Scott and Group of Bipartisan Senators Urge Agencies to Fully Implement Fix NICS

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), John Cornyn (R-TX), along with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D- CT), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), today sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General, William Barr, requesting implementation and reporting information from the requisite agencies under the Fix NICS Act, a law passed by Senators Cornyn and Murphy following the shooting in Sutherland Springs, TX.

“Following this horrific shooting, Congress passed the bipartisan Fix NICS Act. This law is an important step in updating our criminal background check system and ensuring that convicted criminals cannot purchase firearms. The Fix NICS Act required a series of steps to be taken and set benchmarks to assess progress in correcting problems with the NICS database,” the Senators wrote.

“Since the enactment of Fix NICS, federal agency record submissions have increased by roughly 400%. Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that several agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, have yet to comply in full with the Fix NICS reporting requirements. These missing records undermine the effectiveness of the NICS system and put innocent lives at risk. As the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General (DOD OIG) Report shows, agencies must implement better policies to ensure they are reporting the necessary and appropriate records to the databases.”

The signed letter is here.

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