H.R. 3868

Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2025

Sponsor: James E. Clyburn

136 cosponsors
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2025

This bill establishes more stringent background check requirements for proposed firearm transfers from a federal firearms licensee (e.g., a licensed gun dealer) to an unlicensed person.

Specifically, it increases the amount of time, from 3 business days to a minimum of 10 business days, that a federal firearms licensee must wait to receive a completed background check prior to transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person. (This type of transaction is often referred to as a default proceed transaction.)

If a submitted background check remains incomplete after 10 business days, then the prospective purchaser may submit a petition for a final firearms eligibility determination. If an additional 10 days elapse without a final determination, then the federal firearms licensee may transfer the firearm to the prospective purchaser.

The Government Accountability Office must report on the extent to which the changes have prevented firearms transfers to prohibited persons.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation must report on the number of petitions it receives for final federal firearms determinations.

The Department of Justice, in consultation with the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and Firearms, must report on further amendments to the background check process that would likely reduce the risk of death or great bodily harm to victims of domestic violence, domestic abuse, dating partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Text of the bill

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Sec. 4. GAO reports

Within 90 days after the end of each of the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year periods that begin with the effective date of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a written report analyzing the extent to which, during the respective period, paragraphs (1)(B)(ii) and (7) of section 922(t) of title 18, United States Code, have prevented firearms from being transferred to prohibited persons, which report shall include but not be limited to the following—

(1) an assessment of the overall implementation of such subsections, including a description of the challenges faced in implementing such paragraphs;

(2) an aggregate description of firearm purchase delays and denials, with a description of denials, disaggregated by State and by the basis for the denial; and

(3) an aggregate analysis of the petitions submitted pursuant to such paragraph (1)(B)(ii).