The current NICS is required by federal law -- the Brady Act of 1993 -- to destroy background check request records within 24 hours.

CNN: Background checks on gun sales: How do they work?

Possibilities include directing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to prod states to submit more records, upgrading technology to automatically notify law enforcement when someone fails a background check and improving incentives for states to submit records.

WSJ: Systemic Gaps Hinder Background Checks for Gun Purchases

Jared Loughner was not in the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) that records the names of people of deemed ineligible to purchase a weapon.

FORBES: The Insane Tragedy of Being Incompetent to Stand Trial AND Allowed to Buy a Glock 19