I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1817 

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 

MARCH 18, 2019 

Mr. EMMER (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, and Mr. NEWHOUSE) 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. 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF DEADLINE FOR FINAL DISPOSI2 TION OF REQUESTS TO CORRECT RECORDS 

3 OF THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACK4 GROUND CHECK SYSTEM; DUE PROCESS PRO5 TECTIONS. 

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

7 amended— 

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

9 ‘‘Any person’’; 

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

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

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

13 or (t) of section 922’’; 

14 (3) by striking the last sentence; and 

15 (4) by adding after and below the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURAL RULES.— 

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

19 hold a hearing on an action brought under sub20 section (a), within 30 days after the action is 

21 brought. 

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

23 the respondent shall bear the burden of proving by 

24 clear and convincing evidence that the individual is 

25 ineligible to receive or possess a firearm. 

26 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 


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

2 against the respondent reasonable attorney fees and 

3 other litigation costs reasonably incurred in an ac4 tion brought under subsection (a) in which the com5 plainant has substantially prevailed. 

6 ‘‘(2) SUBSTANTIALLY PREVAILED.—For pur7 poses of this section, a complainant has substantially 

8 prevailed if the complainant has obtained relief 

9 through— 

10 ‘‘(A) a judicial order; 

11 ‘‘(B) an enforceable written agreement or 

12 consent decree; or 

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

14 position by the United States, if the complain15 ant’s claim is not insubstantial.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS ON DISPOSI17 TION OF CHALLENGES TO ACCURACY OF 

18 RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMI19 NAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM. 

20 The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

21 shall submit annually to the Committee on the Judiciary 

22 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 the Judiciary of the Senate a written report that speci24 fies— 


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1 (1) the total number of challenges to the accu2 racy of the records of the National Instant Criminal 

3 Background Check System (in this section referred 

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

5 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act 

6 that were received by the NICS system during the 

7 year covered by the report; 

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

9 processed to final disposition by the NICS system; 

10 (3) the total number of the challenges with re11 spect to which the initial determination of the NICS 

12 system was reversed, and with respect to those chal13 lenges, the total number in which each reason for 

14 the initial determination was made; 

15 (4) the total number of the challenges with re16 spect to which the initial determination of the NICS 

17 system was not reversed, and with respect to those 

18 challenges, the total number in which each reason 

19 for not doing so was made; and 

20 (5) the average length of time needed to com21 plete the processing of the challenges referred to in 

22 paragraph (2). 

23 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

24 It is the sense of the Congress that— 


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

2 arms is a fundamental component of self-govern3 ment, self-defense, and the preservation of individual 

4 liberty; 

5 (2) deprivation of the constitutional right to 

6 bear arms requires due process under the Fifth and 

7 Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the 

8 United States; 

9 (3) ignoring appeals of determinations made by 

10 the National Instant Criminal Background Check 

11 System (NICS) violates due process; and 

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

13 valid reason for the denial of this constitutional 

14 right. 

Æ 


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