I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4477 
To enforce current law regarding the National Instant Criminal Background 
Check System. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 29, 2017 
Mr. CULBERSON (for himself, Mr. CUELLAR, Ms. ESTY of Connecticut, Mr. 
AGUILAR, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. RICHMOND, 
Mr. MCCAUL, Mrs. COMSTOCK, and Ms. TITUS) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To enforce current law regarding the National Instant 
Criminal Background Check System. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fix NICS Act of 
2017’’. 
SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS 
AND AGENCIES. 
Section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Preven-
tion Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (e)(1), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(F) SEMIANNUAL
CERTIFICATION
AND 
REPORTING.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The head of each 
Federal department or agency shall submit 
a semiannual written certification to the 
Attorney General indicating whether the 
department or agency is in compliance 
with the record submission requirements 
under subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(ii) SUBMISSION DATES.—The head 
of a Federal department or agency shall 
submit a certification to the Attorney Gen-
eral under clause (i)— 
‘‘(I) not later than July 31 of 
each year, which shall address all rel-
evant records, including those that 
have not been transmitted to the At-
torney General, in possession of the 
department or agency during the pe-
riod beginning on January 1 of the 
year and ending on June 30 of the 
year; and 
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‘‘(II) not later than January 31 
of each year, which shall address all 
relevant records, including those that 
have not been transmitted to the At-
torney General, in possession of the 
department or agency during the pe-
riod beginning on July 1 of the pre-
vious year and ending on December 
31 of the previous year. 
‘‘(iii) CONTENTS.—A certification re-
quired under clause (i) shall state, for the 
applicable period— 
‘‘(I) the total number of records 
of the Federal department or agency 
demonstrating that a person falls 
within one of the categories described 
in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 
of title 18, United States Code; 
‘‘(II) for each category of records 
described in subclause (I), the total 
number of records of the Federal de-
partment or agency that have been 
provided to the Attorney General; and 
‘‘(III) the efforts of the Federal 
department or agency to ensure com-
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plete and accurate reporting of rel-
evant records, including efforts to 
monitor compliance and correct any 
reporting failures or inaccuracies. 
‘‘(G) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 
year after the date of enactment of this 
subparagraph, the head of each Federal 
department or agency, in coordination with 
the Attorney General, shall establish a plan 
to ensure maximum coordination and auto-
mated reporting or making available of 
records to the Attorney General as re-
quired under subparagraph (C), and the 
verification of the accuracy of those 
records, including the pre-validation of 
those records, where appropriate, during a 
4-year period specified in the plan. The 
records shall be limited to those of an indi-
vidual described in subsection (g) or (n) of 
section 922 of title 18, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(ii) BENCHMARK REQUIREMENTS.— 
Each plan established under clause (i) 
shall include annual benchmarks to enable 
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the Attorney General to assess implemen-
tation of the plan, including— 
‘‘(I) qualitative goals and quan-
titative measures; 
‘‘(II) measures to monitor inter-
nal compliance, including any report-
ing failures and inaccuracies; 
‘‘(III) a needs assessment, in-
cluding estimated compliance costs; 
and 
‘‘(IV) an estimated date by which 
the Federal department or agency will 
fully comply with record submission 
requirements under subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(iii) 
COMPLIANCE
DETERMINA-
TION.—Not later than the end of each fis-
cal year beginning after the date of the es-
tablishment of a plan under clause (i), the 
Attorney General shall determine whether 
the applicable Federal department or agen-
cy has achieved substantial compliance 
with the benchmarks included in the plan. 
‘‘(H) 
ACCOUNTABILITY.—The 
Attorney 
General shall publish, including on the website 
of the Department of Justice, and submit to the 
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Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee 
on Appropriations of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the House of Representatives 
a semiannual report that discloses— 
‘‘(i) the name of each Federal depart-
ment or agency that has failed to submit 
a required certification under subpara-
graph (F); 
‘‘(ii) the name of each Federal depart-
ment or agency that has submitted a re-
quired certification under subparagraph 
(F), but failed to certify compliance with 
the record submission requirements under 
subparagraph (C); 
‘‘(iii) the name of each Federal de-
partment or agency that has failed to sub-
mit an implementation plan under sub-
paragraph (G); 
‘‘(iv) the name of each Federal de-
partment or agency that is not in substan-
tial compliance with an implementation 
plan under subparagraph (G); 
‘‘(v) a detailed summary of the data, 
broken down by department or agency, 
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contained in the certifications submitted 
under subparagraph (F); 
‘‘(vi) a detailed summary of the con-
tents and status, broken down by depart-
ment or agency, of the implementation 
plans established under subparagraph (G); 
and 
‘‘(vii) the reasons for which the Attor-
ney General has determined that a Federal 
department or agency is not in substantial 
compliance with an implementation plan 
established under subparagraph (G). 
