Improve Hawaii's Reporting to NICS

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).

Hawaii will continue to build upon the award of the FY2015 NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP). The Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center (HCJDC) is working through the State of Hawaii Department of Human Resources Development’s protocol to establish the NARIP Program Manager position which will be responsible for developing a NICS Record Improvement Program Plan for the state of Hawaii, creating a task force of partners, implementing the Plan, and monitoring the Plan’s progress. An Information Technology Specialist position is also being added to support the efforts and the projects that will be identified by the NICS Record Improvement Task Force. In addition to establishing, recruiting, and filling these positions, Hawaii will work on improving CJIS-Hawaii, the backbone in the criminal history background check process, by replacing antiquated infrastructure and ensuring all convicted offenders are identified through fingerprints. Funding is also being requested for the county police departments to prepare their records management systems to be able to share firearm permit/registration information as well as incident information with the HCJDC. Hawaii plans to work toward meeting the NICS requirements and sharing whatever information is needed in order to protect the well-being of all citizens. (CA/NCF)