AN ACTTo improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. (a) [34 U.S.C. 10101 note] Short Tile.—This Act may be cited as the “NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007”. (b) Table of Contents.—The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—TRANSMITTAL OF RECORDS Sec. 101. Enhancement of requirement that Federal departments and agencies provide relevant information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Sec. 102. Requirements to obtain waiver. Sec. 103. Implementation assistance to States. Sec. 104. Penalties for noncompliance. Sec. 105. Relief from disabilities program required as condition for participation in grant programs. Sec. 106. Illegal immigrant gun purchase notification. Sec. 107. Implementation plan. TITLE II—FOCUSING FEDERAL ASSISTANCE ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF RELEVANT RECORDS Sec. 201. Continuing evaluations. TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATE COURT SYSTEMS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT IN AUTOMATION AND TRANSMITTAL OF DISPOSITION RECORDS Sec. 301. Disposition records automation and transmittal improvement grants. TITLE IV—GAO AUDIT Sec. 401. GAO audit.

SEC. 2. [34 U.S.C. 40902] FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Approximately 916,000 individuals were prohibited from purchasing a firearm for failing a background check between November 30, 1998, (the date the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) began operating) and December 31, 2004. (2) From November 30, 1998, through December 31, 2004, nearly 49,000,000 Brady background checks were processed through NICS. (3) Although most Brady background checks are processed through NICS in seconds, many background checks are delayed if the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does not have automated access to complete information from the States concerning persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm under Federal or State law. (4) Nearly 21,000,000 criminal records are not accessible by NICS and millions of criminal records are missing critical data, such as arrest dispositions, due to data backlogs. (5) The primary cause of delay in NICS background checks is the lack of— (A) updates and available State criminal disposition records; and (B) automated access to information concerning persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm because of mental illness, restraining orders, or misdemeanor convictions for domestic violence. (6) Automated access to this information can be improved by— (A) computerizing information relating to criminal history, criminal dispositions, mental illness, restraining orders, and misdemeanor convictions for domestic violence; or (B) making such information available to NICS in a usable format. (7) Helping States to automate these records will reduce delays for law-abiding gun purchasers. (8) On March 12, 2002, the senseless shooting, which took the lives of a priest and a parishioner at the Our Lady of Peace Church in Lynbrook, New York, brought attention to the need to improve information-sharing that would enable Federal and State law enforcement agencies to conduct a complete background check on a potential firearm purchaser. The man who committed this double murder had a prior disqualifying mental health commitment and a restraining order against him, but passed a Brady background check because NICS did not have the necessary information to determine that he was ineligible to purchase a firearm under Federal or State law. (9) On April 16, 2007, a student with a history of mental illness at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University shot to death 32 students and faculty members, wounded 17 more, and then took his own life. The shooting, the deadliest campus shooting in United States history, renewed the need to improve information-sharing that would enable Federal and State law enforcement agencies to conduct complete background checks on potential firearms purchasers. In spite of a proven history of mental illness, the shooter was able to purchase the two firearms used in the shooting. Improved coordination between State and Federal authorities could have ensured that the shooter’s disqualifying mental health information was available to NICS.

SEC. 3. [34 U.S.C. 40903] DEFINITIONS. As used in this Act, the following definitions shall apply: (1) Court order.—The term “court order” includes a court order (as described in section 922(g)(8) of title 18, United States Code). (2) Mental health terms.—The terms “adjudicated as a mental defective” and “committed to a mental institution” have the same meanings as in section 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code. (3) Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.—The term “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” has the meaning given the term in section 921(a)(33) of title 18, United States Code.