PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jun 10, 2025
Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2025
This bill establishes new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties (i.e., unlicensed individuals).
Specifically, it prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check.
The prohibition does not apply to certain firearm transfers or exchanges, such as a gift between spouses.
People & committees
Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4] · D–CA
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Sep 19, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze H.R.18 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-06-10 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would generally require a licensed firearms business to take possession of a firearm before it passes between two unlicensed people and apply the existing background-check process. It would regulate transfers, not just sales. Its stated aim is to keep firearms from people prohibited from buying or possessing them; the text provides exceptions described below.
It shall be unlawful for any person who is not a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed 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 subsection (t).
The purpose of this Act is to utilize the current background checks process in the United States to ensure individuals prohibited from gun purchase or possession are not able to obtain firearms.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to—
The proposal would be called the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2025.
This Act may be cited as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2025.
A licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer handling a covered transfer would have to follow the chapter's requirements as though transferring a firearm from its own inventory to the unlicensed recipient.
(B) Upon taking possession of a firearm under subparagraph (A), a licensee shall comply with all requirements of this chapter as if the licensee were transferring the firearm from the inventory of the licensee to the unlicensed transferee.
If a planned transfer falls through for any reason, returning the firearm to its original transferor would not count as a firearm transfer under that chapter. This would also apply when the planned recipient could not legally receive it.
(C) If a transfer of a firearm described in subparagraph (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 constitute the transfer of a firearm for purposes of this chapter.
The new transfer requirement would exempt law enforcement agencies. It would also exempt law enforcement officers, armed private security professionals, and Armed Forces members when acting within their employment and official duties.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— (A) a law enforcement agency or any law enforcement officer, armed private security professional, 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 duties;
Loans and genuine gifts between the listed family members or domestic partners would be exempt, including qualifying exchanges of firearms of the same type or value. The giver or lender must have no reason to believe the recipient intends criminal use or is prohibited from possessing firearms. The listed relationships include spouses, domestic partners, parents and children including step-relations, siblings, aunts or uncles and nieces or nephews, and grandparents and grandchildren.
(B) a transfer or exchange (which, for purposes 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, including step-parents and their step-children, between siblings, between aunts or uncles and their nieces or nephews, or between grandparents and their grandchildren, 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;
The requirement would exempt transfers that occur automatically under law after someone's death to an executor, administrator, trustee, or personal representative of an estate or trust.
(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;
A temporary transfer necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm would be exempt, but possession could last only as long as immediately necessary. The language expressly includes harm to oneself or others and domestic violence, dating partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic abuse.
(D) a temporary transfer that is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, including harm to self, family, household members, or others, if the possession by the transferee lasts only as long as immediately necessary to prevent the imminent death or great bodily harm, including harm to self, and the harm of domestic violence, dating partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic abuse;
Transfers approved by the Attorney General under Internal Revenue Code section 5812 would be exempt. The supplied bill does not reproduce that section's approval requirements.
(E) a transfer that is approved by the Attorney General under section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
Certain temporary transfers would be exempt when possession stays exclusively at a designated target-shooting location or in the transferor's presence. In either case, the transferor must have no reason to believe the recipient intends criminal use or is prohibited from possessing firearms.
(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 transferee’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;
(iii) while in the presence of the transferor.
Temporary possession reasonably necessary for hunting, trapping, farm or ranch pest control, or fishing would also qualify for an exception. Along with the restrictions on criminal use and prohibited recipients, the transferor must have no reason to expect use in an illegal location and must have reason to expect compliance with applicable licensing and permit requirements.
(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 transferee’s possession of the firearm is exclusively—
(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;
Before a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer transferred possession or ownership of a firearm to an unlicensed person, it would have to provide notice of the new transfer restriction. The recipient would have to certify receiving that notice on an Attorney General-prescribed form.
(3) It shall be unlawful for a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer possession of, or title to, a firearm to another person who is not so licensed unless the importer, manufacturer, or dealer 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 General.
The Attorney General would have to make English and Spanish versions of the background-check form, notice, and acknowledgment form available to people licensed under the chapter.
(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 a background check under subsection (t) and this subsection, and the notice and form required under paragraph (3) of this subsection.
The proposal would add the new subsection (aa) to the provisions referenced in 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(5). The amendment does not reproduce that existing provision, so the supplied text alone does not specify the resulting penalties or their conditions.
(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).
The proposal says it must not be interpreted to authorize a national firearms registry, directly or indirectly, or to interfere with state authority under 18 U.S.C. 927 to legislate on the same subject.
(c) Rules of interpretation Nothing in this Act, or any amendment made by this Act, shall be construed to— (1) authorize the establishment, directly or indirectly, 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.
The amendments establishing the transfer rules and changing section 924(a)(5) would take effect 180 days after enactment, if the proposal became law.
(d) Effective date The amendment made by subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated September 19, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on the Judiciary on June 10, 2025. It does not establish what happened afterward.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-19T23:25:32Z. 2025-06-10: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. 2025-06-10: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-06-10. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This does not establish the absence of earmarks in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied text contains relationship-based and occupational exemptions from its main transfer requirement. Identifying these narrow exceptions does not imply improper purpose.
Specified relatives and domestic partners would receive an exemption for loans and genuine gifts, including qualifying same-type or same-value firearm exchanges. This narrows the proposal's main transfer rule based on the parties' relationship, subject to restrictions concerning criminal use and prohibited possession.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to—
(B) a transfer or exchange (which, for purposes 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, including step-parents and their step-children, between siblings, between aunts or uncles and their nieces or nephews, or between grandparents and their grandchildren, 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;
Armed private security professionals would receive an occupational exemption from the new transfer requirement while acting within their employment and official duties. The same provision also covers law enforcement agencies and qualifying official-duty activity by law enforcement officers and Armed Forces members.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— (A) a law enforcement agency or any law enforcement officer, armed private security professional, 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 duties;
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 19, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI