Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2014, $75,600)
The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-180 ("NICS Improvement Act"), was signed into law by the President on January 8, 2008. The NICS Improvement Act amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 ("the Brady Act") (Pub. L. 103-159), under which the Attorney General established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The Brady Act requires Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) to contact the NICS before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person for information on whether the proposed transferee is prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm under state or federal law. The NICS Improvement Act authorizes grants to be made in a manner consistent with the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP).
On April 22, 2014, the Alaska legislature enacted a new statute which authorizes the state to submit non-criminal mental health adjudications to the NICS Index. Currently, there are no Alaska records being submitted to any files in the in the NICS Index.
Under this award, the Alaska Department of Public Safety will use funds to develop a denied persons file within the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN), the state's unified criminal justice information system, to collect, store, and transmit mental health adjudications, felony convictions without fingerprints, and qualifying domestic violence protective orders to the NICS Index. These records will become immediately available to law enforcement upon a NICS inquiry to determine firearm eligibility. (CA/NCF)