Bill > S1738

This bill, the Safer Communities Act of 2015, aims to enhance public safety by strengthening mental health infrastructure, improving the understanding of violence, reinforcing firearm prohibitions for at-risk individuals, and improving the reporting of mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It proposes to achieve this by investing in programs that identify, treat, and mitigate behavioral health crises, prioritizing research into the causes and risk factors of gun violence, and restricting firearm access for individuals deemed at high risk of committing violent acts. The bill also includes provisions for grant programs to support school-based mental health initiatives, justice and mental health collaboration, and research on violence, while also enhancing the National Violent Death Reporting System and clarifying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's authority to research gun violence without advocating for gun control. Furthermore, it seeks to improve the accuracy and completeness of NICS by encouraging states to submit more mental health and criminal records and by establishing penalties for states that fail to meet reporting benchmarks.