Florida's NICS Act Record Improvement Program FY 2012

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 Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) will use funds to complete tasks associated with the following projects: 1) begin efforts to update and modernize Florida's criminal history repository to improve the overall completeness, automation, and use of records by the state with the goal of increasing the data available to NICS and realizing increased time efficiencies and cost savings; 2) continue to support staff efforts to partner with the Clerks of Court to identify civil mental health adjudications that are firearm disqualifiers and enter the records into MECOM, Florida's Mental Competency database, and the NICS Index; and 3) continue to support staff efforts to partner with the Clerks of Court to research historic disposition records for firearm purchase decisions.

CA/NCF