Growing recognition on Capitol Hill that the records gap in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) needs attention has resulted in appropriators in both the U.S. Senate and House voting for funds to be made available to the states to enter the appropriate criminal and adjudicated mental health records into the system. The House version awards $55 million, while the Senate has assigned $50 million, for this purpose. NSSF has long advocated that Congress appropriate funds to help ensure that the states that are not doing so begin the systematic entry of data on all legally prohibited persons into the NICS database. Earlier this year, NSSF substantially stepped up its advocacy activities on both the state and federal levels through the launch of its FixNICS initiative.
