Firearm Due Process Protection Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3820 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 JUNE 11, 2021 Mr. EMMER (for himself, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. NOR- MAN, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. DONALDS, Mr. MANN, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. BABIN, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. JACKSON, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mr. FULCHER, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. KUSTOFF, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. POSEY, Ms. HERRELL, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsyl- vania, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, Mr. HAGEDORN, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. KELLER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. NUNES, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Mr. GROTHMAN, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. CARL, Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida, Ms. CHENEY, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. BUDD, and Mr. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To enforce the requirement that the National Instant Crimi- nal Background Check System make a final disposition of requests to correct its records within 60 days, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:24 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3820.IH H3820 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3820 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Firearm Due Process 2 Protection Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF DEADLINE FOR FINAL DISPOSI- 4 TION OF REQUESTS TO CORRECT RECORDS 5 OF THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACK- 6 GROUND CHECK SYSTEM; DUE PROCESS PRO- 7 TECTIONS. 8 Section 925A of title 18, United States Code, is 9 amended— 10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 11 ‘‘Any person’’; 12 (2) by inserting ‘‘or aggrieved by a violation of 13 the penultimate sentence of section 103(g) of the 14 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act’’ after ‘‘(s) 15 or (t) of section 922’’; 16 (3) by striking the last sentence; and 17 (4) by adding after and below the end the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURAL RULES.— 20 ‘‘(1) EXPEDITED HEARING.—The court shall 21 hold a hearing on an action brought under sub- 22 section (a), within 30 days after the action is 23 brought. 24 ‘‘(2) BURDEN OF PROOF.—At such a hearing, 25 the respondent shall bear the burden of proving by 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:24 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3820.IH H3820 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3820 IH clear and convincing evidence that the individual is 1 ineligible to receive or possess a firearm. 2 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The court shall assess 4 against the respondent reasonable attorney fees and 5 other litigation costs reasonably incurred in an ac- 6 tion brought under subsection (a) in which the com- 7 plainant has substantially prevailed. 8 ‘‘(2) SUBSTANTIALLY PREVAILED.—For pur- 9 poses of this section, a complainant has substantially 10 prevailed if the complainant has obtained relief 11 through— 12 ‘‘(A) a judicial order; 13 ‘‘(B) an enforceable written agreement or 14 consent decree; or 15 ‘‘(C) a voluntary or unilateral change in 16 position by the United States, if the complain- 17 ant’s claim is not insubstantial.’’. 18 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS ON DISPOSI- 19 TION OF CHALLENGES TO ACCURACY OF 20 RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMI- 21 NAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM. 22 The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 23 shall submit annually to the Committee on the Judiciary 24 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:24 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3820.IH H3820 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3820 IH the Judiciary of the Senate a written report that speci- 1 fies— 2 (1) the total number of challenges to the accu- 3 racy of the records of the National Instant Criminal 4 Background Check System (in this section referred 5 to as the ‘‘NICS system’’) established under section 6 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act 7 that were received by the NICS system during the 8 year covered by the report; 9 (2) the total number of the challenges that were 10 processed to final disposition by the NICS system; 11 (3) the total number of the challenges with re- 12 spect to which the initial determination of the NICS 13 system was reversed, and with respect to those chal- 14 lenges, the total number in which each reason for 15 the initial determination was made; 16 (4) the total number of the challenges with re- 17 spect to which the initial determination of the NICS 18 system was not reversed, and with respect to those 19 challenges, the total number in which each reason 20 for not doing so was made; and 21 (5) the average length of time needed to com- 22 plete the processing of the challenges referred to in 23 paragraph (2). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:24 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3820.IH H3820 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3820 IH SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of the Congress that— 2 (1) the right of the people to keep and bear 3 arms is a fundamental component of self-govern- 4 ment, self-defense, and the preservation of individual 5 liberty; 6 (2) deprivation of the constitutional right to 7 bear arms requires due process under the Fifth and 8 Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the 9 United States; 10 (3) ignoring appeals of determinations made by 11 the National Instant Criminal Background Check 12 System (NICS) violates due process; and 13 (4) NICS should have the burden of showing a 14 valid reason for the denial of this constitutional 15 right. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:24 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3820.IH H3820 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS