prohibiting, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, the use of a smart prepaid card (as defined in section 106 of the Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2017) in connection with the acquisition of a firearm or ammunition or the acceptance of such a card in connection with the transfer (including a loan) of a firearm or ammunition, punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000.