Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act: New Bill Mandates 15-Year Minimum for Repeat Firearm Offenders

This bill, officially titled the Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act, is all about stiffening the penalties for people with serious criminal pasts who are caught illegally possessing a firearm. The core of the bill is simple: if you are a prohibited person caught with a gun and you have three or more prior “serious felony” convictions, you are now looking at a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison, maxing out at 30 years.

Who Gets Hit with the New Hammer?

Right now, federal law already has tough penalties for felons caught with guns, but this bill significantly raises the stakes by changing the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). If you meet the criteria—three prior serious felonies—the judge must give you at least 15 years. Crucially, the bill explicitly states that the judge cannot suspend that sentence or give you probation. That means no judicial discretion to consider mitigating circumstances; it’s a straight shot to a long prison term (SEC. 2).

The New Definition of “Serious Felony”

One of the biggest shifts here is how the bill defines what counts as a “serious felony” for the purpose of triggering this mandatory 15-year minimum. It’s defined as any past conviction where the maximum sentence you could have received was at least 10 years in prison. It also covers situations where you were sentenced all at once to a total of 10 years or more, even if you didn't serve all that time.

Why does this matter? By looking at the maximum potential sentence rather than the time actually served, this definition can potentially sweep in a much wider range of offenses than before. For example, some non-violent property crimes or drug offenses might carry a 10-year maximum sentence in some jurisdictions. If a person has three such convictions and is later found with a firearm, they are now facing a decade and a half behind bars, regardless of the specifics of the current offense. This is a significant expansion of the penalty trigger (SEC. 2).

Taking Away the Judge’s Say

For folks keeping score on criminal justice reform, the biggest real-world impact here is the mandatory minimum sentence. When a law mandates a minimum sentence of 15 years and explicitly removes the judge’s ability to use probation or a suspended sentence, it eliminates judicial discretion. This means that even if a judge believes the 15-year sentence is disproportionately harsh given the facts of the specific gun possession charge, their hands are tied. This change guarantees extremely long sentences for repeat offenders but also removes the judicial safety valve that allows for individualized justice.

It’s important to note that these new rules only apply to crimes committed after the bill is signed into law. If someone has already been sentenced under the old ACCA rules, this bill does not give them a new chance to challenge that sentence (SEC. 3). This is purely a forward-looking measure designed to ensure that repeat offenders caught with firearms face the stiffest possible penalties.