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CIVIC HERALD
HR 4242 · 119th Congress · HouseOther

Innovate Less Lethal to De-Escalate Tax Modernization Act

In plain language: This bill exempts less-than-lethal weapons—such as specialized projectile launchers designed to incapacitate without causing death or serious injury—and their ammunition from federal firearms excise taxes and registry rules. To qualify, the devices must not be able to fire standard firearm ammunition, accept regular magazines, or fire projectiles faster than 500 feet per second. The federal government will also maintain a public list of approved devices so buyers and manufacturers know which products are tax-free.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, issue tags, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affectedThe text does not specify the number of manufacturers, importers, law enforcement entities, or consumers affected by the exemption.
Fiscal magnitudeCBO cost estimate published (H.R. 4242, Innovate Less Lethal to De-escalate Tax Modernization Act, 2026-02-05); dollar figure pending review extraction — see receipt
Reach28provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Overall tax level−18Firearms−20

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • Manufacturers, producers, and importers of less-than-lethal projectile devicesExempts their qualifying less-than-lethal devices, approved higher-velocity alternatives, and specialized shells or cartridges from the federal firearms excise tax, and exempts these devices from taxation and regulation under the National Firearms Act.provisional

Who it burdens

  • Department of the TreasuryMust process classification requests from manufacturers within 90 days, publish and annually update public lists of qualifying less-than-lethal devices, and submit an annual report to congressional committees detailing device inclusions and exclusions.provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Exempts qualifying less-than-lethal projectile devices, approved alternatives, and their specialized shells or cartridges from the federal firearms excise tax.

    Sec. 2(a)provisional
  2. Requires the Department of the Treasury to determine within 90 days whether a manufacturer's, producer's, or importer's device qualifies for the less-than-lethal excise tax exemption.

    Sec. 2(a)provisional
  3. Exempts qualifying less-than-lethal projectile devices from regulation and taxation under the National Firearms Act.

    Sec. 3provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Feb 2, 2026Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 407.
  2. Feb 2, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-476.
  3. Feb 2, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-476.
  4. Dec 10, 2025Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 26 - 15.
  5. Jun 27, 2025Introduced in House
  6. Jun 27, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 17 days ago

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