H.R. 6824 would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to report annually to the Congress on the demographic data for people who have undergone background checks by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to the extent that data is available. NICS conducts background checks on prospective buyers of firearms to determine whether they are ineligible under federal or state law to make such a purchase. The bill also would require the report to include the reason that any individual was found to be ineligible to purchase a firearm.
Under current policy, DOJ collects some demographic information for each prospective buyer of a firearm as part of the background check. Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that completing the report would cost less than $500,000 over the 2024-2029 period. Any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
