18 U.S.C. § 925C — Annual report to Congress

The Attorney General must give Congress a report each year, by judicial district, one year after enactment and annually after that. (1) The report covers each group of people barred from having a gun under section 922(g), 922(n), or state law, who were then denied a gun. For each group, it must give the number of denials. It must show how many denials were referred to the ATF. It must show how many the ATF found were not actually prohibited people. It must show how many denials were overturned on appeal through the national background check system. It must show how many denials led to an ATF investigation. It must show how many people were charged with a federal crime over a denial. It must show how many convictions resulted from those charges. (2) The report must also state how many background-check notices were reported under section 925B. This includes notices that would have been reported except for section 925B(c).

The record. The source credit indicates that 18 U.S.C. § 925C was added by Public Law 117-103, division W, title XI, § 1102(a), enacted March 15, 2022, and published at 136 Stat. 920. The credit does not reflect any subsequent amendment to this section; the enactment appears to stand as originally added. Historical context. Public Law 117-103 was an omnibus appropriations measure, and division W is commonly understood to correspond to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, legislation enacted in 2022 following a period of heightened public and congressional attention to gun violence, including several high-profile mass shootings earlier that year. That Act is generally understood to have included a range of provisions addressing firearms background checks, enforcement, and related reporting requirements. Section 925C's placement within that division suggests it was part of a broader effort to strengthen oversight of the national background check system and related enforcement processes, including reporting on denials, referrals, and outcomes tied to prohibited-person determinations. Beyond this general context, the record does not establish the specific reasoning, deliberation, or legislative intent behind this particular reporting requirement. No committee reports, floor statements, or sponsor-specific rationale are reflected in the source credit, and none should be inferred. The precise purpose Congress had for requiring this particular breakdown of denial and enforcement data, as distinct from the broader legislative package, is not documented in the materials provided.