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This bill — known as the Fix NICS Act — would seek to improve to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) by ensuring federal and state authorities comply with existing law and accurately report relevant criminal history records to the NICS.

It would require federal agencies and states to produce NICS implementation plans that focus on uploading all information to the background check system showing a person is prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms under current law, including measures to verify the records. To ensure federal agencies comply, the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) would report twice per year on failures by agencies to report such records to NICS and political appointees at such agencies couldn’t receive bonuses.

States that comply with their NICS implementation plans would be rewarded through federal grant preferences and incentives. To ensure states comply, the DOJ would publicly report on states’ adherence to the implementation plan. Law enforcement programs to help state governments share relevant records with NICS would be reauthorized and improved.

A Domestic Abuse and Violence Prevention Initiative would be created to ensure that states have adequate resources and incentives to share all relevant information with NICS showing that a felon or domestic abuser is excluded from purchasing firearms under current law.

Technical assistance would be provided to federal agencies and states that are working to comply with NICS record-sharing requirements.

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The bill amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to:\n\n direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish a state implementation plan, including benchmarks, to maximize the automation and submission of mental health and criminal history records to the NICS; waive the grant match requirement under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) for a state that complies with its implementation plan; reauthorize through FY2022 the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP); establish, as a priority area for N...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Federal agencies and states; the NICS; and the DOJ.","argument_for":"This commonsense, bipartisan bill will ensure that federal agencies and states are reporting relevant criminal records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which helps keep guns out of the hands of criminals.","argument_against":"If federal agencies and states aren’t already sending relevant criminal records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the tools this bill proposes to incentivize or shame them into doing so will likely be insufficient.","bill_type":"s","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"s2135-115","bill_id":"s2135-115","formal_id":"S. 2135","chamber":"senate","congress":115,"last_action_at":"2018-03-14T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/senate-bill/2135","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-115s2135is/html/BILLS-115s2135is.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s2135-115.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/senate-bill/2135/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2017-11-15","related_bill_ids":["hr4434-115","hr4477-115","hr38-115"],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":809,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on the Judiciary","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSJU","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=s2135-115","details":"/api/bills/s2135-115/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/s2135-115","positionsFor":"/api/bills/s2135-115/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/s2135-115/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":77,"slug":"s2135-115-fix-nics-act-of-2017","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":4239,"yea_vote_count":3868,"nay_vote_count":358,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["crime-and-police","government"],"issue_ids":["crime-and-police","public-safety","government","transparency"],"sponsor_id":576}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"crime-and-police","name":"Crime & Police","slug":"crime-and-police","description":"Federal legislation related to the prevention of crimes(from assault to organized crime to juvenile crime), firearms and explosives, correctional facilities and terrorism. 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Fix NICS Act: Improving the Accuracy of the Background Check System for Gun Purchases