H.R. 3868 — Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2025

This section revises background check procedures under 18 U.S.C. §922(t) that federal firearms licensees (FFLs) must follow before transferring a firearm to a non-licensee through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). (1) Extends the period after which an FFL may proceed with a transfer absent a NICS notice of prohibition from 3 business days to 20 business days (not fewer than 10 business days (i.e., days State offices are open) from initial contact plus 10 business days from the prospective transferee's submission of a petition for review certifying eligibility and requesting a response), if no such notice is received; (2) modifies an exception in subparagraph (1)(C) to allow transfers involving persons under 21 years of age if the transfer could proceed under the new (1)(B)(ii) rule assuming the person had attained 21 years of age; (3) directs the Attorney General to prescribe a form for the petition (available electronically and to all FFLs), provide receipt notice to the petitioner and FFL (electronically or by first-class mail), and respond on an expedited basis; and (4) establishes post-approval reliance periods allowing an FFL to rely on a NICS non-prohibition notice for the longer of 30 calendar days from initial contact or 25 calendar days after receipt of the notice (or an additional 25 calendar days if petition requirements under (1)(B)(ii) or (1)(C) are met before NICS destroys transaction records).

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit reports to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees within 90 days after the end of the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year periods beginning on the effective date of the Act. The reports must analyze the extent to which 18 U.S.C. §922(t)(1)(B)(ii) and (7)—provisions governing exceptions to and petitions under the national instant criminal background check requirement—have prevented firearms transfers to prohibited persons, including (1) an assessment of implementation challenges; (2) aggregate data on purchase delays and denials, disaggregated by state and denial basis; and (3) analysis of petitions submitted under §922(t)(1)(B)(ii).

This section requires the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to submit an annual public report on petitions submitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)—established under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act—for firearms transfers not approved or denied within three business days, where no determination was made within 10 days. (As background, NICS conducts background checks on prospective firearm transferees to determine eligibility under federal, state, local, or tribal law; after three business days without a final determination, federal firearms licensees may complete the transfer unless the system issues a subsequent denial.) The report, disaggregated by state, must include: (1) the number of such petitions received; (2) the number of petitioners found ineligible during the 10-day period; (3) the number found ineligible after that period; (4) the basis for each ineligibility; and (5) the number of denied petitioners prosecuted within 12 months for receiving or attempting to receive a firearm.

This section directs the Attorney General, in consultation with the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and Firearms, to submit to Congress within 150 days of enactment a report analyzing (1) this Act's effect, if any, on the safety of victims of domestic violence, domestic abuse, dating partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking (disaggregated by state); and (2) whether further amendments to the background check process—including to conditions for firearm transfers when the system has not notified the licensee of a violation under 18 U.S.C. §922(d), (g), or (n), or state, local, or tribal law—would likely reduce the risk of death or great bodily harm to such victims.

This section directs the Department of Justice Inspector General to submit to Congress, within 90 days of enactment, a report on the number of firearm transactions denied by the national instant criminal background check system (NICS)—established under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act—on grounds that receipt would violate federal, state, local, or tribal law, and subsequently referred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for investigation.