by Gabe Kaminsky
A new bill pushed by House Republicans that seeks to stop illegal immigrants from gaining access to firearms would only wrongfully empower a "broken" FBI background check system that targets the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens, according to pro-gun groups.
The Illegal Alien NICS Alert Act would require the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System to inform Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies if it appears a noncitizen is trying to obtain a firearm. However, two groups focused on safeguarding the Second Amendment told the Washington Examiner that the law would strip guns from Americans, arguing that the FBI's system is "rogue" and "inefficient."
"The background check system has an outrageous false positive problem," said Aidan Johnston, a lobbyist for Gun Owners of America, referring to FBI data showing that 90% of people denied a gun through NICS should have been able to obtain one.
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"So, what happens if you pass this bill and use this system is that you're going to be reporting a bunch of Americans that have the same names and birthdays as illegal immigrants or people who have overstayed their welcome in the U.S," he added. "That's going to result in audit harassment and disproportionately target minorities. There's a racial issue with this system."
The GOP-led bill was included on a list published by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) on Dec. 30. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) on Jan. 9 introduced the act, which was co-sponsored by Reps. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA).
Back in April 2021, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) joined other Republicans, such as Sen. Marsha Blackburn (TN) and Josh Hawley (MO), to put forth their own version of the bill. Attempts at handling the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States come as a record number flood the southern border.
NICS has been criticized by Republicans, including Blackburn, as an example of the FBI's politicization. The senator demanded an investigation into the bureau in December following multiple Washington Examiner reports on it secretly coordinating with the Secret Service and ICE to strip U.S. citizens of their rights to own, use, or even buy firearms.
Without congressional approval, NICS employees asked law-abiding people to sign forms that registered them into the federal system. Multiple House Republicans, including Reps. Dan Bishop (NC), Andrew Clyde (GA), Thomas Massie (KY), and Jim Jordan (OH), have criticized the FBI over its actions in connection to the forms.
"We understand the immigration system is broken right now," Hunter King, a lobbyist for the National Association for Gun Rights, a Colorado-based advocacy group, told the Washington Examiner. "But when you look at trying to fix the problem, using a system like NICS that has been proven 90% of the time to be false denials is legitimizing a broken system."
"There's ways to attack the issue going on at the border, and using a broken system and legitimizing an already broken system is the wrong approach," he said. "We're probably going to be hurting more law-abiding Americans than stopping illegal aliens."
The Illegal Alien NICS Alert Act is poised to be delayed amid GOP leadership trying to gin up support, according to sources that spoke with Punchbowl News on Friday.
But that delay could also be a product of committees being filled and the aftermath of the lengthy House speaker race, which resulted in Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) winning the gavel, the outlet reported.
This Congress, Republicans have vowed to investigate what they call the politicization of the FBI and Justice Department. Johnston thinks that would be a more effective priority than the illegal immigrants bill.
"Congress should be repealing the broken NICS system because of the FBI abusing it to disarm law-abiding citizens without statutory authority," said Johnston.
A spokeswoman for Steube declined a request for comment, as did the National Rifle Association, the largest gun rights group in the U.S.