34 U.S.C. § 40912 — Requirements to obtain waiver

(a) In general Starting 3 years after January 8, 2008, a state can get a waiver of the 10 percent matching requirement for National Criminal History Improvement Grants under section 40301 of this title, if the state either follows an implementation plan under subsection (b), or provides at least 90 percent of the records described in subsection (c). Any such waiver lasts no more than 2 years. (b) State estimates (1) Initial state estimate: (A) By 180 days after January 8, 2008, each state must give the Attorney General a reasonable estimate — using a method the Attorney General sets — of how many of its records show people barred from having a firearm under section 922(g) or (n) of title 18. (B) A state that misses this deadline becomes ineligible for funds under section 40913 of this title until it provides the estimate or sets up an implementation plan under section 40917. (C) The records counted here are: (i) convictions for a crime punishable by more than 1 year in prison; (ii) pending indictments for such a crime, or fugitive-from-justice status, where there's no final case outcome yet; (iii) unlawful drug users or addicts, as those terms are defined under section 922(g)(3), shown by arrests, convictions, or adjudications, where disclosure to the Attorney General isn't otherwise barred by law; (iv) people adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution under section 922(g)(4), where disclosure isn't otherwise barred; (v) people currently subject to a court order described in section 922(g)(8), where the record is electronically available; and (vi) people convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, as defined in section 921(a)(33), where the record is electronically available. (2) Scope: To decide whether to grant a waiver or cut off funds, the Attorney General looks at the share of records a state has provided covering any disqualifying event within the past 20 years. (3) Clarification: Despite the 20-year window in paragraph (2), states should still try to give NICS all records of people barred from having a gun, no matter how long ago the disqualifying event happened. (c) Eligibility of State records for submission to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (1) Requirements for eligibility: (A) A state must make electronically available to the Attorney General any of its records relevant to whether someone is barred from having a firearm under section 922(g) or (n) or applicable state law. (B) If the state learns that the basis for a record no longer applies, it must, as soon as practical, update, correct, or remove that record from any database it shares with NICS, and tell the Attorney General so the national record can be fixed within 30 days. (C) To keep its waiver, a state must certify at least once every 2 years that at least 90 percent of these records have been made electronically available. (D) A state must include all such records, regardless of how old they are. (2) Application to misdemeanor domestic violence convictions: States must give the Attorney General records relevant to misdemeanor domestic violence convictions for NICS use, including the specific offense, the exact statute section, and the defendant's relationship to the victim in each case. (3) Application to mental health adjudications and commitments: States must give the Attorney General the names and other identifying information of people adjudicated as mental defectives or committed to mental institutions, to help enforce section 922(g)(4). (d) Privacy protections For any information given to the Attorney General about people barred under section 922(g)(4), the Attorney General must work with states, local law enforcement, and the mental health community to write rules and procedures that protect the privacy of that information — meeting with mental health groups that want input and developing these rules as quickly as reasonably possible. (e) Attorney General report By January 31 of each year, the Attorney General must report to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees on how states are progressing in automating the databases described in subsection (b) and making that information electronically available under subsection (c).