Omaha City Wire

Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) has joined forces with Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-06) and 52 other House Republican colleagues to cosponsor the Firearm Due Process Protection Act. This legislation aims to safeguard the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans, preventing them from being improperly denied the purchase of a firearm.

"All law-abiding American should have access to purchasing a firearm and know that their background checks are secure," said Bacon. "Every American has a right to the Second Amendment and if the Criminal Background Check System (NICS) can’t accurately test these records, we should always have oversight. Families need to protect their households and owning a firearm allows law-abiding citizens to do so."

Emmer echoed these sentiments, stating, "Thousands of Americans every year are being prevented from exercising their constitutional rights not because they are criminals, but because of bureaucratic errors. The Firearm Due Process Protection will provide important recourse to Americans whose Second Amendment freedoms are being restricted through no fault of their own. We are grateful to our over fifty colleagues who stand in support of this common-sense fix.”

Randy Kozuch, Executive Director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, praised the bill for its potential to correct clerical errors within NICS that falsely deny thousands of Americans their constitutional rights each year.

Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs for the Gun Owners of America, highlighted how Emmer's bill could help protect gun owners from failures within NICS that disproportionately target minorities and individuals with common last names.

In 2022 alone, 7,471 individuals were wrongfully denied a firearm due to errors in NICS such as mismatched fingerprints or inaccurate criminal records. The Fix NICS Act requires the FBI to process appeals for these individuals but does not currently provide a private right of action for enforcement.

The Firearm Due Process Protection Act seeks to address this by allowing Americans to seek a court judgment to correct invalid information if the FBI does not act on an appeal within a two-month deadline. The legislation also increases congressional oversight by requiring annual reports to Congress detailing the total number and nature of appeals.

The Firearm Due Process Protection Act is cosponsored by a host of Representatives, including Kelly Armstrong, Andy Barr, Aaron Bean, Stephanie Bice, Andy Biggs, Michael Bost, Ken Calvert, Buddy Carter, Mike Collins, Scott Desjarlais, Byron Donalds, Jeff Duncan, Ron Estes, Randy Feenstra, Brad Finstad, Michelle Fischbach, Chuck Fleischmann, Tony Gonzales, Bob Good, Lance Gooden and many others.

The full text of the bill can be found here.