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Update: On March 23, 2018, President Donald Trump signed an omnibus spending bill into law that contained the (unaltered) provisions of the Fix NICS Act. Texas Senator John Cornyn, one of the co-sponsors of the bill (along with Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy) tweeted the following in response: “The benefits of Omnibus to…fixing gun background check system are important and will save lives.” Thanks to everyone who took this action!
The congressional response to shootings in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, and so many other American towns and cities has been disappointing to say the least. But Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) have teamed up for a clean bill that would prevent a lot of dangerous people from getting guns. The bill is titled the Fix NICS Act of 2017.
The bill would take a number of critical steps to improve the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is queried during background checks for gun buyers:
- Creates new structure and oversight over federal agencies’ submission of records to NICS.
- Provides new incentives to states to get these records into NICS.
- Directs the Attorney General to work with state governments to ensure their progress in providing records NICS, with a special focus on domestic violence records.
Most importantly, this bill is free of the noxious, NRA-drafted language that has polluted gun reform bills like Manchin-Toomey and King-Thompson.
Please call your two U.S. Senators through the U.S. Capitol Hotline at (202) 224-3121 and give them the following message:
I am delighted to see Senators Murphy and Cornyn introduce a clean bill to improve our National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the Fix NICS Act of 2017. I want you to use all the authority and influence you have in the Senate to ensure that this bill succeeds and is passed on the Senate floor. Please co-sponsor this legislation as well. If you have colleagues who have not yet co-sponsored the Fix NICS Act, talk to them and ask them to do so. Most importantly, DO NOT allow the NRA to attach noxious amendments to this bill that take us backwards on public safety. Keep it clean! I will be watching your actions on this bill closely and making future voting/organizing/contribution decisions based on them.
If you don’t know who your two Senators are, or want their direct-dial numbers, click here:
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Once you have contacted your Senators, click the orange banner below to report taking action!