H.R. 8: Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021

Bill · 117th Congress (2021–2022). Passed House, 11 Mar 2021. Introduced 1 Mar 2021.

Official title: To require a background check for every firearm sale.

Vote results

How each member voted

House

Yea (227): Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ-4); Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD-5); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9); Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR-4); Fred Upton (R-MI-6); Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12); Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-6); Richard E. Neal (D-MA-1); David E. Price (D-NC-4); Jim Cooper (D-TN-5); Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT-3); Maxine Waters (D-CA-43); Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10); Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-2); James E. Clyburn (D-SC-6); Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA-18); Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30); Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY-12); Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40); Bobby L. Rush (D-IL-1); Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-3); Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY-7); Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS-2); Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-35); Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18); Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19); Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3); Danny K. Davis (D-IL-7); Diana DeGette (D-CO-1); Ron Kind (D-WI-3); James P. McGovern (D-MA-2); Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-9); Brad Sherman (D-CA-30); Adam Smith (D-WA-9); Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-5); Barbara Lee (D-CA-13); John B. Larson (D-CT-1); Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-32); Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL-9); Mike Thompson (D-CA-5); James R. Langevin (D-RI-2); Rick Larsen (D-WA-2); Betty McCollum (D-MN-4); Adam B. Schiff (D-CA-28); Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA-8); Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ-3); C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-2); Tim Ryan (D-OH-13); David Scott (D-GA-13); Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA-38); Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-5); Jim Costa (D-CA-16); Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28); Al Green (D-TX-9); Brian Higgins (D-NY-26); Gwen Moore (D-WI-4); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-23); Doris O. Matsui (D-CA-6); Albio Sires (D-NJ-8); Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16); Kathy Castor (D-FL-14); Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-9); Steve Cohen (D-TN-9); Joe Courtney (D-CT-2); Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA-4); Jerry McNerney (D-CA-9); Ed Perlmutter (D-CO-7); John P. Sarbanes (D-MD-3); Peter Welch (D-VT-AL); John A. Yarmuth (D-KY-3); André Carson (D-IN-7); Jackie Speier (D-CA-14); Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11); James A. Himes (D-CT-4); Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1); Paul Tonko (D-NY-20); Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5); Mike Quigley (D-IL-5); Judy Chu (D-CA-27); John Garamendi (D-CA-3); Bill Foster (D-IL-11); Karen Bass (D-CA-37); David N. Cicilline (D-RI-1); William R. Keating (D-MA-9); Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16); Terri A. Sewell (D-AL-7); Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL-24); Dina Titus (D-NV-1); Kweisi Mfume (D-MD-7); Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1); Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA-1); Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10); Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3); Ami Bera (D-CA-7); Julia Brownley (D-CA-26); Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17); Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8); Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20); Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-29); Lois Frankel (D-FL-21); Jared Huffman (D-CA-2); Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-NY-8); Daniel T. Kildee (D-MI-5); Derek Kilmer (D-WA-6); Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ-2); Ann M. Kuster (D-NH-2); Alan S. Lowenthal (D-CA-47); Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY-18); Grace Meng (D-NY-6); Scott H. Peters (D-CA-52); Mark Pocan (D-WI-2); Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36); Eric Swalwell (D-CA-15); Mark Takano (D-CA-41); Juan Vargas (D-CA-51); Marc A. Veasey (D-TX-33); Robin L. Kelly (D-IL-2); Katherine M. Clark (D-MA-5); Alma S. Adams (D-NC-12); Donald Norcross (D-NJ-1); Pete Aguilar (D-CA-31); Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (D-VA-8); Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA-2); Ed Case (D-HI-1); Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-11); Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12); Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-7); Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI-14); Ted Lieu (D-CA-33); Seth Moulton (D-MA-6); Kathleen M. Rice (D-NY-4); Norma J. Torres (D-CA-35); Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12); Bradley Scott Schneider (D-IL-10); Dwight Evans (D-PA-3); Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA-44); Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE-AL); Anthony G. Brown (D-MD-4); Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA-24); J. Luis Correa (D-CA-46); Val Butler Demings (D-FL-10); Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13); Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1); Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-15); Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5); Steven Horsford (D-NV-4); Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7); Ro Khanna (D-CA-17); Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8); Al Lawson, Jr. (D-FL-5); Stephanie N. Murphy (D-FL-7); Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-1); Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20); Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8); Darren Soto (D-FL-9); Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY-3); Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34); Conor Lamb (D-PA-17); Joseph D. Morelle (D-NY-25); Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5); Susan Wild (D-PA-7); Colin Z. Allred (D-TX-32); Cynthia Axne (D-IA-3); Sean Casten (D-IL-6); Angie Craig (D-MN-2); Jason Crow (D-CO-6); Sharice Davids (D-KS-3); Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4); Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16); Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-7); Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29); Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL-4); Josh Harder (D-CA-10); Jahana Hayes (D-CT-5); Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6); Andy Kim (D-NJ-3); Susie Lee (D-NV-3); Andy Levin (D-MI-9); Mike Levin (D-CA-49); Elaine G. Luria (D-VA-2); Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-7); Lucy McBath (D-GA-6); Joe Neguse (D-CO-2); Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14); Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5); Chris Pappas (D-NH-1); Dean Phillips (D-MN-3); Katie Porter (D-CA-45); Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7); Kim Schrier (D-WA-8); Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11); Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-8); Abigail Davis Spanberger (D-VA-7); Greg Stanton (D-AZ-9); Haley M. Stevens (D-MI-11); Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13); Lori Trahan (D-MA-3); David J. Trone (D-MD-6); Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14); Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10); Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-4); Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA-7); Jamaal Bowman (D-NY-16); Cori Bush (D-MO-1); Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-2); Carlos A. Gimenez (R-FL-26); Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53); Mondaire Jones (D-NY-17); Kaiali’i Kahele (D-HI-2); Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3); Kathy E. Manning (D-NC-6); Frank J. Mrvan (D-IN-1); Marie Newman (D-IL-3); Deborah K. Ross (D-NC-2); Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27); Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10); Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15); Nikema Williams (D-GA-5); Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL-20); Michael F. Doyle (D-PA-18); G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1); Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL-22); Filemon Vela (D-TX-34); A. Donald McEachin (D-VA-4); Charlie Crist (D-FL-13); Antonio Delgado (D-NY-19); Debra A. Haaland (D-NM-1).

