119-hr18

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 18 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 18

 To require a background check for every firearm sale.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 June 10, 2025

Mr. Thompson of California (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Aguilar, 
 Mr. Amo, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms. Balint, Ms. Barragan, Mrs. 
 Beatty, Mr. Bell, Mr. Bera, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. 
 Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Brown, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Budzinski, Ms. 
 Bynum, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Carson, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Casar, 
Mr. Case, Mr. Casten, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mrs. 
Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cisneros, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, 
 Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Conaway, Mr. 
Correa, Mr. Costa, Mr. Courtney, Ms. Craig, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Crow, Ms. 
Davids of Kansas, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
 DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. 
 Dexter, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Elfreth, Ms. Escobar, Mr. 
 Espaillat, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fields, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. 
 Foster, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Ms. Friedman, Mr. 
Frost, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. 
 Garcia of California, Ms. Gillen, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Gomez, 
 Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Ms. Goodlander, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. 
 Green of Texas, Mr. Harder of California, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Himes, Mr. 
 Horsford, Ms. Houlahan, Mr. Hoyer, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Mr. Huffman, 
 Mr. Ivey, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. 
 Jeffries, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms. Kamlager-
 Dove, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Keating, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Kennedy of 
 New York, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Larsen of 
Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Latimer, Ms. Lee of Nevada, 
Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Levin, Mr. Liccardo, 
 Mr. Lieu, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Mannion, Ms. 
Matsui, Mrs. McBath, Ms. McBride, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Ms. McClellan, 
 Ms. McCollum, Ms. McDonald Rivet, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. 
 McIver, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Meng, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Min, Ms. 
 Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Morelle, Ms. Morrison, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. 
 Moulton, Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Neal, Mr. Neguse, Mr. 
 Norcross, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Olszewski, Ms. Omar, Mr. 
 Pallone, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Pappas, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Peters, Ms. 
 Pettersen, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Pressley, Mr. 
 Quigley, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Riley of New York, Ms. Rivas, 
 Ms. Ross, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Scanlon, 
Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schneider, Ms. Scholten, Ms. Schrier, Mr. Scott of 
 Virginia, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Sherman, Ms. 
 Sherrill, Ms. Simon, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Sorensen, Mr. Soto, 
 Ms. Stansbury, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Strickland, Mr. 
 Subramanyam, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Swalwell, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Takano, Mr. 
 Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. 
 Tokuda, Mr. Tonko, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Torres of New York, 
 Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Tran, Ms. Underwood, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Vasquez, Ms. 
Velazquez, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Vindman, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Waters, 
 Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, 
and Mr. Cohen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require a background check for every firearm sale.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

 The purpose of this Act is to utilize the current background checks 
process in the United States to ensure individuals prohibited from gun 
purchase or possession are not able to obtain firearms.

SEC. 3. FIREARMS TRANSFERS.

    (a) In General.--

Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (aa)

    (1)
        (A) It shall be unlawful for any person who is not a 
licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to 
transfer a firearm to any other person who is not so licensed, unless a 
licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer has first 
taken possession of the firearm for the purpose of complying with 
subsection

    (t) .
 ``
        (B) Upon taking possession of a firearm under subparagraph
        (A) , a 
licensee shall comply with all requirements of this chapter as if the 
licensee were transferring the firearm from the inventory of the 
licensee to the unlicensed transferee.
 ``
            (C) If a transfer of a firearm described in subparagraph
        (A) will 
not be completed for any reason after a licensee takes possession of 
the firearm (including because the transfer of the firearm to, or 
receipt of the firearm by, the transferee would violate this chapter), 
the return of the firearm to the transferor by the licensee shall not 
constitute the transfer of a firearm for purposes of this chapter.
 ``

    (2) Paragraph

    (1) shall not apply to--
 ``
        (A) a law enforcement agency or any law enforcement 
 officer, armed private security professional, or member of the 
 Armed Forces, to the extent the officer, professional, or 
 member is acting within the course and scope of employment and 
 official duties;
 ``
        (B) a transfer or exchange (which, for purposes of this 
 subsection, means an in-kind transfer of a firearm of the same 
 type or value) that is a loan or bona fide gift between 
 spouses, between domestic partners, between parents and their 
 children, including step-parents and their step-children, 
 between siblings, between aunts or uncles and their nieces or 
 nephews, or between grandparents and their grandchildren, if 
 the transferor has no reason to believe that the transferee 
 will use or intends to use the firearm in a crime or is 
 prohibited from possessing firearms under State or Federal law;
 ``
            (C) a transfer to an executor, administrator, trustee, or 
 personal representative of an estate or a trust that occurs by 
 operation of law upon the death of another person;
 ``
            (D) a temporary transfer that is necessary to prevent 
 imminent death or great bodily harm, including harm to self, 
 family, household members, or others, if the possession by the 
 transferee lasts only as long as immediately necessary to 
 prevent the imminent death or great bodily harm, including harm 
 to self, and the harm of domestic violence, dating partner 
 violence, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic abuse;
 ``
        (E) a transfer that is approved by the Attorney General 
 under 

section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or
 ``
        (F) a temporary transfer if the transferor has no reason 
 to believe that the transferee will use or intends to use the 
 firearm in a crime or is prohibited from possessing firearms 
 under State or Federal law, and the transfer takes place and 
 the transferee's possession of the firearm is exclusively--
 ``
            (i) at a shooting range or in a shooting gallery 
 or other area designated for the purpose of target 
 shooting;
 ``
            (ii) while reasonably necessary for the purposes 
 of hunting, trapping, pest control on a farm or ranch, 
 or fishing, if the transferor--
 ``
            (I) has no reason to believe that the 
 transferee intends to use the firearm in a 
 place where it is illegal; and
 ``
            (II) has reason to believe that the 
 transferee will comply with all licensing and 
 permit requirements for such hunting, trapping, 
 pest control on a farm or ranch, or fishing; or
 ``
            (iii) while in the presence of the transferor.
 ``

    (3) It shall be unlawful for a licensed importer, licensed 
manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer possession of, or title 
to, a firearm to another person who is not so licensed unless the 
importer, manufacturer, or dealer has provided such other person with a 
notice of the prohibition under paragraph

    (1) , and such other person 
has certified that such other person has been provided with this notice 
on a form prescribed by the Attorney General.
 ``

    (4) The Attorney General shall make available to any person 
licensed under this chapter both Spanish and English versions of the 
form required for the conduct of a background check under subsection

    (t) and this subsection, and the notice and form required under 
paragraph

    (3) of this subsection.''.

    (b) Amendment to 

Section 924

    (a) .--

Section 924

    (a)

    (5) of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ``

    (s) or

    (t) '' and inserting 
``

    (s) ,

    (t) , or

    (aa) ''.
            (c) Rules of Interpretation.--Nothing in this Act, or any amendment 
made by this Act, shall be construed to--

    (1) authorize the establishment, directly or indirectly, of 
 a national firearms registry; or

    (2) interfere with the authority of a State, under 

section 927 of title 18, United States Code, to enact a law on the same 
 subject matter as this Act.
            (d) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsections

    (a) and

    (b) shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
 <all>