S. 3214 — Background Check Expansion Act

This section prohibits any non-licensed person from transferring a firearm to another non-licensed person unless a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer first takes possession of the firearm and complies with background check requirements of 18 USC 922(t) (i.e., as if transferring from the licensee's inventory). (Thus, private firearm transfers now generally require routing through a federal firearms licensee (FFL) for a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check, with return of the firearm to the transferor exempt if the transfer is not completed.) The prohibition includes exceptions for (1) law enforcement, armed security, or military personnel acting in official duties; (2) bona fide gifts or loans between specified family or domestic partners; (3) transfers by operation of law upon death; (4) temporary transfers necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm; (5) transfers approved by the Attorney General; and (6) temporary transfers at shooting ranges, for hunting/fishing, or in the transferor's presence if the transferor has no reason to believe the transferee is prohibited or will use it in crime. This section further (1) requires FFLs to provide transferees notice of the prohibition and obtain certification; (2) applies criminal penalties under 18 USC 924(a)(5) to violations; (3) clarifies no national firearms registry is authorized and states retain authority to regulate; and (4) sets an effective date 180 days after enactment.