Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1236 To support State, Tribal, and local efforts to remove access to firearms from individuals who are a danger to themselves or others pursuant to court orders for this purpose. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 14, 2019 Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BEYER, Mr. DEUTCH, and Ms. BROWNLEY of California) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To support State, Tribal, and local efforts to remove access to firearms from individuals who are a danger to them- selves or others pursuant to court orders for this pur- pose. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Extreme Risk Protec- 4 tion Order Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1236 IH (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means— 2 (A) a State or Indian Tribe— 3 (i) that enacts legislation described in 4 section 4; 5 (ii) with respect to which the Attorney 6 General determines that the legislation de- 7 scribed in clause (i) complies with the re- 8 quirements of section 4; and 9 (iii) that certifies to the Attorney 10 General that the State or Indian Tribe 11 shall— 12 (I) use the grant for the purposes 13 described in section 3(b); and 14 (II) allocate not less than 25 per- 15 cent of the amount received under a 16 grant under section 3 for training for 17 law enforcement; or 18 (B) a unit of local government or other 19 public or private entity that— 20 (i) is located in a State or in the terri- 21 tory under the jurisdiction of an Indian 22 Tribe that meets the requirements de- 23 scribed in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) of subpara- 24 graph (A); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1236 IH (ii) certifies to the Attorney General 1 that the unit of local government or entity 2 shall— 3 (I) use the grant for the purposes 4 described in section 3(b); and 5 (II) allocate not less than 25 per- 6 cent of the amount received under a 7 grant under section 3 for training for 8 law enforcement. 9 (2) EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER.—The 10 term ‘‘extreme risk protection order’’ means a writ- 11 ten order or warrant, issued by a State or Tribal 12 court or signed by a magistrate (or other com- 13 parable judicial officer), the primary purpose of 14 which is to reduce the risk of firearm-related death 15 or injury by doing one or more of the following: 16 (A) Prohibiting a named individual from 17 having under the custody or control of the indi- 18 vidual, owning, purchasing, possessing, or re- 19 ceiving a firearm. 20 (B) Having a firearm removed or requiring 21 the surrender of firearms from a named indi- 22 vidual. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1236 IH (3) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the 1 meaning given the term in section 921 of title 18, 2 United States Code. 3 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 4 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 5 section 1709 of the Public Safety and Community 6 Policing Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 10389). 7 (5) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 8 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means a public servant 9 authorized by State, local, or Tribal law or by a 10 State, local, or Tribal government agency to— 11 (A) engage in or supervise the prevention, 12 detection, investigation, or prosecution of an of- 13 fense; or 14 (B) supervise sentenced criminal offenders. 15 (6) PETITIONER.—The term ‘‘petitioner’’ 16 means an individual authorized under State or Trib- 17 al law to petition for an extreme risk protection 18 order. 19 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 20 (A) a State; 21 (B) the District of Columbia; 22 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1236 IH (D) any other territory or possession of the 1 United States. 2 (8) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 3 ‘‘unit of local government’’ has the meaning given 4 the term in section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Con- 5 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 6 10251). 7 SEC. 3. EXTREME RISK PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 9 Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department 10 of Justice shall establish a program under which, from 11 amounts made available to carry out this section, the Di- 12 rector may make grants to eligible entities to assist in car- 13 rying out the provisions of the legislation described in sec- 14 tion 4. 15 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under this sec- 16 tion may be used by an applicant to— 17 (1) enhance the capacity of law enforcement 18 agencies and the courts of a State, unit of local gov- 19 ernment, or Indian Tribe by providing personnel, 20 training, technical assistance, data collection, and 21 other resources to carry out legislation described in 22 section 4; 23 (2) train judges, court personnel, and law en- 24 forcement officers to more accurately identify indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1236 IH viduals whose access to firearms poses a danger of 1 causing harm to themselves or others by increasing 2 the risk of firearms suicide or interpersonal violence; 3 (3) develop and implement law enforcement and 4 court protocols, forms, and orders so that law en- 5 forcement agencies and the courts may carry out the 6 provisions of the legislation described in section 4 in 7 a safe and effective manner, including through the 8 removal and storage of firearms pursuant to extreme 9 risk protection orders under the legislation; and 10 (4) raise public awareness and understanding of 11 the legislation described in section 4 so that extreme 12 risk protection orders may be issued in appropriate 13 situations to reduce the risk of firearms-related 14 death and injury. 15 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a grant 16 under this section shall submit to the Attorney General 17 an application at such time, in such manner, and con- 18 taining or accompanied by such information as the Attor- 19 ney General may reasonably require. 20 (d) INCENTIVES.—For each of fiscal years 2020 21 through 2024, the Attorney General shall give affirmative 22 preference in awarding any discretionary grant awarded 23 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance to a State or Indian 24 Tribe that has enacted legislation described in section 4. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1236 IH (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec- 2 essary to carry out this section. 3 SEC. 4. NATIONAL EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER 4 LAW. 5 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Legislation described in this 6 section is legislation that establishes requirements that are 7 substantially similar to the following: 8 (1) APPLICATION FOR EXTREME RISK PROTEC- 9 TION ORDER.