Jim Sensenbrenner: “I am pleased that H.R. 38, as amended, includes the Fix NICS Act. I have long supported the National Instant Criminal…”

“I am pleased that H.R. 38, as amended, includes the Fix NICS Act. I have long supported the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. NICS is about saving lives and protecting people from harm by preventing guns from falling into the wrong hands. It does this without interfering in the timely transfer of firearms to eligible gun buyers. I was the original cosponsor of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and worked diligently for its passage. I strongly supported this bill because it makes sense to prevent convicted felons and individuals judged to be mentally ill from obtaining guns. At the time of negotiations, I insisted on the inclusion of the NICS program. Under this system, firearms dealers use the FBI's NICS system to cross-reference with a list of known convicted felons, drug users, illegal aliens, and those convicted of domestic violence. As I have stated many times, the NICS system is only as good as the records that are put into it. Too often, people who otherwise would not pass a background check can slip through the cracks and buy guns. After the recent shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, the U.S. Air Force disclosed that it had failed to report the gunman's history of domestic assault to the database, which should have prevented him from purchasing a firearm in the first place.…”