‘‘(I) NONCOMPLIANCE
PENALTIES.—For 
each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022, each 
political appointee of a Federal department or 
agency that has failed to certify compliance 
with the record submission requirements under 
subparagraph (C), and is not in substantial 
compliance with an implementation plan estab-
lished under subparagraph (G), shall not be eli-
gible for the receipt of bonus pay, excluding 
overtime pay, until the department or agency— 
‘‘(i) certifies compliance with the 
record submission requirements under sub-
paragraph (C); or 
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‘‘(ii) achieves substantial compliance 
with an implementation plan established 
under subparagraph (G). 
‘‘(J) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Attor-
ney General may use funds made available for 
the national instant criminal background check 
system established under subsection (b) to pro-
vide technical assistance to a Federal depart-
ment or agency, at the request of the depart-
ment or agency, in order to help the depart-
ment or agency comply with the record submis-
sion requirements under subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(K) 
APPLICATION
TO
FEDERAL 
COURTS.—For purposes of this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the terms ‘department or agency 
of the United States’ and ‘Federal depart-
ment or agency’ include a Federal court; 
and 
‘‘(ii) the Director of the Administra-
tive Office of the United States Courts 
shall perform, for a Federal court, the 
functions assigned to the head of a depart-
ment or agency.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘For purposes of the preceding sentence, 
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not later than 60 days after the date on which the 
Attorney General receives such information, the At-
torney General shall determine whether or not the 
prospective transferee is the subject of an erroneous 
record and remove any records that are determined 
to be erroneous. In addition to any funds made 
available under subsection (k), the Attorney General 
may use such sums as are necessary and otherwise 
available for the salaries and expenses of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation to comply with this sub-
section.’’. 
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF NICS ACT RECORD IM-
PROVEMENT PROGRAM. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN WAIVER.—Section 
102 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 
(34 U.S.C. 40912) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the Crime Identification 
Technology Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 14601)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘section 102 of the Crime Identi-
fication Technology Act of 1998 (34 U.S.C. 
40301)’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘is in compliance with an 
implementation plan established under sub-
section (b) or’’ before ‘‘provides at least 90 per-
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cent of the information described in subsection 
(c)’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘or 
has established an implementation plan under sec-
tion 107’’ after ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE
TO STATES.— 
Section 103 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act 
of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40913) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting before the 
semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, including 
through increased efforts to pre-validate the contents 
of those records to expedite eligibility determina-
tions’’; 
(2) in subsection (e)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘and’’; and 
(ii) by inserting before the period at 
the end the following: ‘‘, and $125,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2018 through 
2022’’; and 
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert-
ing the following— 
‘‘(2) DOMESTIC ABUSE AND VIOLENCE PREVEN-
TION INITIATIVE.— 
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‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—For each of fiscal 
years 2018 through 2022, the Attorney General 
shall create a priority area under the NICS Act 
Record 
Improvement 
Program 
(commonly 
known as ‘NARIP’) for a Domestic Abuse and 
Violence Prevention Initiative that emphasizes 
the need for grantees to identify and upload all 
felony conviction records and domestic violence 
records. 
‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The Attorney General— 
‘‘(i) may use not more than 50 per-
cent of the amounts made available under 
this subsection for each of fiscal years 
2018 through 2022 to carry out the initia-
tive described in subparagraph (A); and 
‘‘(ii) shall give a funding preference 
under NARIP to States that— 
‘‘(I) have established an imple-
mentation plan under section 107; 
and 
‘‘(II) will use amounts made 
available under this subparagraph to 
improve efforts to identify and upload 
all felony conviction records and do-
mestic violence records described in 
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clauses (i), (v), and (vi) of section 
102(b)(1)(C) by not later than Sep-
tember 30, 2022.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Attorney Gen-
eral shall direct the Office of Justice Programs, the Bu-
reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation to— 
‘‘(1) assist States that are not currently eligible 
for grants under this section to achieve compliance 
with all eligibility requirements; and 
‘‘(2) provide technical assistance and training 
services to grantees under this section.’’. 
SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL 
HISTORY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 
(a) STATE GRANT PROGRAM FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE 
IDENTIFICATION, 
INFORMATION, 
AND
COMMUNICA-
TION.—Section 102 of the Crime Identification Tech-
nology Act of 1998 (34 U.S.C. 40301) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(3)— 
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C), 
(D), and (E) as subparagraphs (D), (E), and 
(F), respectively; and 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 
the following: 
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‘‘(C) identification of all individuals who 
have been convicted of a crime punishable by 
imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)(6)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘(18 U.S.C. 922 note)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(34 U.S.C. 40901(b))’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the semicolon at 
the end the following: ‘‘, including through in-
creased efforts to pre-validate the contents of 
felony conviction records and domestic violence 
records to expedite eligibility determinations, 
and measures and resources necessary to estab-
lish and achieve compliance with an implemen-
tation plan under section 107 of the NICS Im-
provement Amendments Act of 2007’’; 
(3) in subsection (d), by inserting after ‘‘un-
less’’ the following: ‘‘the State has achieved compli-
ance with an implementation plan under section 107 
of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 
or’’; and 
(4) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘2002 
through 2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2018 through 2022’’. 
