H. R. 2640 
One Hundred Tenth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE SECOND SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 
the third day of January, two thousand and eight 
An Act 
To 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) SHORT TILE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NICS Improve-
ment 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 pro-
vide 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. 
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. 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
H. R. 2640—2 
if the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does not have 
automated access to complete information from the States con-
cerning persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a fire-
arm 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 his-
tory, 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 com-
plete background check on a potential firearm purchaser. The 
man who committed this double murder had a prior disquali-
fying 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 Univer-
sity 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 avail-
able to NICS. 
SEC. 3. 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).
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(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. 
TITLE I—TRANSMITTAL OF RECORDS 
SEC. 101. ENHANCEMENT OF REQUIREMENT THAT FEDERAL DEPART-
MENTS AND AGENCIES PROVIDE RELEVANT INFORMA-
TION TO THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACK-
GROUND CHECK SYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(e)(1) of the Brady Handgun 
Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘On request’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) REQUEST OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.—On request’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘furnish such information’’ and inserting 
‘‘furnish electronic versions of the information described under 
subparagraph (A)’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) QUARTERLY SUBMISSION TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
If a Federal department or agency under subparagraph 
(A) has any record of any person demonstrating that the 
person falls within one of the categories described in sub-
section (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States 
Code, the head of such department or agency shall, not 
less frequently than quarterly, provide the pertinent 
information contained in such record to the Attorney Gen-
eral. 
‘‘(D) INFORMATION UPDATES.—The Federal department 
or agency, on being made aware that the basis under 
which a record was made available under subparagraph 
(A) does not apply, or no longer applies, shall— 
‘‘(i) update, correct, modify, or remove the record 
from any database that the agency maintains and 
makes available to the Attorney General, in accordance 
with the rules pertaining to that database; and 
‘‘(ii) notify the Attorney General that such basis 
no longer applies so that the National Instant Criminal 
Background Check System is kept up to date. 
The Attorney General upon receiving notice pursuant to 
clause (ii) shall ensure that the record in the National 
Instant Criminal Background Check System is updated, 
corrected, modified, or removed within 30 days of receipt. 
‘‘(E) ANNUAL
REPORT.—The Attorney General shall 
submit an annual report to Congress that describes the 
compliance of each department or agency with the provi-
sions of this paragraph.’’. 
(b) PROVISION AND MAINTENANCE OF NICS RECORDS.—
H. R. 2640—4 
(1) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—The Secretary 
of Homeland Security shall make available to the Attorney 
General— 
(A) records, updated not less than quarterly, which 
are relevant to a determination of whether a person is 
disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm under 
subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United 
States Code, for use in background checks performed by 
the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; 
and 
(B) information regarding all the persons described 
in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph who have changed 
their status to a category not identified under section 
922(g)(5) of title 18, United States Code, for removal, when 
applicable, from the National Instant Criminal Background 
Check System. 
(2) DEPARTMENT
OF
JUSTICE.—The Attorney General 
shall— 
(A) ensure that any information submitted to, or main-
tained by, the Attorney General under this section is kept 
accurate and confidential, as required by the laws, regula-
tions, policies, or procedures governing the applicable 
record system; 
(B) provide for the timely removal and destruction 
of obsolete and erroneous names and information from 
the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; 
and 
(C) work with States to encourage the development 
of computer systems, which would permit electronic 
notification to the Attorney General when— 
(i) a court order has been issued, lifted, or other-
wise removed by order of the court; or 
(ii) a person has been adjudicated as a mental 
defective or committed to a mental institution. 
(c) STANDARD FOR ADJUDICATIONS AND COMMITMENTS RELATED 
TO MENTAL HEALTH.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—No department or agency of the Federal 
Government may provide to the Attorney General any record 
of an adjudication related to the mental health of a person 
or any commitment of a person to a mental institution if— 
(A) the adjudication or commitment, respectively, has 
been set aside or expunged, or the person has otherwise 
been fully released or discharged from all mandatory treat-
ment, supervision, or monitoring; 
(B) the person has been found by a court, board, 
commission, or other lawful authority to no longer suffer 
from the mental health condition that was the basis of 
the adjudication or commitment, respectively, or has other-
wise been found to be rehabilitated through any procedure 
available under law; or 
(C) the adjudication or commitment, respectively, is 
based solely on a medical finding of disability, without 
an opportunity for a hearing by a court, board, commission, 
or other lawful authority, and the person has not been 
adjudicated as a mental defective consistent with section 
922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code, except that 
nothing in this section or any other provision of law shall
H. R. 2640—5 
prevent a Federal department or agency from providing 
to the Attorney General any record demonstrating that 
a person was adjudicated to be not guilty by reason of 
insanity, or based on lack of mental responsibility, or found 
incompetent to stand trial, in any criminal case or under 
the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 
(2) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN ADJUDICATIONS AND COMMIT-
MENTS.— 
(A) PROGRAM FOR RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Each department or agency of 
the United States that makes any adjudication related 
to the mental health of a person or imposes any 
commitment to a mental institution, as described in 
subsection (d)(4) and (g)(4) of section 922 of title 18, 
United States Code, shall establish, not later than 
120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, a 
program that permits such a person to apply for relief 
from the disabilities imposed by such subsections. 
