2009 NICS State Records Estimates Development and Validation Project

The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-180 (the NICS Improvement Act), was signed into law on January 8, 2008. The NICS Improvement Act seeks to address the gap in information available to NICS about such prohibiting mental health adjudications and commitments and other prohibiting records. Filling these information gaps will better enable the system to operate as intended to keep guns out of the hands of persons prohibited by federal or state law from receiving or possessing firearms. The automation of records will also reduce delays for law-abiding gun purchasers. The Act authorized a grant program to assist states in providing certain information to the NICS, and prescribes grant penalties for non-compliance with the Act’s record completeness goals. Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. eastern time, Friday, June 19, 2009, throught the OJP’s Grants Management System (GMS). To access the GMS system, go to https://grants.ojp.usdoj.gov. Applicants should begin the process a few weeks prior to the GMS registration deadline, especially if this is the first time they have used the system.