Alaska's NICS Act Record Improvement Program

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).

Under the 2016 NARIP award, the Alaska Department of Public Safety will use funds to develop a warrant files validation project and transfer funds to the Alaska Court System (ACS) to support efforts to improve the quality and completeness of records available to NICS.

Under the warrant files validation project, the AK DPS will identify ways in which warrant entry process can be streamlined. In Alaska, warrants are normally issued by a judge or magistrate in the court location where a case is heard. To expedite circulating the warrant, the law enforcement agency that obtains the warrant enters it into the APSIN Warrants database. To get the warrant into NCIC, the originating agency must make a separate entry. Currently, the
data fields and message layout are not the same for APSIN and NCIC. This project will develop the process to address this gap in reporting.

Under the Alaska Court Project, AK DPS will pass through funds to the Alaska Court System to continue efforts to close the gaps in criminal history records that impede the ability of NICS to accurately confirm a prohibited prospective buyer of a firearm. The ACS requests funds to be used to automate complete, accurate and timely mental health adjudications, commitments, and criminal competency determinations. (CA/NCF)