Background Check Point of Contact Act of 2025

House Votes

This bill would create a Justice Department grant program to help states run their own “point‑of‑contact” background check systems for gun sales. States that follow the rules could get up to $1 million each year (with up to $10 million available nationwide each year). States must pay at least 75% of the costs themselves. States that comply would also get preference for other Justice Department grants.

A sale or transfer could not be finished unless the buyer and seller receive a state approval number within 10 days of starting the sale. If the system can’t confirm the sale is legal, it may not issue an approval number. States would also need to: run a hotline for licensed gun dealers to contact the national background check system, set up a fund to operate the system, create an appeals process where the state must show a denial was valid, and send denial information to local police for investigation.

States that take these grants must publish a yearly report with key numbers (like investigations after non‑approvals, overturned appeals, system downtime hours, and arrests tied to denials) and submit to an annual FBI audit of the state system.

• Who is affected: State governments, licensed gun dealers, gun buyers, and local law enforcement.
• What changes: Grants up to $1M per state per year; federal share capped at 25%; approval number required within 10 days; no sale if legality can’t be confirmed; hotline, appeals, and law‑enforcement follow‑up; public annual reports; annual FBI audits; preference for other DOJ grants.
• When: Grants, reports, and audits occur annually.