[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 715 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 715
To require a background check for every firearm sale.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 1, 2023
Mr. Fitzpatrick (for himself, Mr. Thompson of California, Ms. Bonamici,
Mrs. Beatty, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Peters, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr.
Espaillat, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Castor of Florida,
Mr. Schneider, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Higgins of New
York, Mr. Costa, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. Jacobs, Ms.
Norton, Ms. McCollum, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Scanlon,
Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Stanton, Mr. Connolly, Ms.
Garcia of Texas, Ms. Houlahan, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Ms. Titus,
Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Norcross,
Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Case, Mr. Robert
Garcia of California, Mr. Correa, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Quigley, Mr.
Huffman, Ms. Wexton, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Underwood,
Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Beyer, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Morelle, Ms. Meng,
Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. Trone, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Lee of California, Mr.
Casten, Mr. Sherman, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr.
Doggett, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Raskin,
Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Payne, Mr. Himes, Ms. Brownley, Mr.
Pallone, Ms. Adams, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Nickel, Ms. Ross, Ms.
Eshoo, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Wild, Mr. Gomez,
Ms. Pingree, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Chu, Mr. Vargas,
Mr. Mullin, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Foster, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Levin,
Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Kilmer, Mrs. McBath, Mr.
Evans, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms.
Plaskett, Ms. Salinas, Mr. Bera, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Landsman, Ms. Omar,
Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. DeLauro, Mrs. Trahan, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Clarke
of New York, Mr. Takano, Ms. Pettersen, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr.
Cleaver, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Kildee,
Mr. Ivey, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Ms. Craig, Ms. Brown, Ms.
Pressley, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Porter, Ms.
Barragan, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr.
McGarvey, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Scholten, Mr. Torres of New York, Ms. Balint,
Mr. Bowman, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Ms. Hoyle of
Oregon, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Gallego, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Mr.
Aguilar, Mr. Keating, Mr. Ruppersberger, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr.
Courtney, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Strickland, Ms. Lois Frankel of
Florida, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Crow, Ms. Spanberger, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr.
Soto, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Allred,
Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Frost, and Mr. Moskowitz) 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
2023''.
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.
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