FY 2021 NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP)

Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 40912, the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NIAA) addresses the gap in information available to NICS about prohibiting mental health adjudications and commitments and other prohibiting factors. Filling these information gaps will better enable the system to operate as intended to keep guns out of the hands of persons prohibited by federal or state law from receiving or possessing firearms. The automation of records also reduces delays for law-abiding persons to purchase firearms. The NIAA authorized a grant program to assist states in providing certain information...

The following entities are eligible to apply: The agency designated by the Governor in each state to administer the National Criminal History Improvement Program (34 U.S.C. § 40301) The state or territory central administrative office or similar entity designated by statute or regulation to administer federal grant funds on behalf of the jurisdiction’s court system Federally recognized tribal governments. 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 2021 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 subaward. For detailed information on this new certification requirement, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/SafePolicingEO to access the Standards for Certification on Safe Policing for Safe Communities, Implementation Fact Sheet, and List of Designated Independent Credentialing Bodies. For additional information on eligibility, see Eligibility Information. All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.

For technical assistance with submitting the SF-424 and SF- LLL in Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726, 606-545-5035, at Grants.gov customer support webpage, or email at support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except on federal holidays. For technical assistance with submitting the full application in DOJ’s Justice Grants System (JustGrants), contact the JustGrants Service Desk at JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov or at 833-872-5175. The JustGrants Service Desk operates 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST Monday - Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, and Federal holidays. An applicant that experiences unforeseen Grants.gov or JustGrants technical issues beyond its control that prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline must email the BJS contact identified below within 24 hours after the application deadline to request approval to submit its application after the deadline. For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Devon Adams, Chief, Criminal Justice Data Improvement Program, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at AskBJS@usdoj.gov. Include "NARIP21" in the subject line. AskBJS@usdoj.gov