FY 2018 Virginia 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 2018 NARIP priority areas, the Virginia State Police (VSP) will administer and monitor a project to enhance the current Virginia instant criminal background check system (VCheck):

1) POC VCheck System: The VSP will use NARIP funds to design and build a new framework and user interface to provide a set of options for the front end of VCheck application. VCheck is used to perform NICS background checks for the purchase of a firearm and is used extensively by internal and external users. The current technology of the VCheck application was developed in 2009 and restricts it from new and advanced features available with the latest technology. The VCheck enhancement is necessary in order to improve the quality of work of the existing VCheck application’s performance response time for each transaction; including workflow redesign, auto-generated billing invoices, improved customer support services and technology supportability. VSP will hire contractual IT staff to help create the internal firearms transaction entry screens and background check; gun query functionality; disposition of firearms functionality; seller and dealer modules; and site administration functions. A business analyst will also be contracted to design the renovation of the VCheck system and be responsible for the oversight and operations, including drafting the system requirements to accomplish the project goals.

(CA/NCF)