Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Grant: FY 2022 NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP)

To advance Executive Order 13929 Safe Policing for Safe Communities, the Attorney General determined that all state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process, to be eligible for FY 2022 DOJ discretionary grant funding. To become certified, the law enforcement agency must meet two mandatory conditions: (1) the agency’s use-of-force policies adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and (2) the agency’s use-of-force policies prohibit chokeholds except in situations where use of deadly force is allowed by law. The certification requirement also applies to law enforcement agencies receiving DOJ discretionary grant funding through a sub-award. For detailed information on this certification requirement, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/SafePolicingEO to access the Standards for Certification on Safe Policing for Safe Communities, the Implementation Fact Sheet, and the List of Designated Independent Credentialing Bodies.

All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.

The NIAA authorized a grant program to assist states in providing certain information to the NICS and prescribes grant penalties for noncompliance with the NIAA’s record completeness goals. Additionally, pursuant to the Act, there are certain conditions, described under Eligibility Information, that a state must satisfy in advance of receiving grants under the Act.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is publishing this notice to announce the continuation of the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP) in fiscal year (FY) 2022, identify the program priorities, and provide information on application requirements. This year, BJS is prioritizing the use of funds for two purposes: (1) to enhance the completeness, automation, and transmittal of records to state and federal systems used by the NICS, and (2) to improve the overall reporting of persons prohibited from possessing firearms for reasons related to domestic violence and mental health to the NICS.