I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 8 
To require a background check for every firearm sale. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 8, 2019 
Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. NAD-
LER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. MAST, Ms. KELLY of Il-
linois, Mr. UPTON, Mrs. MCBATH, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary 
A BILL 
To require a background check for every firearm sale. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Back-
ground Checks Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to utilize the current back-
ground checks process in the United States to ensure indi-
viduals prohibited from gun possession are not able to ob-
tain firearms. 
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SEC. 3. FIREARMS TRANSFERS. 
Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (s); 
(2) by redesignating subsection (t) as sub-
section (s); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (s), as redesig-
nated, the following: 
‘‘(t)(1)(A) It shall be unlawful for any person who 
is not a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or li-
censed 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 sub-
section (s). 
‘‘(B) Upon taking possession of a firearm under sub-
paragraph (A), a licensee shall comply with all require-
ments of this chapter as if the licensee were transferring 
the firearm from the inventory of the licensee to the unli-
censed transferee. 
‘‘(C) If a transfer of a firearm described in subpara-
graph (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 
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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 en-
forcement officer, armed private security profes-
sional, 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 du-
ties; 
‘‘(B) a transfer that is a loan or bona fide gift 
between spouses, between domestic partners, be-
tween parents and their children, between siblings, 
between aunts or uncles and their nieces or nephews, 
or between grandparents and their grandchildren; 
‘‘(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, if the 
possession by the transferee lasts only as long as im-
mediately necessary to prevent the imminent death 
or great bodily harm; 
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SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 
(a) SECTION 922.—Section 922(y)(2) of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended in the matter preceding 
subparagraph 
(A) 
by 
striking 
‘‘, 
(g)(5)(B), 
and 
(s)(3)(B)(v)(II)’’ and inserting ‘‘and (g)(5)(B)’’. 
(b) CONSOLIDATED AND FURTHER CONTINUING AP-
PROPRIATIONS ACT, 2012.—Section 511 of title V of divi-
sion B of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appro-
priations Act, 2012 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended by 
striking ‘‘subsection 922(t)’’ each place it appears and in-
serting ‘‘subsection (s) or (t) of section 922’’. 
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act, or any amendment made by this 
Act, shall be construed to— 
(1) authorize the establishment, directly or indi-
rectly, 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. 
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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