(b) GRANTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF CRIMINAL 
RECORDS.—Section 106(b)(1) of the Brady Handgun Vio-
lence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40302(1)) is amended— 
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(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘as of the date of enact-
ment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘, as of the 
date of enactment of the Fix NICS Act of 
2017,’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘files,’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘files and that will utilize funding 
under this subsection to prioritize the identifica-
tion and transmittal of felony conviction records 
and domestic violence records,’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(3) in subparagraph (C)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘upon establishment of the 
national system,’’; and 
(B) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following— 
‘‘(D) to establish and achieve compliance 
with an implementation plan under section 107 
of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 
2007.’’. 
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SEC. 5. IMPROVING INFORMATION SHARING WITH THE 
STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the NICS Improvement 
Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40911 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 107. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of the Fix NICS Act of 2017, the Attor-
ney General, in coordination with the States and Indian 
tribal governments, shall establish, for each State or In-
dian tribal government, a plan to ensure maximum coordi-
nation and automation of the reporting or making avail-
able of appropriate records to the National Instant Crimi-
nal Background Check System established under section 
103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 
U.S.C. 40901) and the verification of the accuracy of 
those records during a 4-year period specified in the plan. 
The records shall be limited to those of an individual de-
scribed in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(b) BENCHMARK REQUIREMENTS.—Each plan es-
tablished under this section shall include annual bench-
marks to enable the Attorney General to assess the imple-
mentation of the plan, including— 
‘‘(1) qualitative goals and quantitative meas-
ures; and 
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‘‘(2) a needs assessment, including estimated 
compliance costs. 
‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE DETERMINATION.—Not later than 
the end of each fiscal year beginning after the date of the 
establishment of an implementation plan under this sec-
tion, the Attorney General shall determine whether each 
State or Indian tribal government has achieved substantial 
compliance with the benchmarks included in the plan. 
‘‘(d) ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Attorney General— 
‘‘(1) shall disclose and publish, including on the 
website of the Department of Justice— 
‘‘(A) the name of each State or Indian 
tribal government that received a determination 
of failure to achieve substantial compliance with 
an implementation plan under subsection (c) for 
the preceding fiscal year; and 
‘‘(B) a description of the reasons for which 
the Attorney General has determined that the 
State or Indian tribal government is not in sub-
stantial compliance with the implementation 
plan, including, to the greatest extent possible, 
a description of the types and amounts of 
records that have not been submitted; and 
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‘‘(2) if a State or Indian tribal government de-
scribed in paragraph (1) subsequently receives a de-
termination of substantial compliance, shall— 
‘‘(A) immediately correct the applicable 
record; and 
‘‘(B) not later than 3 days after the deter-
mination, remove the record from the website of 
the Department of Justice and any other loca-
tion where the record was published. 
‘‘(e) INCENTIVES.—For each of fiscal years 2018 
through 2022, the Attorney General shall give affirmative 
preference to all Bureau of Justice Assistance discre-
tionary grant applications of a State or Indian tribal gov-
ernment that received a determination of substantial com-
pliance under subsection (c) for the fiscal year in which 
the grant was solicited.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 
section 1(b) of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act 
of 2007 (Public Law 110–180; 121 Stat. 2559) is amend-
ed by inserting after the item relating to section 106 the 
following: 
‘‘Sec. 107. Implementation plan.’’. 
SEC. 6. BJS REPORT ON USE OF BUMP STOCKS IN CRIME. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Justice Statis-
tics shall prepare and submit to the Committee on the Ju-
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diciary of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate a written report that 
specifies the number of times that a bump stock has been 
used in the commission of a crime in the United States. 
(b) DEFINITION OF BUMP STOCK.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘bump stock’’ means a device that— 
(1) attaches to a semiautomatic rifle (as defined 
in section 921(a)(28) of title 18, United States 
Code); 
(2) is designed and intended to repeatedly acti-
vate the trigger without the deliberate and volitional 
act of the user pulling the trigger each time the fire-
arm is fired; and 
(3) functions by continuous forward pressure 
applied to the rifle’s fore end in conjunction with a 
linear forward and backward sliding motion of the 
mechanism utilizing the recoil energy when the rifle 
is discharged. 
Æ 
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