Chapter 409, Section 40901, Subsection (e) · 34 U.S.C. Chapter 409 — NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM

Contents

(e)

(1)

(A)Notwithstanding any other law, the Attorney General may secure directly from any department or agency of the United States such information on persons for whom receipt of a firearm would violate subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18 or State law, as is necessary to enable the system to operate in accordance with this section.

(B)On request of the Attorney General, the head of such department or agency shall furnish electronic versions of the information described under subparagraph (A) to the system.

(C)If a Federal department or agency under subparagraph (A) has any record of any person demonstrating that the person falls within one of the categories described in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, the head of such department or agency shall, not less frequently than quarterly, provide the pertinent information contained in such record to the Attorney General.

(D)The Federal department or agency, on being made aware that the basis under which a record was made available under subparagraph (A) does not apply, or no longer applies, shall—

(i)update, correct, modify, or remove the record from any database that the agency maintains and makes available to the Attorney General, in accordance with the rules pertaining to that database; and

(ii)notify the Attorney General that such basis no longer applies so that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is kept up to date.

The Attorney General upon receiving notice pursuant to clause (ii) shall ensure that the record in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is updated, corrected, modified, or removed within 30 days of receipt.

(E)The Attorney General shall submit an annual report to Congress that describes the compliance of each department or agency with the provisions of this paragraph.

(F)

(i)The head of each Federal department or agency shall submit a semiannual written certification to the Attorney General indicating whether the department or agency is in compliance with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C).

(ii)The head of a Federal department or agency shall submit a certification to the Attorney General under clause (i)—

(I)not later than July 31 of each year, which shall address all relevant records, including those that have not been transmitted to the Attorney General, in possession of the department or agency during the period beginning on January 1 of the year and ending on June 30 of the year; and

(II)not later than January 31 of each year, which shall address all relevant records, including those that have not been transmitted to the Attorney General, in possession of the department or agency during the period beginning on July 1 of the previous year and ending on December 31 of the previous year.

(iii)A certification required under clause (i) shall state, for the applicable period—

(I)the total number of records of the Federal department or agency demonstrating that a person falls within one of the categories described in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18;

(II)for each category of records described in subclause (I), the total number of records of the Federal department or agency that have been provided to the Attorney General; and

(III)the efforts of the Federal department or agency to ensure complete and accurate reporting of relevant records, including efforts to monitor compliance and correct any reporting failures or inaccuracies.

(G)

(i)Not later than 1 year after March 23, 2018, the head of each Federal department or agency, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall establish a plan to ensure maximum coordination and automated reporting or making available of records to the Attorney General as required under subparagraph (C), and the verification of the accuracy of those records, including the pre-validation of those records, where appropriate, during a 4-year period specified in the plan. The records shall be limited to those of an individual described in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18.

(ii)Each plan established under clause (i) shall include annual benchmarks to enable the Attorney General to assess implementation of the plan, including—

(I)qualitative goals and quantitative measures;

(II)measures to monitor internal compliance, including any reporting failures and inaccuracies;

(III)a needs assessment, including estimated compliance costs; and

(IV)an estimated date by which the Federal department or agency will fully comply with record submission requirements under subparagraph (C).

(iii)Not later than the end of each fiscal year beginning after the date of the establishment of a plan under clause (i), the Attorney General shall determine whether the applicable Federal department or agency has achieved substantial compliance with the benchmarks included in the plan.

(H)The Attorney General shall publish, including on the website of the Department of Justice, and submit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a semiannual report that discloses—

(i)the name of each Federal department or agency that has failed to submit a required certification under subparagraph (F);

(ii)the name of each Federal department or agency that has submitted a required certification under subparagraph (F), but failed to certify compliance with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C);

(iii)the name of each Federal department or agency that has failed to submit an implementation plan under subparagraph (G);

(iv)the name of each Federal department or agency that is not in substantial compliance with an implementation plan under subparagraph (G);

(v)a detailed summary of the data, broken down by department or agency, contained in the certifications submitted under subparagraph (F);

(vi)a detailed summary of the contents and status, broken down by department or agency, of the implementation plans established under subparagraph (G); and

(vii)the reasons for which the Attorney General has determined that a Federal department or agency is not in substantial compliance with an implementation plan established under subparagraph (G).

(I)For each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022, each political appointee of a Federal department or agency that has failed to certify compliance with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C), and is not in substantial compliance with an implementation plan established under subparagraph (G), shall not be eligible for the receipt of bonus pay, excluding overtime pay, until the department or agency—

(i)certifies compliance with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C); or

(ii)achieves substantial compliance with an implementation plan established under subparagraph (G).

(J)The Attorney General may use funds made available for the national instant criminal background check system established under subsection (b) to provide technical assistance to a Federal department or agency, at the request of the department or agency, in order to help the department or agency comply with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C).

(K)For purposes of this paragraph—

(i)the terms “department or agency of the United States” and “Federal department or agency” include a Federal court; and

(ii)the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall perform, for a Federal court, the functions assigned to the head of a department or agency.

(2)The Attorney General shall develop such computer software, design and obtain such telecommunications and computer hardware, and employ such personnel, as are necessary to establish and operate the system in accordance with this section.

United States Government work; public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.