Nics Data Reporting Act of 2026

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2267, the NICS Data Reporting Act, which would require the Attorney General to submit an annual report to Congress providing demographic data about the individuals who receive denials from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, NICS, as part of an attempted firearm purchase in the preceding year.

The NICS background system has processed more than 300 million checks since the FBI launched the system in 1998. NICS checks are critical to enforcing our laws that keep certain disqualified individuals from possessing a firearm.

The overwhelming majority of NICS checks determine that a prospective purchaser may legally purchase a firearm, and these checks are typically completed in just a few minutes. But in some instances, a NICS search determines that a person may not legally purchase a firearm because the person is matched to a serious criminal conviction, a domestic violence restraining order, a dishonorable discharge from the armed services, a wanted person's list, or other disqualifying record.

Since its inception, NICS has denied sales to more than 1.5 million transactions, keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous people who should not have them.

The sponsor of this legislation, Congressman Massie, has cited evidence suggesting that Black and Hispanic men may be more likely to experience false denials since, due to over-incarceration, they are disproportionately likely to share a name with other Black or Hispanic men who are incarcerated.

Mr. Massie has also expressed concern that erroneous NICS denials may disproportionately affect people based not just on race, ethnicity, and national origin, but also on sex, gender, age, disability, income, and English language proficiency.

This is why his legislation asks for the demographic data of individuals denied firearms through NICS for each of the categories I just listed. There is absolutely no harm in seeking this information. We need data and facts to understand our complex world, to craft responsive legislation, and to determine how to allocate government funding.

In fact, when I was in North Carolina representing people who had been wrongly stopped by law enforcement officials, we instituted a data collection system that looks into whether or not people have been detained based on their race or their gender, and it has been very effective.

NICS is an essential tool that keeps guns out of dangerous people's hands. We should seek to learn more about how NICS is working and make improvements, if any are necessary. We need a universal violent criminal background check to close loopholes in current laws, like the internet loophole and the gun show loophole.

I support this legislation, and I urge my Republican colleagues to stand with us in supporting public access to all information, including demographic data, so that we can be certain that our laws and our government are working for every American.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill would require the Attorney General to provide demographic information about NICS denials. I support collecting data to better understand and evaluate the effectiveness of NICS and determine whether it needs to be strengthened in any way.

Mr. Speaker, in memory of Sheila Jackson Lee, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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