26 U.S.C. § 5871
Section 5871 · Penalties
This is § 201 of the Gun Control Act of 1968
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 136 court decisions — leading case United States v. Rone (1979)
Most recently applied in Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, Inc. v. Merrick B. Garland (August 2024)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 26 U.S.C. § 5861 · 26 U.S.C. § 5845 · 18 U.S.C. § 922
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Any person who violates or fails to comply with any provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000, or be imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 5871, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 729, consisted of provisions similar to those comprising this section, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 90–618.
Provisions similar to those comprising this section were contained in prior section 5861, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 729, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 90–618.
Amendments
1984—Pub. L. 98–473 struck out “, and shall become eligible for parole as the Board of Parole shall determine” after “or both”.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Section 235(a)(1)(B)(ii)(IV) of Pub. L. 98–473 provided that the amendment made by that section is effective Oct. 12, 1984.
Effective Date
Section effective on first day of first month following October 1968, see section 207(a) of Pub. L. 90–618, set out as a note under section 5801 of this title.