Texas NICS Record Improvement Program

The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-180 ("NICS Improvement Act"), was signed into law by the President on January 8, 2008. The NICS Improvement Act amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 ("the Brady Act") (Pub. L. 103-159), under which the Attorney General established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The Brady Act requires Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) to contact the NICS before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person for information on whether the proposed transferee is prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm under state or federal law. The NICS Improvement Act authorizes grants to be made in a manner consistent with the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP).

Under this award, the Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS) will continue the efforts funded under a previous grant program to assist the state with completing its Group II (individuals born in 1939 or before) fingerprint conversion project. TXDPS will contract with the same vendor used to update and automate the first set of Group II hardcopy arrest records and AFIS registration information. The vendor will be responsible for converting an additional 825,865 hardcopy arrest records and AFIS registration information in a NIST format and directly add them to the state AFIS. Once the records and registration information have been updated to the state AFIS, they will be transmitted to the FBI for inclusion in the national system.

CA/NCF