FY 2020 NICS Act Record Improvement (NARIP)

The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, P. L. 110-180 ("NIAA"), was initially signed into law by the President on January 8, 2008 (reauthorized by Title VI of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, P.L. 115-141). The NIAA 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 NIAA authorizes grants to be made in a manner consistent with the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). Alabama has experienced a number of organizational and administrative changes in the past four years that have posed challenges and opportunities related to the ongoing operations for criminal justice information within the state. This proposed project aims to help address some of the challenges, plus develop and implement new processes to take advantage of new opportunities. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) seeks funding to identify the current statewide status of disposition submissions and develop a standards-based platform for the centralized submission, validation, and sharing of dispositions in Alabama. The system will reduce the overall disposition processing time, and increase the disposition record flow volume that may be limited by current processes, including those workflows that include paper as a component. A database analyst, with expertise in integrating data, will be hired to assist with the design of the database. (CA/NCF)