Background Checks on All Gun Sales

What this plank asks for

Congress passes a law that requires a background check on every gun sale. That includes private sales and sales at gun shows. Today a check is required when a licensed dealer sells a gun. A private seller does not have to run one. The plank closes that gap.

The formal text of this plank is being tightened under the ratified criteria.

Where it stands

NEAR-QUALIFIED

Three pollsters on our Qualifying Pollster List asked about a check on all sales: YouGov, Quinnipiac and Fox News. The middle results are 88 percent nationally, 86 percent of Republicans and 92 percent of Democrats, which is 18, 26 and 32 points above our lines of 70 and 60 percent. The newest result is from August 2025, so the recency rule is not met. Two planks on the slate, congressional term limits and a binding Supreme Court ethics code, are fully qualified today. This one is not.

What moves it: one poll from a listed pollster, with the all-sales question, fielded after October 16, 2025.

The evidence

The middle result of the three listed pollsters is 88 national, 86 Republican and 92 Democratic. Each pollster is counted once, using its newest result. The newest listed result ended August 4, 2025. It stopped counting for the recency rule on August 4, 2026. We searched releases from September 1 to October 16, 2026 from Fox News, Quinnipiac, Marist, AP-NORC, Economist/YouGov and CBS/YouGov. We found no all-sales question in any of them. We could not read every page of the Fox News and AP-NORC releases.

The Quinnipiac wording does not name private or gun show sales. The YouGov wording adds "criminal and mental" before "background checks." The Fox wording adds "criminal."

The five tests

• Consensus: PENDING. The 70 and 60 percent lines are met in all three listed pollsters, but no result is newer than 12 months.
• Action: PASS. Congress can change federal law on who must run a check when a gun is sold.
• Outcome: PENDING. The wording is being tightened so that one sentence names one result.
• Grading: PASS. A member's votes and signatures on this plank appear in the public record of each chamber.
• Single-Subject: PASS. The plank asks for one thing, a check on every sale.

In Congress right now

• H.R. 18 (Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2025). Introduced June 10, 2025 by Rep. Mike Thompson. Referred to the House Judiciary Committee the same day. No other action since. 214 cosponsors, including 2 Republicans. Vehicle status: no determination yet. Expires with the 119th Congress.
• S. 3214 (Background Check Expansion Act). Introduced November 19, 2025 by Sen. Christopher Murphy. Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee the same day. No other action since. 46 cosponsors, none Republican. Vehicle status: no determination yet. Expires with the 119th Congress.

The Senate needs 60 votes to end debate. The 2013 Manchin-Toomey amendment on this question got 54 yes and 46 no and failed.

Bill numbers above belong to the 119th Congress. They expire when the 120th Congress is seated in January 2027. The plank does not.

How signers would be graded

House members are graded on four things. They are a signature on a discharge petition, a vote on the rule and the previous question that decide if the plank reaches the floor, a vote on the floor, and a vote in committee where the vote is recorded. The House passes a bill by a simple majority. A discharge petition needs 218 signatures.

Senators are graded on a vote to end debate, a vote on passage, and whether they object to or allow a floor vote by unanimous consent. This plank has no confirmation standard. The Senate needs 60 votes to end debate. A simple majority then passes the bill.

Today neither bill has moved, so the only recorded action a member can take is to cosponsor. If a clean bill reaches a vote, the vote decides the grade.

Lines of attack and our answers

1. Attack: "A check on every sale would not have stopped the latest school shooting."
   Answer: The plank closes one gap, which is sales with no check. It does not claim to stop every shooting. We grade the vote.
2. Attack: "Support for this is falling."
   Answer: A recent listed poll asked a general question about stricter laws. The plank asks about a check on every sale, a different question. The newest listed answer to that question is 83 percent, with 82 percent of Republicans. That poll is from August 2025, and we say so.
3. Attack: "Checks already fail, so adding more is pointless."
   Answer: The plank covers sales that get no check at all. How well a check is run is a separate question.
4. Attack: "This is a registry."
   Answer: The main House bill bars a national registry in its own text. The plank asks for a check, not a list of owners.
5. Attack: "This is a partisan project."
   Answer: Signers of any party can sign. Grading is by recorded vote. We also report that 2 House cosponsors and 0 Senate cosponsors are Republicans.

Sources

1. Economist/YouGov tab report, Aug 1-4, 2025: d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net
2. Economist/YouGov tab report, Sep 8-10, 2024: d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net
3. Economist/YouGov tab report, Apr 1-4, 2023: docs.cdn.yougov.com
4. Economist/YouGov tab report, Oct 10-12, 2026: d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net
5. Quinnipiac University Poll release, Jun 8, 2022: poll.qu.edu
6. Fox News Poll crosstabs, Jun 10-13, 2022: static.foxnews.com
7. Fox News Poll toplines, Jun 10-13, 2022: static.foxnews.com
8. Mood of the Nation survey disclosure, May 2023: apmresearchlab.org
9. Mood of the Nation results page: apmresearchlab.org
10. Congress.gov record, House bill: congress.gov
11. Congress.gov record, Senate bill: congress.gov

Last updated October 19, 2026. Criteria version: Draft 3, ratified October 16, 2026.