Federal license required to own handguns and certain rifles.
H.R. 9548 — Blair Holt Firearm Owner Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2026 · Filed by Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill sets up a federal license system for handguns and certain rifles. People must get a license from the Attorney General or a state system. Owners must pass background checks, mental health screening, and training. The bill bans unlicensed private transfers. It allows narrow exceptions: gifts, self-defense, and supervised hunting or range use. It keeps federal records of all gun sales and transfers.
Who it affects
Gun owners who want handguns or certain rifles. Mental health professionals who do screening. Federal and state law enforcement groups that track gun transfers.
One thing to notice
The bill requires mental health screening before someone can get a license. It also keeps federal records of who owns guns and transfers them.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Jun 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 30, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- mental health screening — A check by a doctor to see if someone has serious mental health problems.
- background checks — A search of records to see if someone has a criminal history.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (48,063 characters) on Oct 31, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-31.
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