(ii) PROCESS.—Each application for relief sub-
mitted under the program required by this subpara-
graph shall be processed not later than 365 days after 
the receipt of the application. If a Federal department 
or agency fails to resolve an application for relief within 
365 days for any reason, including a lack of appro-
priated funds, the department or agency shall be 
deemed for all purposes to have denied such request 
for relief without cause. Judicial review of any petitions 
brought under this clause shall be de novo. 
(iii) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Relief and judicial review 
with respect to the program required by this subpara-
graph shall be available according to the standards 
prescribed in section 925(c) of title 18, United States 
Code. If the denial of a petition for relief has been 
reversed after such judicial review, the court shall 
award the prevailing party, other than the United 
States, a reasonable attorney’s fee for any and all 
proceedings in relation to attaining such relief, and 
the United States shall be liable for such fee. Such 
fee shall be based upon the prevailing rates awarded 
to public interest legal aid organizations in the relevant 
community. 
(B) RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES.—In the case of an adju-
dication related to the mental health of a person or a 
commitment of a person to a mental institution, a record 
of which may not be provided to the Attorney General 
under paragraph (1), including because of the absence of 
a finding described in subparagraph (C) of such paragraph, 
or from which a person has been granted relief under 
a program established under subparagraph (A) or (B), or 
because of a removal of a record under section 103(e)(1)(D) 
of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, the adju-
dication or commitment, respectively, shall be deemed not 
to have occurred for purposes of subsections (d)(4) and 
(g)(4) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code. Any 
Federal agency that grants a person relief from disabilities 
under this subparagraph shall notify such person that the 
person is no longer prohibited under 922(d)(4) or 922(g)(4)
H. R. 2640—6 
of title 18, United States Code, on account of the relieved 
disability for which relief was granted pursuant to a pro-
ceeding conducted under this subparagraph, with respect 
to the acquisition, receipt, transfer, shipment, transpor-
tation, or possession of firearms. 
(3) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—Effective 30 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, any Federal department or agency 
that conducts proceedings to adjudicate a person as a mental 
defective under 922(d)(4) or 922(g)(4) of title 18, United States 
Code, shall provide both oral and written notice to the indi-
vidual at the commencement of the adjudication process 
including— 
(A) notice that should the agency adjudicate the person 
as a mental defective, or should the person be committed 
to a mental institution, such adjudication, when final, or 
such commitment, will prohibit the individual from pur-
chasing, possessing, receiving, shipping or transporting a 
firearm or ammunition under section 922(d)(4) or section 
922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code; 
(B) information about the penalties imposed for unlaw-
ful possession, receipt, shipment or transportation of a 
firearm under section 924(a)(2) of title 18, United States 
Code; and 
(C) information about the availability of relief from 
the disabilities imposed by Federal laws with respect to 
the acquisition, receipt, transfer, shipment, transportation, 
or possession of firearms. 
(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except for paragraph (3), this sub-
section shall apply to names and other information provided 
before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act. Any 
name or information provided in violation of this subsection 
(other than in violation of paragraph (3)) before, on, or after 
such date shall be removed from the National Instant Criminal 
Background Check System. 
SEC. 102. REQUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN WAIVER. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 3 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, a State shall be eligible to receive a waiver 
of the 10 percent matching requirement for National Criminal His-
tory Improvement Grants under the Crime Identification Tech-
nology Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 14601) if the State provides at 
least 90 percent of the information described in subsection (c). 
The length of such a waiver shall not exceed 2 years. 
(b) STATE ESTIMATES.— 
(1) INITIAL STATE ESTIMATE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—To assist the Attorney General in 
making a determination under subsection (a) of this section, 
and under section 104, concerning the compliance of the 
States in providing information to the Attorney General 
for the purpose of receiving a waiver under subsection 
(a) of this section, or facing a loss of funds under section 
104, by a date not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, each State shall provide 
the Attorney General with a reasonable estimate, as cal-
culated by a method determined by the Attorney General 
and in accordance with section 104(d), of the number of 
the records described in subparagraph (C) applicable to
H. R. 2640—7 
such State that concern persons who are prohibited from 
possessing or receiving a firearm under subsection (g) or 
(n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code. 
