View all text of Subchapter I [§ 40911 - § 40917]
§ 40911. Enhancement of requirement that Federal departments and agencies provide relevant information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System
(a) Omitted
(b) Provision and maintenance of NICS records
(1) Department of Homeland SecurityThe Secretary of Homeland Security shall make available to the Attorney General—
(A) records, updated not less than quarterly, which are relevant to a determination of whether a person is disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18 for use in background checks performed by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; and
(B) information regarding all the persons described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph who have changed their status to a category not identified under section 922(g)(5) of title 18 for removal, when applicable, from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
(2) Department of Defense
(A) In general
(B) Judicial proceeding definedIn this paragraph, the term “judicial proceeding” means a hearing—
(i) of which the person received actual notice; and
(ii) at which the person had an opportunity to participate with counsel.
(3) Department of JusticeThe Attorney General shall—
(A) ensure that any information submitted to, or maintained by, the Attorney General under this section is kept accurate and confidential, as required by the laws, regulations, policies, or procedures governing the applicable record system;
(B) provide for the timely removal and destruction of obsolete and erroneous names and information from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; and
(C) work with States to encourage the development of computer systems, which would permit electronic notification to the Attorney General when—
(i) a court order has been issued, lifted, or otherwise removed by order of the court; or
(ii) a person has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution.
(c) Standard for adjudications and commitments related to mental health
(1) In generalNo department or agency of the Federal Government may provide to the Attorney General any record of an adjudication related to the mental health of a person or any commitment of a person to a mental institution if—
(A) the adjudication or commitment, respectively, has been set aside or expunged, or the person has otherwise been fully released or discharged from all mandatory treatment, supervision, or monitoring;
(B) the person has been found by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority to no longer suffer from the mental health condition that was the basis of the adjudication or commitment, respectively, or has otherwise been found to be rehabilitated through any procedure available under law; or
(C) the adjudication or commitment, respectively, is based solely on a medical finding of disability, without an opportunity for a hearing by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority, and the person has not been adjudicated as a mental defective consistent with section 922(g)(4) of title 18, except that nothing in this section or any other provision of law shall prevent a Federal department or agency from providing to the Attorney General any record demonstrating that a person was adjudicated to be not guilty by reason of insanity, or based on lack of mental responsibility, or found incompetent to stand trial, in any criminal case or under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
(2) Treatment of certain adjudications and commitments
(A) Program for relief from disabilities
(i) In general
(ii) Process
(iii) Judicial review
(B) Relief from disabilities
(3) Notice requirementEffective 30 days after January 8, 2008, any Federal department or agency that conducts proceedings to adjudicate a person as a mental defective under 922(d)(4) or 922(g)(4) of title 18 shall provide both oral and written notice to the individual at the commencement of the adjudication process including—
(A) notice that should the agency adjudicate the person as a mental defective, or should the person be committed to a mental institution, such adjudication, when final, or such commitment, will prohibit the individual from purchasing, possessing, receiving, shipping or transporting a firearm or ammunition under section 922(d)(4) or section 922(g)(4) of title 18;
(B) information about the penalties imposed for unlawful possession, receipt, shipment or transportation of a firearm under section 924(a)(2) of title 18; and
(C) information about the availability of relief from the disabilities imposed by Federal laws with respect to the acquisition, receipt, transfer, shipment, transportation, or possession of firearms.
(4) Effective date
(Pub. L. 110–180, title I, § 101, Jan. 8, 2008, 121 Stat. 2561; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title V, § 544, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3613.)