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 referred 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 themselves or others pursuant to court orders for this purpose.
1

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Extreme Risk Protec-

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5 tion Order Act of 2019’’.

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6

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7

In this Act:

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1
2

(1) ELIGIBLE

term ‘‘eligible enti-

ty’’ means—

3

(A) a State or Indian Tribe—

4

(i) that enacts legislation described in

5

section 4;

6

(ii) with respect to which the Attorney

7

General determines that the legislation de-

8

scribed in clause (i) complies with the re-

9

quirements of section 4; and

10

(iii) that certifies to the Attorney

11

General that the State or Indian Tribe

12

shall—

13

(I) use the grant for the purposes

14

described in section 3(b); and

15

(II) allocate not less than 25 per-

16

cent of the amount received under a

17

grant under section 3 for training for

18

law enforcement; or

19

(B) a unit of local government or other

20

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ENTITY.—The

public or private entity that—

21

(i) is located in a State or in the terri-

22

tory under the jurisdiction of an Indian

23

Tribe that meets the requirements de-

24

scribed in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) of subpara-

25

graph (A); and

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(ii) certifies to the Attorney General

2

that the unit of local government or entity

3

shall—

4

(I) use the grant for the purposes

5

described in section 3(b); and

6

(II) allocate not less than 25 per-

7

cent of the amount received under a

8

grant under section 3 for training for

9

law enforcement.

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10

(2) EXTREME

RISK PROTECTION ORDER.—The

11

term ‘‘extreme risk protection order’’ means a writ-

12

ten order or warrant, issued by a State or Tribal

13

court or signed by a magistrate (or other com-

14

parable judicial officer), the primary purpose of

15

which is to reduce the risk of firearm-related death

16

or injury by doing one or more of the following:

17

(A) Prohibiting a named individual from

18

having under the custody or control of the indi-

19

vidual, owning, purchasing, possessing, or re-

20

ceiving a firearm.

21

(B) Having a firearm removed or requiring

22

the surrender of firearms from a named indi-

23

vidual.

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1

(3) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the

2

meaning given the term in section 921 of title 18,

3

United States Code.

4

(4) INDIAN

term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’

5

has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in

6

section 1709 of the Public Safety and Community

7

Policing Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 10389).

8

(5) LAW

ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The

‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means a public servant

10

authorized by State, local, or Tribal law or by a

11

State, local, or Tribal government agency to—

12

(A) engage in or supervise the prevention,

13

detection, investigation, or prosecution of an of-

14

fense; or
(B) supervise sentenced criminal offenders.

16

(6)

PETITIONER.—The

term

‘‘petitioner’’

17

means an individual authorized under State or Trib-

18

al law to petition for an extreme risk protection

19

order.

20

(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means—

21

(A) a State;

22

(B) the District of Columbia;

23

(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;

24

and

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term

9

15

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TRIBE.—The

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1

(D) any other territory or possession of the

2

United States.

3

(8) UNIT

OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The

term

4

‘‘unit of local government’’ has the meaning given

5

the term in section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Con-

6

trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C.

7

10251).

8

SEC. 3. EXTREME RISK PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.

9

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of

10 Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department
11 of Justice shall establish a program under which, from
12 amounts made available to carry out this section, the Di13 rector may make grants to eligible entities to assist in car14 rying out the provisions of the legislation described in sec15 tion 4.
16

(b) USE

OF

FUNDS.—Funds awarded under this sec-

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17 tion may be used by an applicant to—
18

(1) enhance the capacity of law enforcement

19

agencies and the courts of a State, unit of local gov-

20

ernment, or Indian Tribe by providing personnel,

21

training, technical assistance, data collection, and

22

other resources to carry out legislation described in

23

section 4;

24

(2) train judges, court personnel, and law en-

25

forcement officers to more accurately identify indi-

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1

viduals whose access to firearms poses a danger of

2

causing harm to themselves or others by increasing

3

the risk of firearms suicide or interpersonal violence;

4

(3) develop and implement law enforcement and

5

court protocols, forms, and orders so that law en-

6

forcement agencies and the courts may carry out the

7

provisions of the legislation described in section 4 in

8

a safe and effective manner, including through the

9

removal and storage of firearms pursuant to extreme

10

risk protection orders under the legislation; and

11

(4) raise public awareness and understanding of

12

the legislation described in section 4 so that extreme

13

risk protection orders may be issued in appropriate

14

situations to reduce the risk of firearms-related

15

death and injury.

16

(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a grant

17 under this section shall submit to the Attorney General
18 an application at such time, in such manner, and con19 taining or accompanied by such information as the Attor20 ney General may reasonably require.
21

(d) INCENTIVES.—For each of fiscal years 2020

22 through 2024, the Attorney General shall give affirmative

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23 preference in awarding any discretionary grant awarded
24 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance to a State or Indian
25 Tribe that has enacted legislation described in section 4.
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1

(e) AUTHORIZATION

OF

APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec3 essary to carry out this section.
4

SEC. 4. NATIONAL EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER

5
6

LAW.

(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Legislation described in this

7 section is legislation that establishes requirements that are
8 substantially similar to the following:
9

(1) APPLICATION

10

TION ORDER.—A

11

ment officer, may submit an application to a State

12

or Tribal court, on a form designed by the court or

13

a State or Tribal agency, that—

petitioner, including a law enforce-

14

(A) describes the facts and circumstances

15

justifying that an extreme risk protection order

16

be issued against the named individual; and

17

(B) is signed by the applicant, under oath.

