I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2403 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to strengthen the 

background check procedures to be followed before a Federal firearms 

licensee may transfer a firearm to a person who is not such a licensee. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. CLYBURN (for himself, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BALINT, 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BERA, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP of 

Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, 

Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, 

Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. 

CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FOSTER, 

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. FROST, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. GARCIA

of Texas, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. 

GOMEZ, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HIGGINS of 

New York, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. HOYER, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. 

IVEY, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. KELLY

of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, 

Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, 

Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MANNING, Mrs. MCBATH, Mrs. 

MCCLELLAN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Mr. MFUME, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

OMAR, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PETTERSEN, Ms. 

PLASKETT, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SALINAS, 

Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of 

Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, 

Ms. STANSBURY, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. 

TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 

Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, and Ms. 

WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 


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•HR 2403 IH

A BILL 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to 

strengthen the background check procedures to be followed before a Federal firearms licensee may transfer 

a firearm to a person who is not such a licensee. 

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 ‘‘Enhanced Background 

5 Checks Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING OF BACKGROUND CHECK PROCE7 DURES TO BE FOLLOWED BEFORE A FED8 ERAL FIREARMS LICENSEE MAY TRANSFER A 

9 FIREARM TO A PERSON WHO IS NOT SUCH A 

10 LICENSEE. 

11 Section 922(t) of title 18, United States Code is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

15 clause (ii) and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(ii) in the event the system has not notified 

17 the licensee that the receipt of a firearm by such 

18 other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of 

19 this section or State, local, or Tribal law— 

20 ‘‘(I) not fewer than 10 business days 

21 (meaning a day on which State offices are 


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•HR 2403 IH

1 open) has elapsed since the licensee contacted 

2 the system, and the system has not notified the 

3 licensee that the receipt of a firearm by such 

4 other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) 

5 of this section or State, local, or Tribal law, and 

6 the other person has submitted, electronically 

7 through a website established by the Attorney 

8 General or by first-class mail, a petition for re9 view which— 

10 ‘‘(aa) certifies that such other person 

11 has no reason to believe that such other 

12 person is prohibited by Federal, State, 

13 local, or Tribal law from purchasing or 

14 possessing a firearm; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) requests that the system re16 spond to the contact referred to in sub17 paragraph (A) within 10 business days 

18 after the date the petition was submitted 

19 (or, if the petition is submitted by first20 class mail, the date the letter containing 

21 the petition is postmarked); and 

22 ‘‘(II) 10 business days have elapsed since 

23 the other person so submitted the petition, and 

24 the system has not notified the licensee that the 

25 receipt of a firearm by such other person would 


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•HR 2403 IH

1 violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section or 

2 State, local, or Tribal law;’’; and 

3 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

4 (i) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of 

5 clause (i); and 

6 (ii) by striking clause (ii) and all that 

7 follows through the 2nd comma in clause 

8 (iii) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(ii) the transfer could be completed 

10 lawfully pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii) 

11 if the person had attained 21 years of 

12 age’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(7) The Attorney General shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) prescribe the form on which a petition 

16 shall be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii); 

17 ‘‘(B) make the form available electronically, and 

18 provide a copy of the form to all licensees referred 

19 to in paragraph (1); 

20 ‘‘(C) provide the petitioner and the licensee in21 volved written notice of receipt of the petition, either 

22 electronically or by first-class mail; and 

23 ‘‘(D) respond on an expedited basis to any such 

24 petition received by the Attorney General. 


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•HR 2403 IH

1 ‘‘(8)(A) If, after 3 business days have elapsed since 

2 the licensee initially contacted the system about a firearm 

3 transaction, the system notifies the licensee that the trans4 fer to, or receipt of, a firearm by such other person would 

5 not violate subsection (d), (g), or (n) (as applicable), or 

6 State, local, or Tribal law, the licensee may continue to 

7 rely on that notification for the longer of— 

8 ‘‘(i) an additional 25 calendar days after the li9 censee receives the notification; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) 30 calendar days after the date of the ini11 tial contact. 

12 ‘‘(B) If such other person has met the requirements 

13 of paragraph (1)(B)(ii) or (1)(C) (as applicable) before the 

14 system destroys the records related to the firearm trans15 action, the licensee may continue to rely on such other 

16 person having met the requirements for an additional 25 

17 calendar days after the date such other person first met 

18 the requirements.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

20 Section 103(l)(3) of the Brady Handgun Violence 

21 Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘, but in no case more than 10 business days,’’. 

