II 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 8 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MARCH 11, 2021 
Received 
AN ACT 
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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Back-
ground Checks Act of 2021’’. 
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 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 fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(aa)(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 (t). 
‘‘(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 
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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 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 or exchange (which, for pur-
poses 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, includ-
ing step-parents and their step-children, between sib-
lings, between aunts or uncles and their nieces or 
nephews, or between grandparents and their grand-
children, 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; 
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‘‘(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, in-
cluding harm to self, family, household members, or 
others, if the possession by the transferee lasts only 
as long as immediately necessary to prevent the im-
minent death or great bodily harm, including harm 
to self, and the harm of domestic violence, dating 
partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and do-
mestic abuse; 
‘‘(E) a transfer that is approved by the Attor-
ney General under section 5812 of the Internal Rev-
enue 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 trans-
feree’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; 
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‘‘(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 trans-
feror. 
‘‘(3) It shall be unlawful for a licensed importer, li-
censed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer posses-
sion of, or title to, a firearm to another person who is 
not so licensed unless the importer, manufacturer, or deal-
er 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 Gen-
eral. 
‘‘(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 
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a background check under subsection (t) and this sub-
section, 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 con-
strued 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. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act. 
Passed the House of Representatives March 11, 
2021. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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