H.R. 10583, filed in Congress on September 24th by a California politician, Rep. Kevin Mullin, would classify most serious pellet rifles as “firearms” under the federal Gun Control Act. That means federal background checks, serial numbers, federal licenses and federal paperwork, plus a blank check for the Attorney General to add more air guns later. As of October 5th the bill had zero cosponsors and no hearing, and the North Carolina Firearms Coalition wants to keep it that way.
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800. 500. 450.
The numbers that would make your pellet rifle a federal “firearm.”
In North Carolina, a lot of kids learn to shoot with a pellet rifle, plinking cans in the backyard or keeping squirrels off the bird feeder, long before they ever carry a .22 into the woods. A California politician wants Congress to put that pellet rifle under federal gun control.
The bill is H.R. 10583, filed September 24th by Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15), and its title says it’s written “to classify lethal air guns as firearms.” Once an air gun counts as a “firearm” under the federal Gun Control Act, buying one from a store means a federal background check, and the gun gets a serial number. The companies that make them and the stores that sell them need federal firearms licenses, and dealers keep federal paperwork on every sale.
The numbers in the bill
What counts as a “lethal air gun”
.177 caliber pellet
800 feet per second or faster
.22 caliber pellet
500 feet per second or faster
.25 caliber pellet
450 feet per second or faster
Metallic pellet above .25 caliber
Any speed at all
And then
Any other air gun the Attorney General designates, through rulemaking, as “capable of causing death”
Any gun that can hit those numbers is a “lethal air gun” under the bill. The only ones carved out fire nothing but paint-filled pellets. That covers most serious pellet rifles sold today.
Now look at that last line. The bill lets the Attorney General add more air guns through rulemaking, any he decides are “capable of causing death,” and it puts no limit on what that means. Today it’s 800 feet per second. The bill already gives the Attorney General a blank check to decide which air guns come next.
The Red Ryder isn’t on the list today. Daisy rates it at up to 350 feet per second, well under the line. But the bill lets the Attorney General add any air gun he deems “capable of causing death.”
We’ve heard this before
For decades, North Carolina gun owners have sat through the lecture: “What does anybody need an AR-15 for?” Then came the reassurance: “Don’t worry, nobody’s coming for your hunting rifle.”
Now it’s the air rifles and pellet guns North Carolina kids learn on, the kind of gun plenty of people still think of as a toy, and the bill leaves the door open for the Attorney General to add the BB gun later. If they’ll come after something that innocent, you’d better believe the Left won’t be satisfied until we’re disarmed of every possible tool we could use to defend ourselves.
Where it stands
Where H.R. 10583 stands
■ Introduced by Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15), September 24, 2026
■ Referred to the House Judiciary Committee the same day
■ Endorsed by Giffords and March For Our Lives
□ Cosponsors: zero, as of October 5
□ Committee hearing
□ Committee vote
□ House floor vote
Zero cosponsors and no hearing. That’s right where I want this bill to stay, and the best time to bury it is before anyone else signs on.
Add your name to the North Carolina Firearms Coalition petition against H.R. 10583.
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Or add your name to the petition here.
After you’ve signed, if you’re able, chip in $17.76 to help NCFC keep fighting federal gun control like this.
For Freedom,
Rob Knisley
Political Director
North Carolina Firearms Coalition
P.S. Four numbers today, plus a blank check for the Attorney General to add more air guns whenever he decides they’re “capable of causing death.” Add your name against H.R. 10583.