I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4320 

To provide for the reporting to State and local law enforcement authorities 

of cases in which the national instant criminal background check system 

indicates that a firearm has been sought to be acquired by a prohibited 

person, so that authorities may pursue criminal charges under State 

law, and to ensure that the Department of Justice reports to Congress 

on charges brought and prosecutions secured against prohibited persons 

who attempt to acquire a firearm. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 5, 2016 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. KING of New York, and Mr. 

PASCRELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the reporting to State and local law enforcement authorities of cases in which the national instant 

criminal background check system indicates that a firearm has been sought to be acquired by a prohibited 

person, so that authorities may pursue criminal charges 

under State law, and to ensure that the Department 

of Justice reports to Congress on charges brought and 

prosecutions secured against prohibited persons who attempt to acquire a firearm. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NICS Denial Notifica3 tion Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REPORTING OF BACKGROUND CHECK DENIALS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United 

6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 925A 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 925B. Reporting of background check denials to 

9 State authorities 

10 ‘‘(a) If the national instant criminal background 

11 check system established under section 103 of the Brady 

12 Handgun Violence Prevention Act provides a notice pursu13 ant to section 922(t) of this title that the receipt of a fire14 arm by a person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of 

15 section 922 of this title or State law, the Attorney General 

16 shall, in accordance with subsection (b) of this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) report to the law enforcement authorities 

18 of the State where the person sought to acquire the 

19 firearm, and, if different, the law enforcement au20 thorities of the State of residence of the person— 

21 ‘‘(A) that the notice was provided; 

22 ‘‘(B) of the specific provision of law that 

23 would have been violated; 

24 ‘‘(C) of the date and time the notice was 

25 provided; 


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1 ‘‘(D) of the location where the firearm was 

2 sought to be acquired; and 

3 ‘‘(E) of the identity of the person; and 

4 ‘‘(2) where practicable, report the incident to 

5 local law enforcement authorities and State and local 

6 prosecutors in the jurisdiction where the firearm was 

7 sought and in the jurisdiction where the person re8 sides. 

9 ‘‘(b) A report is made in accordance with this sub10 section if the report is made within 24 hours after the 

11 provision of the notice described in subsection (a), except 

12 that the making of the report may be delayed for so long 

13 as is necessary to avoid compromising an ongoing inves14 tigation. 

15 ‘‘(c) Subsection (a) shall not be interpreted to require 

16 a report with respect to a person to be made to the same 

17 State authorities that originally issued the notice with re18 spect to the person.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

20 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 

21 relating to section 925A the following: 

‘‘925B. Reporting of background check denials to State authorities.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. STUDY OF BACKGROUND CHECK DENIALS; ANNUAL 

2 REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 44 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, as amended by section 2(a) of this Act, is 

5 amended by inserting after section 925B the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 925C. Study of background check denials; annual 

7 report to Congress 

8 ‘‘(a) Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact9 ment of this section, the Attorney General shall submit 

10 to the Congress a report detailing which categories of peo11 ple prohibited by section 922(g) from receiving or pos12 sessing a firearm are most likely to engage in criminal 

13 activity. 

14 ‘‘(b) Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact15 ment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Attorney 

16 General shall submit to the Congress a report detailing 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) The findings of any research identifying 

19 which people who are denied a firearm pursuant to 

20 section 922(t) are most likely to engage in criminal 

21 activity. 

22 ‘‘(2) With respect to each category of persons 

23 prohibited by section 922(g) from receiving or pos24 sessing a firearm who are so denied a firearm— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the number of cases referred to the 

2 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex3 plosives; 

4 ‘‘(B) the number of cases with respect to 

5 which an investigation was opened by a field di6 vision of the Bureau; 

7 ‘‘(C) the number of arrests made; 

8 ‘‘(D) the number of persons charged with 

9 a criminal offense in connection with the denial; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(E) the number of convictions obtained 

12 by Federal authorities. 

13 ‘‘(3) The number of background check notices 

14 reported to State authorities pursuant to section 

15 925B (including the number of the notices that 

16 would have been so reported but for section 

17 925B(c)), along with an accounting of why any no18 tice described in such section was not so reported. 

19 ‘‘(4) The number of background check notices 

20 reported to local authorities pursuant to section 

21 925B, along with an accounting of the progress 

22 made in developing a system for reporting the no23 tices to local authorities.’’. 

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

25 for such chapter, as amended by section 2(b) of this Act, 


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1 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 925B the following: 

‘‘925C. Study of background check denials; annual report to Congress.’’. 

Æ 


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