{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ContentRecord_id=BD174A6D-CF7B-4883-91CC-1E13A3E74056", "RELEASE: Hatch Co-Sponsors Bipartisan Fix to Background Check System", "2017-11-16", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "UT", "Orrin Hatch", "H000338", "www.hatch.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\u201cThis is a commonsense solution that closes a hole in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of felons, fugitives, drug addicts, persons with serious mental illness, and other prohibited persons\u201d\r\nWASHINGTON\u00a0\u2013 Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the senior Republican in the United States Senate, joined a bipartisan group of Senators in supporting legislation proposed by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to make important fixes to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.\r\n\u201cI\u2019m pleased to cosponsor Senator Cornyn\u2019s bipartisan Fix NICS Act,\u201d\u00a0Hatch said.\u00a0\u201cThis is a commonsense solution that closes a hole in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of felons, fugitives, drug addicts, persons with serious mental illness, and other prohibited persons. Our proposal will help prevent future tragedies by facilitating better information-sharing to prevent the sale of arms to those who would do us harm.\u201d\r\nThe National Shooting Sports Foundation, which supports the bill, added, \u201cThis legislation will provide states with the necessary resources to promptly and efficiently provide disqualifying records to NICS on those who are prohibited under current law from possessing firearms. Federally licensed firearms retailers rely upon the NICS to prevent the sale of firearms to prohibited persons.\u00a0 This legislation will fix NICS so that background checks are accurate and reliable.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\r\nThe text of the bill can be found\u00a0here.\u00a0\u00a0\r\nSummary of the bill:\r\n \r\nRequires federal agencies and states to create NICS implementation plans focused on uploading information to the background check system showing that a person is prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms under current law\u2014including measures to verify the accuracy of records.\r\n \r\n \r\nHolds federal agencies accountable if they fail to upload relevant records to the background check system through public reporting and prohibiting bonus pay for political appointees.\u00a0\u00a0\r\n \r\n \r\nRewards states that comply with their NICS implementation plans through federal grant preferences and incentives, while also increasing accountability through public reporting for those who do not comply with their plans.\r\n \r\n \r\nReauthorizes and improves important law enforcement programs to help state governments share relevant criminal record information with NICS.\r\n \r\n \r\nCreates a Domestic Abuse and Violence Prevention Initiative to ensure that states have adequate resources and incentives to share relevant information with NICS showing that a felon or domestic abuser is excluded from purchasing firearms under current law.\r\n \r\n \r\nProvides important technical assistance to federal agencies and states that are working to comply with NICS record-sharing requirements.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ContentRecord_id=BD174A6D-CF7B-4883-91CC-1E13A3E74056"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9897719137370586, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}