Rice Proposes Bill To Stop Domestic Abusers From Buying Guns

U.S. Representatives Kathleen Rice, a Democrat from Garden City, and Ryan Costello, a Pennsylvania Republican, introduced new legislation on Wednesday to help prevent domestic abusers from buying guns by creating incentives for states to provide complete domestic violence records to federal background check databases, and by providing grant funding to help states improve their reporting processes.

The Domestic Violence Records Reporting Improvement Act of 2017, encourages states to improve domestic violence records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in two ways. First, it would require states to properly report domestic violence records in order to be eligible for National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) grants, which provide funding to states to improve reporting of criminal history records and protection orders for gun purchaser background checks and for other reasons.

The bill would require NCHIP grants to be used specifically to improve the accessibility of domestic violence records through NICS, unless the state receiving the grant has already made a certain percentage of its domestic violence records accessible through NICS.

Second, the bill would make NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP) grants more available to states that want to use those grants to improve the accessibility of domestic violence records in NICS. NARIP grants are available to states specifically to improve the reporting of criminal history, mental health and protection order records to NICS for gun purchaser background checks. However, states are currently not eligible for these grants if they haven’t implemented a program that provides a way for people subject to the mental health disqualifiers to regain their gun eligibility. The bill removes that legal barrier so that states that want to improve domestic violence reporting are not denied funding that can help them do so.

"When domestic abusers can easily buy guns, their partners too often end up dead – that’s what happens when our background check system lacks complete, up-to-date domestic violence records from every state in the country," said Rice. "Our bipartisan bill creates common-sense incentives for states to improve their reporting of domestic violence records so that we can enforce the law, keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and save lives. New York has been a national leader when it comes to reporting domestic violence records, and this bill will help ensure that every state in the country approaches this problem with the same level of commitment."

Research has shown that victims of domestic violence are at a much higher risk of being killed if their abuser owns a gun, which is why federal law restricts gun ownership for individuals who have been convicted of certain domestic violence misdemeanors, as well as people who are subject to certain kinds of restraining orders. However, domestic abusers who meet these criteria are still often able to pass background checks and buy guns because the federal background check system lacks sufficient information on domestic violence records.

This proposed bill aims to fill in that gap and make the background check records more complete, and thereby keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them.

Photo: Kathleen Rice's office