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Updated 08/24/07
In June 2007, the House passed the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Improvement Act (H.R. 2640). The legislation marks the first gun violence prevention legislation passed in the House in over a decade, and clears the way for Senate action.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, Congressman Dingell and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) introduced H.R. 2640, legislation providing states with grants to input records of potentially dangerous individuals into the national database. This bill will provide NICS with better information, better technology and clearer standards to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from slipping through the cracks to obtain weapons.
Congressman Dingell is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. In creating this legislation, he worked with the National Rifle Association to ensure that American’s Second Amendment rights are protected. Not only will this legislation make NICS more effective, it will also ensure that those who have wrongly been included in the system have a way to get out.
Congressman Dingell was a leader in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and was present at it signing by President Johnson. More recently, he supported the renewal of the Voting Rights Act, the passage of the first federal hate crimes bill, and has co-sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
Congressman Dingell was one of only 66 members of the House of Representatives to vote against the USA PATRIOT Act when it was first considered. Congressman Dingell believed that the legislation was rushed to the floor without proper consideration and would endanger the civil liberties protections that Americans have come to cherish. He also voted against the Military Commissions Act when it was considered because of its removal of habeus corpus protections for the accused.
H.R. 2640 - NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007