Nay (203): Harold Rogers (R-KY-5); Ken Calvert (R-CA-42); Frank D. Lucas (R-OK-3); Steve Chabot (R-OH-1); Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL-4); Kevin Brady (R-TX-8); Kay Granger (R-TX-12); Michael K. Simpson (R-ID-2); Pete Sessions (R-TX-17); Sam Graves (R-MO-6); Joe Wilson (R-SC-2); Michael C. Burgess (R-TX-26); John R. Carter (R-TX-31); Tom Cole (R-OK-4); Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-25); Mike Rogers (R-AL-3); Michael R. Turner (R-OH-10); Darrell Issa (R-CA-50); Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5); Louie Gohmert (R-TX-1); Michael T. McCaul (R-TX-10); Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC-10); Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5); Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL-12); Jim Jordan (R-OH-4); Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5); Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23); Adrian Smith (R-NE-3); Robert E. Latta (R-OH-5); Robert J. Wittman (R-VA-1); Steve Scalise (R-LA-1); Tim Walberg (R-MI-7); Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2); Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO-3); Tom McClintock (R-CA-4); Bill Posey (R-FL-8); Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15); Mo Brooks (R-AL-5); Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8); Eric A. "Rick" Crawford (R-AR-1); Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4); Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3); Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann (R-TN-3); Bob Gibbs (R-OH-7); Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ-4); H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9); Andy Harris (R-MD-1); Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-4); Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA-3); Bill Huizenga (R-MI-2); Bill Johnson (R-OH-6); Mike Kelly (R-PA-16); Billy Long (R-MO-7); David B. McKinley (R-WV-1); Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS-4); David Schweikert (R-AZ-6); Austin Scott (R-GA-8); Daniel Webster (R-FL-11); Steve Womack (R-AR-3); Mark E. Amodei (R-NV-2); Thomas Massie (R-KY-4); Andy Barr (R-KY-6); Rodney Davis (R-IL-13); Richard Hudson (R-NC-8); David P. Joyce (R-OH-14); Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-1); Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-2); Scott Perry (R-PA-10); Tom Rice (R-SC-7); Chris Stewart (R-UT-2); Ann Wagner (R-MO-2); Randy K. Weber, Sr. (R-TX-14); Brad R. Wenstrup (R-OH-2); Roger Williams (R-TX-25); Jason Smith (R-MO-8); Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12); Brian Babin (R-TX-36); Mike Bost (R-IL-12); Ken Buck (R-CO-4); Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-1); Tom Emmer (R-MN-6); Garret Graves (R-LA-6); Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6); Jody B. Hice (R-GA-10); J. French Hill (R-AR-2); John Katko (R-NY-24); Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11); John R. Moolenaar (R-MI-4); Alexander X. Mooney (R-WV-2); Dan Newhouse (R-WA-4); Gary J. Palmer (R-AL-6); David Rouzer (R-NC-7); Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY-21); Bruce Westerman (R-AR-4); Lee M. Zeldin (R-NY-1); David G. Valadao (R-CA-21); Trent Kelly (R-MS-1); Darin LaHood (R-IL-18); Warren Davidson (R-OH-8); James Comer (R-KY-1); Jodey C. Arrington (R-TX-19); Don Bacon (R-NE-2); Jim Banks (R-IN-3); Jack Bergman (R-MI-1); Andy Biggs (R-AZ-5); Ted Budd (R-NC-13); Liz Cheney (R-WY-AL); Neal P. Dunn (R-FL-2); A. Drew Ferguson IV (R-GA-3); Matt Gaetz (R-FL-1); Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8); Clay Higgins (R-LA-3); Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN-9); Mike Johnson (R-LA-4); David Kustoff (R-TN-8); Brian J. Mast (R-FL-18); John H. Rutherford (R-FL-4); Lloyd Smucker (R-PA-11); Ron Estes (R-KS-4); Ralph Norman (R-SC-5); John R. Curtis (R-UT-3); Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-8); Michael Cloud (R-TX-27); Kevin Hern (R-OK-1); Kelly Armstrong (R-ND-AL); James R. Baird (R-IN-4); Tim Burchett (R-TN-2); Ben Cline (R-VA-6); Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2); Russ Fulcher (R-ID-1); Jared F. Golden (D-ME-2); Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH-16); Lance Gooden (R-TX-5); Mark E. Green (R-TN-7); Michael Guest (R-MS-3); Dusty Johnson (R-SD-AL); John Joyce (R-PA-13); Daniel Meuser (R-PA-9); Carol D. Miller (R-WV-3); Greg Pence (R-IN-6); Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA-14); John W. Rose (R-TN-6); Chip Roy (R-TX-21); Pete Stauber (R-MN-8); Bryan Steil (R-WI-1); W. Gregory Steube (R-FL-17); Van Taylor (R-TX-3); William R. Timmons IV (R-SC-4); Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ-2); Michael Waltz (R-FL-6); Claudia Tenney (R-NY-22); Fred Keller (R-PA-12); Dan Bishop (R-NC-9); Gregory F. Murphy (R-NC-3); Mike Garcia (R-CA-25); Thomas P. Tiffany (R-WI-7); Chris Jacobs (R-NY-27); Cliff Bentz (R-OR-2); Stephanie I. Bice (R-OK-5); Lauren Boebert (R-CO-3); Kat Cammack (R-FL-3); Jerry L. Carl (R-AL-1); Madison Cawthorn (R-NC-11); Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA-9); Byron Donalds (R-FL-19); Pat Fallon (R-TX-4); Randy Feenstra (R-IA-4); Michelle Fischbach (R-MN-7); Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-5); Scott Franklin (R-FL-15); Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23); Bob Good (R-VA-5); Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14); Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-1); Yvette Herrell (R-NM-2); Ashley Hinson (R-IA-1); Ronny Jackson (R-TX-13); Young Kim (R-CA-39); Jake LaTurner (R-KS-2); Nancy Mace (R-SC-1); Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11); Tracey Mann (R-KS-1); Lisa C. McClain (R-MI-10); Peter Meijer (R-MI-3); Mary E. Miller (R-IL-15); Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-2); Barry Moore (R-AL-2); Blake D. Moore (R-UT-1); Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22); Jay Obernolte (R-CA-8); Burgess Owens (R-UT-4); August Pfluger (R-TX-11); Matthew M. Rosendale, Sr. (R-MT-AL); Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5); Michelle Steel (R-CA-48); Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24); Don Young (R-AK-AL); Devin Nunes (R-CA-22); Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE-1); Tom Reed (R-NY-23); Steve Stivers (R-OH-15); Jackie Walorski (R-IN-2); Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-1).

