I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1769 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2021 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SWALWELL, and Mr. DIAZBALART) 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 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 2021’’. 

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) IN GENERAL.—If the national instant criminal 

11 background check system established under section 103 

12 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 

13 922 note) provides a notice pursuant to section 922(t) of 

14 this title that the receipt of a firearm by a person would 

15 violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of this title 

16 or State law, the Attorney General shall, in accordance 

17 with subsection (b) of this section— 

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

19 of the State where the person sought to acquire the 

20 firearm and, if different, the law enforcement au21 thorities of the State of residence of the person— 

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

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

24 would have been violated; 

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

26 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) REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORT.—A report is 

10 made in accordance with this subsection if the report is 

11 made within 24 hours after the provision of the notice de12 scribed in subsection (a), except that the making of the 

13 report may be delayed for so long as is necessary to avoid 

14 compromising an ongoing investigation. 

15 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub16 section (a) shall be construed to require a report with re17 spect to a person to be made to the same State authorities 

18 that originally issued the notice with respect to the per19 son.’’. 

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

21 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 

22 relating to section 925A the following: 

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


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1 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

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

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

4 amended by inserting after section 925B the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 925C. Annual report to Congress 

6 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact7 ment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Attorney 

8 General shall submit to the Congress a report detailing 

9 the following, broken down by Federal judicial district: 

10 ‘‘(1) With respect to each category of persons 

11 prohibited by section 922(g) from receiving or pos12 sessing a firearm who are so denied a firearm— 

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

14 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex15 plosives; 

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

17 which an investigation was opened by a field di18 vision of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire19 arms and Explosives; 

20 ‘‘(C) the number of arrests made; and 

21 ‘‘(D) the number of convictions obtained 

22 by Federal authorities in connection with the 

23 denial. 

24 ‘‘(2) The number of background check notices 

25 reported to State authorities pursuant to section 

26 925B (including the number of the notices that 


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1 would have been so reported but for section 

2 925B(c)).’’. 

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

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

5 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

6 925B the following: 

‘‘925C. Annual report to Congress.’’. 

Æ 


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