General Information – NICS Index
In November 1993, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 (Brady Act), Public Law 103-159, was signed into law requiring Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL) to request background checks on prospective firearm transferees. The permanent provisions of the Brady Act, effective November 30, 1998, required the U.S. Attorney General to establish the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). FFLs may contact the NICS by telephone, or other electronic means, to determine whether or not the transfer of a firearm would violate Section 922 (g) or (n) of Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C.), or state law.
The NICS is a national system that checks available records in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the Interstate Identification Index (III), and the NICS Index to determine if prospective transferees are disqualified from receiving firearms.
Prohibiting Categories Defined by Statute
The NICS Index contains information that may not be available in the NCIC or the III of persons prohibited from receiving firearms under federal or state law. A valid match of a NICS Index record to a prospective firearm transferee results in an immediate determination of firearm dis-qualification. NICS Index records are voluntarily provided by local, state, tribal, and federal agencies.
Section 922(g) of the Gun Control Act prohibits certain persons from shipping or transporting any firearm in interstate or foreign commerce, or receiving any firearm which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or possessing any firearm in or affecting commerce. These prohibitions apply to any person who:
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (1)
Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (2)
Is a fugitive from justice
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (3)
Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (4)
Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (5)
Is an alien illegally or unlaw-fully in the United States or who has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa.
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (6)
Has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (7)
Having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced U.S. citizenship
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (8)
Is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner
18, U.S.C. §922 (g) (9)
Has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
18, U.S.C. §922 (n)
Is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year
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