FY 2020 NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP)

The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-180), codified at 34 U.S.C. §40912 (NIAA), was signed into law on January 8, 2008, in the wake of the April 2007 shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech. The Virginia Tech shooter was able to purchase firearms from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) because information about his prohibiting mental health history was not available to the NICS, and the system was therefore unable to deny the transfer of the firearms used in the shootings. The NIAA seeks to address the gap in information available to NICS about such prohibiting mental health adjudications and commitments, and other prohibiting factors. Filling these information gaps will better enable the system to operate as it was 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 also reduces delays for law-abiding persons to purchase firearms.