—A petitioner, including a law enforce- 10 ment officer, may submit an application to a State 11 or Tribal court, on a form designed by the court or 12 a State or Tribal agency, that— 13 (A) describes the facts and circumstances 14 justifying that an extreme risk protection order 15 be issued against the named individual; and 16 (B) is signed by the applicant, under oath. 17 (2) NOTICE.—The individual named in an ap- 18 plication for an extreme risk protection order as de- 19 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be given written no- 20 tice of the application and an opportunity to be 21 heard on the matter in accordance with this section. 22 (3) ISSUANCE OF EXTREME RISK PROTECTION 23 ORDERS.— 24 (A) HEARING.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1236 IH (i) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of an 1 application described in paragraph (1), the 2 court shall order a hearing to be held not 3 later than 30 days after the date of such 4 application. 5 (ii) DETERMINATION.—If the court 6 finds by a preponderance of the evidence 7 that the respondent poses a danger of 8 causing harm to himself, herself, or others 9 by having access to a firearm, the court 10 may issue an extreme risk protection 11 order. 12 (B) LENGTH OF EXTREME RISK PROTEC- 13 TION ORDER.—An extreme risk protection order 14 shall be in effect for a period not to exceed 1 15 year, unless renewed. 16 (4) EX PARTE EXTREME RISK PROTECTION OR- 17 DERS.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of an ap- 19 plication described in paragraph (1), the court 20 may issue an ex parte extreme risk protection 21 order before conducting the hearing required 22 under paragraph (3), if— 23 (i) the application for an extreme risk 24 protection order alleges that the respond- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1236 IH ent poses a danger of causing harm to 1 himself, herself, or others in the near fu- 2 ture by having access to a firearm; and 3 (ii) the court finds there is reasonable 4 cause to believe that the respondent poses 5 a danger of causing harm to himself, her- 6 self, or others in the near future by having 7 access to a firearm. 8 (B) LENGTH OF EX PARTE EXTREME RISK 9 PROTECTION ORDER.—An ex parte extreme risk 10 protection order shall be in effect for a period 11 not to exceed 30 days, unless continued for 12 good cause. 13 (5) STORAGE OF REMOVED FIREARMS.—All 14 firearms removed or surrendered pursuant to an ex- 15 treme risk protection order shall be retained by a 16 law enforcement officer or a law enforcement agency 17 until the named individual regains his or her eligi- 18 bility to possess firearms, except that the legislation 19 may authorize a law enforcement agency to— 20 (A) contract with a manufacturer, dealer, 21 or importer licensed under chapter 44 of title 22 18, United States Code, for the secure storage 23 of firearms; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1236 IH (B) transfer the firearm upon proof that 1 the named individual will no longer have access 2 to the firearm. 3 (6) NOTIFICATION.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State or tribal court 5 that issues an extreme risk protection order 6 shall notify the Department of Justice or the 7 comparable State or Tribal agency, as applica- 8 ble, of the order as soon as practicable. Such 9 notice shall be submitted in an electronic for- 10 mat, in a manner prescribed by the Department 11 of Justice or the comparable State or Tribal 12 agency. 13 (B) UPDATE OF DATABASES.—As soon as 14 practicable after receiving a notification under 15 subparagraph (A), the Department of Justice 16 or the comparable State or Tribal agency shall 17 ensure the extreme risk protection order is re- 18 flected in the National Instant Criminal Back- 19 ground Check System. 20 (7) CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTIONS.—All per- 21 sonally identifiable information provided to the 22 court, the Department of Justice, and comparable 23 State or Tribal agencies shall be kept confidential, 24 except as necessary to carry out the legislation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1236 IH (b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—Legislation de- 1 scribed in this section may— 2 (1) provide procedures for the termination of an 3 extreme risk protection order; 4 (2) provide procedures for the renewal of an ex- 5 treme risk protection order; 6 (3) establish burdens of proof for issuance of 7 orders described in paragraphs (3) and (4) of sub- 8 section (a) that are higher than the burdens of proof 9 required under those paragraphs; and 10 (4) limit the individuals who may submit an ap- 11 plication described in subsection (a)(1), provided 12 that, at a minimum, law enforcement officers are 13 authorized to do so. 14 SEC. 5. FEDERAL FIREARMS PROHIBITION. 15 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 16 amended— 17 (1) in subsection (d)— 18 (A) in paragraph (8)(B)(ii), by striking 19 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 20 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe- 21 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 22 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1236 IH ‘‘(10) is subject to a court order that prohibits 1 such person from having under his or her custody or 2 control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving 3 any firearms, or requires the surrender or removal 4 of firearms from the person, provided that the 5 order— 6 ‘‘(A) is issued in a manner consistent with 7 the due process rights of the person; and 8 ‘‘(B) is based on a finding that the person 9 poses a danger of causing harm to himself, her- 10 self, or others by having access to a firearm.’’; 11 and 12 (2) in subsection (g)— 13 (A) in paragraph (8)(C)(ii), by striking 14 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 15 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the 16 comma at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 17 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(10) is subject to a court order that prohibits 20 such person from having under his or her custody or 21 control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving 22 any firearms, or requires the surrender or removal 23 of firearms from the person, provided that the 24 order— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1236.IH H1236 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1236 IH ‘‘(A) is issued in a manner consistent with 1 the due process rights of the person; and 2 ‘‘(B) is based on a finding that the person 3 poses a danger of causing harm to himself, her- 4 self, or others by having access to a firearm,’’. 5 SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 6 Section 3(1) of the NICS Improvement Amendments [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]