Not voting (1): Troy Balderson (R-OH-12).

Not in office (18): Julia Letlow (R-LA-5); Troy A. Carter (D-LA-2); Melanie A. Stansbury (D-NM-1); Jake Ellzey (R-TX-6); Shontel M. Brown (D-OH-11); Mike Carey (R-OH-15); Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20); Connie Conway (R-CA-22); Mayra Flores (R-TX-34); Mike Flood (R-NE-1); Brad Finstad (R-MN-1); Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK-AL); Patrick Ryan (D-NY-19); Joseph Sempolinski (R-NY-23); Rudy Yakym III (R-IN-2); Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH-11); Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-2); Ron Wright (R-TX-6).

Summary

Main subject: Requires that a firearm transfer between two people who are not licensed importers, manufacturers or dealers go through a licensee who first takes possession of the firearm, and sets exceptions to that requirement. Sec. 3

Its core areas: Background checks for firearm transfers between unlicensed persons; Exceptions to the licensee-possession requirement; Notice and form requirements for licensed dealers, importers and manufacturers.

Unexpected Items: 1 provision

These provisions fall outside the bill’s main subject or apply narrowly. This describes the text; it is not a judgment.

Exception or delay for a subset (1)

What it does

Written automatically from the official text by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model. Written 15 Oct 2026 and published after the automatic checks, without a person reading it first. Every line names the section it came from.

Sources