Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act
Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act (S. 2250) seeks to strengthen penalties for people who commit firearm offenses under 18 U.S.C. 922(g) and have three or more prior serious felony convictions from separate incidents. The bill amends 18 U.S.C. 924 to broaden which prior offenses count toward the three-prior-convictions threshold and to create a new, mandatory 15-to-30-year sentence for qualifying offenders, with no possibility of sentence suspension or probation for the 922(g) offense. It applies to offenses committed after enactment by individuals who meet the 3+ prior serious felony criterion, and it specifies how “serious felony convictions” are defined for purposes of this provision. The bill also states that it does not create a right to challenge a sentence imposed under the new subsection.
Key Points
- 1Broadens the predicate offenses for the Armed Career Criminal Act by changing which sections of 18 U.S.C. 922 can count toward the 3+ prior serious felony convictions and by conditioning those priors on offenses committed on separate occasions.
- 2Establishes a new subsection (e) under 18 U.S.C. 924: for someone who knowingly violates 922(g) and has 3 or more previous serious felony convictions, the person faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison, with no suspension or probation for the related conviction.
- 3Defines “serious felony conviction” to include either a single felony with a statutory maximum of at least 10 years, or a group of convictions in a single or consolidated proceeding totaling at least 10 years.
- 4Defines the term “offense punishable by imprisonment for a statutory maximum term of not less than 10 years” to include offenses with a statutory max of 10+ years, regardless of how guidelines or other judgments might affect actual time served.
- 5Applies the amendments to offenses committed after enactment by individuals who already have 3+ prior serious felony convictions, and includes a rule of construction that the act does not create a right to challenge sentences under the new subsection.