II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 42 

To require a background check for every firearm sale. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 8, 2019 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. DURBIN, 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. 

BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. UDALL, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. 

WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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 ‘‘Background Check Ex5 pansion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FIREARMS TRANSFERS. 

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

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

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

6 is not a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or li7 censed dealer to transfer a firearm to any other person 

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

9 manufacturer, or licensed dealer has first taken possession 

10 of the firearm for the purpose of complying with sub11 section (t). 

12 ‘‘(B) Upon taking possession of a firearm under sub13 paragraph (A), a licensee shall comply with all require14 ments of this chapter as if the licensee were transferring 

15 the firearm from the inventory of the licensee to the unli16 censed transferee. 

17 ‘‘(C) If a transfer of a firearm described in subpara18 graph (A) will not be completed for any reason after a 

19 licensee takes possession of the firearm (including because 

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

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

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

23 constitute the transfer of a firearm for purposes of this 

24 chapter. 

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


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1 ‘‘(A) a law enforcement agency or any law en2 forcement officer, armed private security profes3 sional, or member of the armed forces, to the extent 

4 the officer, professional, or member is acting within 

5 the course and scope of employment and official du6 ties; 

7 ‘‘(B) a transfer that is a loan or bona fide gift 

8 between spouses, between domestic partners, be9 tween parents and their children, between siblings, 

10 between aunts or uncles and their nieces or nephews, 

11 or between grandparents and their grandchildren; 

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

13 trustee, or personal representative of an estate or a 

14 trust that occurs by operation of law upon the death 

15 of another person; 

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

17 prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, if the 

18 possession by the transferee lasts only as long as im19 mediately necessary to prevent the imminent death 

20 or great bodily harm; 

21 ‘‘(E) a transfer that is approved by the Attor22 ney General under section 5812 of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986; or 

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

25 no reason to believe that the transferee will use or 


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

2 from possessing firearms under State or Federal 

3 law, and the transfer takes place and the trans4 feree’s possession of the firearm is exclusively— 

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

6 gallery or other area designated for the purpose 

7 of target shooting; 

8 ‘‘(ii) while reasonably necessary for the 

9 purposes of hunting, trapping, or fishing, if the 

10 transferor— 

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

12 transferee intends to use the firearm in a 

13 place where it is illegal; and 

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

15 transferee will comply with all licensing 

16 and permit requirements for such hunting, 

17 trapping, or fishing; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) while in the presence of the trans19 feror.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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