I 

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. GARCI ́A 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. 

CA ́RDENAS, 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. SA ́NCHEZ, 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. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 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. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 


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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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Back5 ground Checks Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to utilize the current back8 ground checks process in the United States to ensure indi9 viduals prohibited from gun purchase or possession are 

10 not able to obtain firearms. 

11 SEC. 3. FIREARMS TRANSFERS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 922 of title 18, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(aa)(1)(A) It shall be unlawful for any person who 

2 is not a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or li3 censed dealer to transfer a firearm to any other person 

4 who is not so licensed, unless a licensed importer, licensed 

5 manufacturer, or licensed dealer has first taken possession 

6 of the firearm for the purpose of complying with sub7 section (t). 

8 ‘‘(B) Upon taking possession of a firearm under sub9 paragraph (A), a licensee shall comply with all require10 ments of this chapter as if the licensee were transferring 

11 the firearm from the inventory of the licensee to the unli12 censed transferee. 

13 ‘‘(C) If a transfer of a firearm described in subpara14 graph (A) will not be completed for any reason after a 

15 licensee takes possession of the firearm (including because 

16 the transfer of the firearm to, or receipt of the firearm 

17 by, the transferee would violate this chapter), the return 

18 of the firearm to the transferor by the licensee shall not 

19 constitute the transfer of a firearm for purposes of this 

20 chapter. 

21 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— 

22 ‘‘(A) a law enforcement agency or any law en23 forcement officer, armed private security profes24 sional, or member of the Armed Forces, to the ex25 tent the officer, professional, or member is acting 


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1 the course and scope of employment and official du2 ties; 

3 ‘‘(B) a transfer or exchange (which, for pur4 poses of this subsection, means an in-kind transfer 

5 of a firearm of the same type or value) that is a loan 

6 or bona fide gift between spouses, between domestic 

7 partners, between parents and their children, includ8 ing step-parents and their step-children, between sib9 lings, between aunts or uncles and their nieces or 

10 nephews, or between grandparents and their grand11 children, if the transferor has no reason to believe 

12 that the transferee will use or intends to use the 

13 firearm in a crime or is prohibited from possessing 

14 firearms under State or Federal law; 

15 ‘‘(C) a transfer to an executor, administrator, 

16 trustee, or personal representative of an estate or a 

17 trust that occurs by operation of law upon the death 

18 of another person; 

19 ‘‘(D) a temporary transfer that is necessary to 

20 prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, in21 cluding harm to self, family, household members, or 

22 others, if the possession by the transferee lasts only 

23 as long as immediately necessary to prevent the im24 minent death or great bodily harm, including harm 

25 to self, and the harm of domestic violence, dating 


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1 partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and do2 mestic abuse; 

3 ‘‘(E) a transfer that is approved by the Attor4 ney General under section 5812 of the Internal Rev5 enue Code of 1986; or 

6 ‘‘(F) a temporary transfer if the transferor has 

7 no reason to believe that the transferee will use or 

8 intends to use the firearm in a crime or is prohibited 

9 from possessing firearms under State or Federal 

10 law, and the transfer takes place and the trans11 feree’s possession of the firearm is exclusively— 

12 ‘‘(i) at a shooting range or in a shooting 

13 gallery or other area designated for the purpose 

14 of target shooting; 

15 ‘‘(ii) while reasonably necessary for the 

16 purposes of hunting, trapping, pest control on 

17 a farm or ranch, or fishing, if the transferor— 

18 ‘‘(I) has no reason to believe that the 

19 transferee intends to use the firearm in a 

20 place where it is illegal; and 

21 ‘‘(II) has reason to believe that the 

22 transferee will comply with all licensing 

23 and permit requirements for such hunting, 

24 trapping, pest control on a farm or ranch, 

25 or fishing; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) while in the presence of the trans2 feror. 

3 ‘‘(3) It shall be unlawful for a licensed importer, li4 censed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer posses5 sion of, or title to, a firearm to another person who is 

6 not so licensed unless the importer, manufacturer, or deal7 er has provided such other person with a notice of the 

8 prohibition under paragraph (1), and such other person 

9 has certified that such other person has been provided 

10 with this notice on a form prescribed by the Attorney Gen11 eral. 

12 ‘‘(4) The Attorney General shall make available to 

13 any person licensed under this chapter both Spanish and 

14 English versions of the form required for the conduct of 

15 a background check under subsection (t) and this sub16 section, and the notice and form required under paragraph 

17 (3) of this subsection.’’. 

18 (b) AMENDMENT TO SECTION 924(a).—Section 

19 924(a)(5) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘(s) or (t)’’ and inserting ‘‘(s), (t), or (aa)’’. 

21 (c) RULES OF INTERPRETATION.—Nothing in this 

22 Act, or any amendment made by this Act, shall be con23 strued to— 

24 (1) authorize the establishment, directly or indi25 rectly, of a national firearms registry; or 


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

2 under section 927 of title 18, United States Code, 

3 to enact a law on the same subject matter as this 

4 Act. 

5 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

6 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect 180 days after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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