Fix NICS Act of 2017
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 322.
Fix NICS Act of 2017
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require each federal agency and department, including a federal court, to:
certify whether it has provided to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) disqualifying records of persons prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm, and
establish and substantially comply with an implementation plan to maximize record submissions and verify their accuracy.
(Sec. 3) The bill amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to modify the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP). Specifically, it:
establishes a domestic abuse and violence prevention initiative as a priority area for NARIP grant funding, and
creates a funding preference for states that establish an implementation plan and use grant funds to upload felony conviction and domestic violence records.
(Sec. 4) It amends the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 to modify the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). Specifically, it:
specifies that facilitating full participation in the NICS, as an allowable use of NCHIP grant funds, includes increasing efforts to pre-validate felony conviction and domestic violence records to expedite eligibility determinations; and
permits the federal share of a grant to exceed 90% of program costs if a state complies with its implementation plan.
(Sec. 5) This section amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to:
direct the Department of Justice (DOJ), in coordination with each state or tribal government, to establish an implementation plan, including benchmarks, to maximize the automation and submission of mental health and criminal history records to the NICS;
require DOJ to conduct, and publish the results of, compliance determinations for state and tribal governments;
give preference to certain discretionary grant applicants that substantially comply with an implementation plan; and
require the NICS to notify law enforcement agencies when a firearm is transferred to a person who is subsequently determined to be prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm.
(Sec. 6) DOJ's Bureau of Justice Assistance must report to Congress on the use of bump stocks in the commission of crimes, including the number of instances and the types of firearms.
The summary continues for 1 more paragraph. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on December 5, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 5, 2017: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 322.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JOHN CULBERSON (R-TX) introduced it on November 29, 2017, and 9 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 6 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 29, 2017, 3207 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3201 days ago, on December 5, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers