I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7873 

To enforce the requirement that the National Instant Criminal Background 

Check System make a final disposition of requests to correct its records 

within 60 days, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2024 

Mr. EMMER (for himself, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. BACON, Mr. BARR, Mr. BEAN

of Florida, Mrs. BICE, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. BOST, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CARTER

of Georgia, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. DONALDS, Mr. DUNCAN, 

Mr. ESTES, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. FINSTAD, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, 

Mr. GOODEN of Texas, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. 

GROTHMAN, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. JOYCE

of Pennsylvania, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. LATURNER, Ms. 

LETLOW, Mr. MANN, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. 

NEWHOUSE, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. POSEY, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. 

ROSE, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SESSIONS, 

Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. STAUBER, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. STEIL, Mr. 

STEUBE, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. HUNT, Mr. 

WILLIAMS of New York, Mr. FLOOD, and Mr. RESCHENTHALER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To enforce the requirement that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System make a final disposition 

of requests to correct its records within 60 days, and 

for other purposes. 


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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Firearm Due Process 

5 Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF DEADLINE FOR FINAL DISPOSI7 TION OF REQUESTS TO CORRECT RECORDS 

8 OF THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACK9 GROUND CHECK SYSTEM; DUE PROCESS PRO10 TECTIONS. 

11 Section 925A of title 18, United States Code, is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

14 ‘‘Any person’’; 

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘or aggrieved by a violation of 

16 the penultimate sentence of section 103(g) of the 

17 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act’’ after ‘‘(s) 

18 or (t) of section 922’’; 

19 (3) by striking the last sentence; and 

20 (4) by adding after and below the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURAL RULES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) EXPEDITED HEARING.—The court shall 

24 hold a hearing on an action brought under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Apr 14, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7873.IH H7873

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1 section (a), within 30 days after the action is 

2 brought. 

3 ‘‘(2) BURDEN OF PROOF.—At such a hearing, 

4 the respondent shall bear the burden of proving by 

5 clear and convincing evidence that the individual is 

6 ineligible to receive or possess a firearm. 

7 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The court shall assess 

9 against the respondent reasonable attorney fees and 

10 other litigation costs reasonably incurred in an ac11 tion brought under subsection (a) in which the com12 plainant has substantially prevailed. 

13 ‘‘(2) SUBSTANTIALLY PREVAILED.—For pur14 poses of this section, a complainant has substantially 

15 prevailed if the complainant has obtained relief 

16 through— 

17 ‘‘(A) a judicial order; 

18 ‘‘(B) an enforceable written agreement or 

19 consent decree; or 

20 ‘‘(C) a voluntary or unilateral change in 

21 position by the United States, if the complain22 ant’s claim is not insubstantial.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS ON DISPOSI2 TION OF CHALLENGES TO ACCURACY OF 

3 RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMI4 NAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM. 

5 The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

6 shall submit annually to the Committee on the Judiciary 

7 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

8 the Judiciary of the Senate a written report that speci9 fies— 

10 (1) the total number of challenges to the accu11 racy of the records of the National Instant Criminal 

12 Background Check System (in this section referred 

13 to as the ‘‘NICS system’’) established under section 

14 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act 

15 that were received by the NICS system during the 

16 year covered by the report; 

17 (2) the total number of the challenges that were 

18 processed to final disposition by the NICS system; 

19 (3) the total number of the challenges with re20 spect to which the initial determination of the NICS 

21 system was reversed, and with respect to those chal22 lenges, the total number in which each reason for 

23 the initial determination was made; 

24 (4) the total number of the challenges with re25 spect to which the initial determination of the NICS 

26 system was not reversed, and with respect to those 


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1 challenges, the total number in which each reason 

2 for not doing so was made; and 

3 (5) the average length of time needed to com4 plete the processing of the challenges referred to in 

5 paragraph (2). 

6 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

8 (1) the right of the people to keep and bear 

9 arms is a fundamental component of self-govern10 ment, self-defense, and the preservation of individual 

11 liberty; 

12 (2) deprivation of the constitutional right to 

13 bear arms requires due process under the Fifth and 

14 Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the 

15 United States; 

16 (3) ignoring appeals of determinations made by 

17 the National Instant Criminal Background Check 

18 System (NICS) violates due process; and 

19 (4) NICS should have the burden of showing a 

20 valid reason for the denial of this constitutional 

21 right. 

Æ 


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