(B) FAILURE TO PROVIDE INITIAL ESTIMATE.—A State 
that fails to provide an estimate described in subparagraph 
(A) by the date required under such subparagraph shall 
be ineligible to receive any funds under section 103, until 
such date as it provides such estimate to the Attorney 
General. 
(C) RECORD DEFINED.—For purposes of subparagraph 
(A), a record is the following: 
(i) A record that identifies a person who has been 
convicted in any court of a crime punishable by impris-
onment for a term exceeding 1 year. 
(ii) A record that identifies a person for whom 
an indictment has been returned for a crime punishable 
by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year that 
is valid under the laws of the State involved or who 
is a fugitive from justice, as of the date of the estimate, 
and for which a record of final disposition is not avail-
able. 
(iii) A record that identifies a person who is an 
unlawful user of, or addicted to a controlled substance 
(as such terms ‘‘unlawful user’’ and ‘‘addicted’’ are 
respectively defined in regulations implementing sec-
tion 922(g)(3) of title 18, United States Code, as in 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act) as 
demonstrated by arrests, convictions, and adjudica-
tions, and whose record is not protected from disclosure 
to the Attorney General under any provision of State 
or Federal law. 
(iv) A record that identifies a person who has 
been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed 
to a mental institution, consistent with section 
922(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code, and whose 
record is not protected from disclosure to the Attorney 
General under any provision of State or Federal law. 
(v) A record that is electronically available and 
that identifies a person who, as of the date of such 
estimate, is subject to a court order described in section 
922(g)(8) of title 18, United States Code. 
(vi) A record that is electronically available and 
that identifies a person convicted in any court of a 
misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, as defined 
in section 921(a)(33) of title 18, United States Code. 
(2) SCOPE.—The Attorney General, in determining the 
compliance of a State under this section or section 104 for 
the purpose of granting a waiver or imposing a loss of Federal 
funds, shall assess the total percentage of records provided 
by the State concerning any event occurring within the prior 
20 years, which would disqualify a person from possessing 
a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 
18, United States Code. 
(3) CLARIFICATION.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), States 
shall endeavor to provide the National Instant Criminal Back-
ground Check System with all records concerning persons who 
are prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm under
H. R. 2640—8 
subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States 
Code, regardless of the elapsed time since the disqualifying 
event. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY OF STATE RECORDS FOR SUBMISSION TO THE 
NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM.— 
(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—From the information collected by 
a State, the State shall make electronically available to 
the Attorney General records relevant to a determination 
of whether a person is disqualified from possessing or 
receiving a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of section 
922 of title 18, United States Code, or applicable State 
law. 
(B) NICS UPDATES.—The State, on being made aware 
that the basis under which a record was made available 
under subparagraph (A) does not apply, or no longer 
applies, shall, as soon as practicable— 
(i) update, correct, modify, or remove the record 
from any database that the Federal or State govern-
ment maintains and makes available to the National 
Instant Criminal Background Check System, consistent 
with the rules pertaining to that database; and 
(ii) notify the Attorney General that such basis 
no longer applies so that the record system in which 
the record is maintained is kept up to date. 
The Attorney General upon receiving notice pursuant to 
clause (ii) shall ensure that the record in the National 
Instant Criminal Background Check System is updated, 
corrected, modified, or removed within 30 days of receipt. 
(C) CERTIFICATION.—To remain eligible for a waiver 
under subsection (a), a State shall certify to the Attorney 
General, not less than once during each 2-year period, 
that at least 90 percent of all records described in subpara-
graph (A) has been made electronically available to the 
Attorney General in accordance with subparagraph (A). 
(D) INCLUSION OF ALL RECORDS.—For purposes of this 
paragraph, a State shall identify and include all of the 
records described under subparagraph (A) without regard 
to the age of the record. 
(2) APPLICATION TO PERSONS CONVICTED OF MISDEMEANOR 
CRIMES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The State shall make avail-
able to the Attorney General, for use by the National Instant 
Criminal Background Check System, records relevant to a 
determination of whether a person has been convicted in any 
court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. With respect 
to records relating to such crimes, the State shall provide 
information specifically describing the offense and the specific 
section or subsection of the offense for which the defendant 
has been convicted and the relationship of the defendant to 
the victim in each case. 
(3) APPLICATION TO PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN ADJUDICATED 
AS A MENTAL DEFECTIVE OR COMMITTED TO A MENTAL INSTITU-
TION.—The State shall make available to the Attorney General, 
for use by the National Instant Criminal Background Check 
System, the name and other relevant identifying information 
of persons adjudicated as a mental defective or those committed