Click here to view ABC News story on NICS with Brady President Paul Helmke.

On January 8, 2008, the President signed the National Instant Check System (NICS) Improvement Amendments Act of 2007. The NICS system was first implemented in 1998, as required by the Brady Law.

The legislation will help ensure that fewer guns end up in the hands of dangerous people like felons and those who have been found to be a threat to themselves or others because of mental illness.

This is the first major piece of legislation to reduce gun violence to be signed into law in more than a decade. It was passed in response to the Virginia Tech massacre. The killer was able to arm himself because the court order that should have blocked his gun purchase was not reported to the national Brady background check system.

In the fall, fifteen family members and survivors of the Virginia Tech massacre urged Congress at a national press conference to pass legislation that would help prevent people like the Virginia Tech shooter from getting guns. They were joined by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy with Sarah Brady and Brady President Paul Helmke on Capitol Hill.

They were part of a group of more than fifty family members and survivors who had signed the letter to Congress with a simple message: finish work on legislation that could prevent future tragedies.