23 SEC. 4. GAO REPORTS. 

24 Within 90 days after the end of each of the 1-year, 

25 3-year, and 5-year periods that begin with the effective 


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•HR 2403 IH

1 date of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

2 States shall prepare and submit to the Committee on the 

3 Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Com4 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate a written report ana5 lyzing the extent to which, during the respective period, 

6 paragraphs (1)(B)(ii) and (7) of section 922(t) of title 18, 

7 United States Code, have prevented firearms from being 

8 transferred to prohibited persons, which report shall in9 clude but not be limited to the following— 

10 (1) an assessment of the overall implementation 

11 of such subsections, including a description of the 

12 challenges faced in implementing such paragraphs; 

13 (2) an aggregate description of firearm pur14 chase delays and denials, with a description of deni15 als, disaggregated by State and by the basis for the 

16 denial; and 

17 (3) an aggregate analysis of the petitions sub18 mitted pursuant to such paragraph (1)(B)(ii). 

19 SEC. 5. REPORTS ON PETITIONS SUPPORTING FIREARMS 

20 TRANSFERS NOT IMMEDIATELY APPROVED 

21 BY NICS SYSTEM, THAT WERE NOT RE22 SPONDED TO IN A TIMELY MANNER. 

23 The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

24 shall make an annual report to the public on the number 

25 of petitions received by the national instant criminal backVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2403.IH H2403

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•HR 2403 IH

1 ground check system established under section 103 of the 

2 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that were sub3 mitted pursuant to subclause (I) of section 

4 922(t)(1)(B)(ii) of title 18, United States Code, with re5 spect to which a determination was not made within the 

6 10-day period referred to in subclause (II) of such section 

7 922(t)(1)(B)(ii). The report shall include the following, 

8 which shall be disaggregated by State: 

9 (1) The number of petitions submitted under 

10 such section that were received by the national in11 stant criminal background check system established 

12 under section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence 

13 Prevention Act. 

14 (2) The number of petitioners who were discov15 ered to be ineligible under Federal, State, local, or 

16 Tribal law during that 10-day period. 

17 (3) The number of petitioners who were discov18 ered to be ineligible under Federal, State, local, or 

19 Tribal law after that 10-day period. 

20 (4) The basis of the ineligibility of the peti21 tioners discovered to be ineligible under Federal, 

22 State, local, or Tribal law during that 10-day period, 

23 and the basis of the ineligibility of the petitioners 

24 discovered to be ineligible under Federal, State, 

25 local, or Tribal law after that 10-day period. 


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•HR 2403 IH

1 (5) The number of the petitioners whose peti2 tions were denied and who, within 12 months after 

3 the denial, were prosecuted under Federal, State, or 

4 local law for receiving or attempting to receive a 

5 firearm. 

6 SEC. 6. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS. 

7 Within 150 days after the date of the enactment of 

8 this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 

9 National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and Fire10 arms, shall submit to the Congress a report analyzing the 

11 effect, if any, of this Act on the safety of victims of domes12 tic violence, domestic abuse, dating partner violence, sex13 ual assault, and stalking, disaggregated by State, and 

14 whether any further amendments to the background check 

15 process, including amendments to the conditions that 

16 must be met under this Act for a firearm to be transferred 

17 when the system has not notified the licensee that such 

18 transfer would not violate subsection (d), (g), or (n) of 

19 section 922 of title 18, United States Code (as applicable), 

20 or State, local, or Tribal law, would likely result in a re21 duction in the risk of death or great bodily harm to victims 

22 of domestic violence, domestic abuse, dating partner vio23 lence, sexual assault, and stalking. 


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•HR 2403 IH

1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

3 take effect 210 days after the date of the enactment of 

4 this Act. 

5 SEC. 8. REPORT ON FIREARM TRANSFERS DENIED AS A RE6 SULT OF A NICS CHECK. 

7 Within 90 days after the date of the enactment of 

8 this Act, the Inspector General, Department of Justice, 

9 shall prepare and submit to the Congress a written report 

10 on the number of firearm transactions with respect to 

11 which the national instant criminal background check sys12 tem established under the Brady Handgun Violence Pre13 vention Act has determined that receipt of a firearm by 

14 the prospective firearm transferee would violate Federal, 

15 State, local, or Tribal law, and which have been referred 

16 to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explo17 sives for investigation. 

Æ 


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