II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 494 

To require a background check for every firearm sale. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2023 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

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

Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. 

HASSAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, 

Mr. KELLY, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. PADILLA, 

Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, 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’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 494 IS

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— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 494 IS

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 ex4 tent the officer, professional, or member is acting 

5 within the course and scope of employment and offi6 cial duties; 

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

8 between spouses, between domestic partners, be9 tween parents and their children, including step-par10 ents and their step-children, between siblings, be11 tween aunts or uncles and their nieces or nephews, 

12 or between grandparents and their grandchildren; 

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

14 trustee, or personal representative of an estate or a 

15 trust that occurs by operation of law upon the death 

16 of another person; 

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

18 prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, in19 cluding harm to self, family, household members, or 

20 others, if the possession by the transferee lasts only 

21 as long as immediately necessary to prevent the im22 minent death or great bodily harm, including the 

23 harm of domestic violence, dating partner violence, 

24 sexual assault, stalking, and domestic abuse; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 494 IS

1 ‘‘(E) a transfer that is approved by the Attor2 ney General under section 5812 of the Internal Rev3 enue Code of 1986; or 

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

5 no reason to believe that the transferee will use or 

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

7 from possessing firearms under State or Federal 

8 law, and the transfer takes place and the trans9 feree’s possession of the firearm is exclusively— 

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

11 gallery or other area designated for the purpose 

12 of target shooting; 

13 ‘‘(ii) while reasonably necessary for the 

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

15 transferor— 

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

17 transferee intends to use the firearm in a 

18 place where it is illegal; and 

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

20 transferee will comply with all licensing 

21 and permit requirements for such hunting, 

22 trapping, or fishing; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) while in the presence of the trans24 feror. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 494 IS

1 ‘‘(3) It shall be unlawful for a licensed importer, li2 censed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer posses3 sion of, or title to, a firearm to another person who is 

4 not so licensed unless the importer, manufacturer, or deal5 er has provided such other person with a notice of the 

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

7 has certified that such other person has been provided 

8 with this notice on a form prescribed by the Attorney Gen9 eral.’’. 

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

11 924(a)(5) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 

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

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

14 Act, or any amendment made by this Act, shall be con15 strued to— 

16 (1) authorize the establishment, directly or indi17 rectly, of a national firearms registry; or 

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

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

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

21 Act. 

22 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

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

24 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS