I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3237
To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 2, 2003
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. TOM DAVIS of 
Virginia, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. 
FERGUSON, Mr. FORD, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 
SHAW, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. FOLEY, 
Mr. SOUDER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. 
FROST, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SCOTT of Vir-
ginia, Mr. WATT, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, 
Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. WEINER, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. AN-
DREWS, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. SCHIFF, and Mr. 
CASE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check 
System, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘NICS Improvement Act of 2003’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; 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. 
TITLE II—FOCUSING FEDERAL ASSISTANCE ON THE 
IMPROVEMENT OF RELEVANT RECORDS 
Sec. 201. Continuing evaluations. 
TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATE COURT SYSTEMS FOR THE IM-
PROVEMENT IN AUTOMATION AND TRANSMITTAL OF DISPOSI-
TION 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 632,000 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 August 
31, 2003. 
(2) From November 30, 1998, through August 
31, 2003, over 41,000,000 Brady background checks 
were processed through NICS.
(3) Although most Brady background checks 
are processed through NICS in seconds, many back-
ground 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) Approximately 23,000,000 criminal records 
are either not automated or not accessible by NICS 
and another 15,000,000 criminal records that are 
automated and accessible are missing critical data, 
such as arrest dispositions. 
(5) The primary cause of delay in NICS back-
ground checks is the failure of the States to—
(A) update and make available criminal 
disposition records; and 
(B) provide automated access to informa-
tion concerning persons prohibited from pos-
sessing or receiving a firearm because of mental 
illness, restraining orders, or misdemeanor con-
victions for domestic violence. 
(6) The failure of the States to provide auto-
mated access to this information is principally 
caused by the States’ failure to—
(A) computerize information relating to 
criminal history, criminal dispositions, mental 
illness, restraining orders, and misdemeanor 
convictions for domestic violence; or 
(B) make 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) Twenty States have failed to automate all 
of their felony criminal conviction records. 
(9) Only forty-five percent of the criminal his-
tory records in the Interstate Identification Index, 
maintained by the FBI and used by the NICS, have 
disposition information included. 
(10) Many States do not submit fingerprint-
based records of misdemeanor convictions that may 
disqualify a person from possessing or receiving a 
firearm under section 922(g)(9) of title 18, United 
States Code. 
(11) Forty States do not automate or make ac-
cessible disqualifying mental health records to NICS. 
(12) Only ten States have provided disquali-
fying mental health records to NICS. Of this group, 
eight States have provided less than forty such 
records, one State has provided approximately 1,600
such records, and only one State has provided close 
to complete records by having submitted more than 
50,000 such records. 
(13) Eight States and four territories do not 
automate or make accessible domestic violence re-
straining order records to NICS. 
(14) Fourteen States do not automate or make 
accessible domestic violence misdemeanor conviction 
records to NICS. 
(15) On March 12, 2002, the senseless shoot-
ing, which took the lives of a priest and a parish-
ioner at the Our Lady of Peace Church in Lynbrook, 
New York, brought attention to the lack of informa-
tion sharing enabling Federal and State law enforce-
ment agencies to conduct a complete background 
check on a potential firearm purchaser. The man 
who committed this double murder had a prior dis-
qualifying mental health commitment and a restrain-
ing order against him, but passed a Brady back-
ground check because NICS did not have the nec-
essary information to determine that he was ineli-
gible to purchase a firearm under Federal or State 
law.