18

(2) NOTICE.—The individual named in an ap-

19

plication for an extreme risk protection order as de-

20

scribed in paragraph (1) shall be given written no-

21

tice of the application and an opportunity to be

22

heard on the matter in accordance with this section.

23
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FOR EXTREME RISK PROTEC-

24

(3) ISSUANCE

OF EXTREME RISK PROTECTION

ORDERS.—

25

(A) HEARING.—

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1

(i) IN

receipt of an

2

application described in paragraph (1), the

3

court shall order a hearing to be held not

4

later than 30 days after the date of such

5

application.

6

(ii) DETERMINATION.—If the court

7

finds by a preponderance of the evidence

8

that the respondent poses a danger of

9

causing harm to himself, herself, or others

10

by having access to a firearm, the court

11

may issue an extreme risk protection

12

order.

13

(B) LENGTH

OF EXTREME RISK PROTEC-

14

TION ORDER.—An

extreme risk protection order

15

shall be in effect for a period not to exceed 1

16

year, unless renewed.

17

(4) EX

18

PARTE EXTREME RISK PROTECTION OR-

DERS.—

19

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GENERAL.—Upon

(A) IN

GENERAL.—Upon

receipt of an ap-

20

plication described in paragraph (1), the court

21

may issue an ex parte extreme risk protection

22

order before conducting the hearing required

23

under paragraph (3), if—

24

(i) the application for an extreme risk

25

protection order alleges that the respond-

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1

ent poses a danger of causing harm to

2

himself, herself, or others in the near fu-

3

ture by having access to a firearm; and

4

(ii) the court finds there is reasonable

5

cause to believe that the respondent poses

6

a danger of causing harm to himself, her-

7

self, or others in the near future by having

8

access to a firearm.

9

(B) LENGTH

OF EX PARTE EXTREME RISK

10

PROTECTION ORDER.—An

11

protection order shall be in effect for a period

12

not to exceed 30 days, unless continued for

13

good cause.

14

(5) STORAGE

OF

ex parte extreme risk

REMOVED

FIREARMS.—All

15

firearms removed or surrendered pursuant to an ex-

16

treme risk protection order shall be retained by a

17

law enforcement officer or a law enforcement agency

18

until the named individual regains his or her eligi-

19

bility to possess firearms, except that the legislation

20

may authorize a law enforcement agency to—

21

(A) contract with a manufacturer, dealer,

22

or importer licensed under chapter 44 of title

23

18, United States Code, for the secure storage

24

of firearms; and

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(B) transfer the firearm upon proof that

2

the named individual will no longer have access

3

to the firearm.

4

(6) NOTIFICATION.—

5

(A) IN

State or tribal court

6

that issues an extreme risk protection order

7

shall notify the Department of Justice or the

8

comparable State or Tribal agency, as applica-

9

ble, of the order as soon as practicable. Such

10

notice shall be submitted in an electronic for-

11

mat, in a manner prescribed by the Department

12

of Justice or the comparable State or Tribal

13

agency.

14

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GENERAL.—A

(B) UPDATE

OF DATABASES.—As

15

practicable after receiving a notification under

16

subparagraph (A), the Department of Justice

17

or the comparable State or Tribal agency shall

18

ensure the extreme risk protection order is re-

19

flected in the National Instant Criminal Back-

20

ground Check System.

21

(7) CONFIDENTIALITY

PROTECTIONS.—All

per-

22

sonally identifiable information provided to the

23

court, the Department of Justice, and comparable

24

State or Tribal agencies shall be kept confidential,

25

except as necessary to carry out the legislation.

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soon as

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1

(b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—Legislation de-

2 scribed in this section may—
3

(1) provide procedures for the termination of an

4

extreme risk protection order;

5

(2) provide procedures for the renewal of an ex-

6

treme risk protection order;

7

(3) establish burdens of proof for issuance of

8

orders described in paragraphs (3) and (4) of sub-

9

section (a) that are higher than the burdens of proof

10

required under those paragraphs; and

11

(4) limit the individuals who may submit an ap-

12

plication described in subsection (a)(1), provided

13

that, at a minimum, law enforcement officers are

14

authorized to do so.

15

SEC. 5. FEDERAL FIREARMS PROHIBITION.

16

Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is

17 amended—
18

(1) in subsection (d)—

19

(A) in paragraph (8)(B)(ii), by striking

20

‘‘or’’ at the end;

21

(B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe-

22

riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

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23

(C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the

24

following:

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‘‘(10) is subject to a court order that prohibits

2

such person from having under his or her custody or

3

control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving

4

any firearms, or requires the surrender or removal

5

of firearms from the person, provided that the

6

order—

7

‘‘(A) is issued in a manner consistent with

8

the due process rights of the person; and

9

‘‘(B) is based on a finding that the person

10

poses a danger of causing harm to himself, her-

11

self, or others by having access to a firearm.’’;

12

and

13

(2) in subsection (g)—

14

(A) in paragraph (8)(C)(ii), by striking

15

‘‘or’’ at the end;

16

(B) in paragraph (9), by striking the

17

comma at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

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18

(C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the

19

following:

20

‘‘(10) is subject to a court order that prohibits

21

such person from having under his or her custody or

22

control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving

23

any firearms, or requires the surrender or removal

24

of firearms from the person, provided that the

25

order—

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‘‘(A) is issued in a manner consistent with

2

the due process rights of the person; and

3

‘‘(B) is based on a finding that the person

4

poses a danger of causing harm to himself, her-

5

self, or others by having access to a firearm,’’.

6

SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

7

Section 3(1) of the NICS Improvement Amendments

8 Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40903(1)) is amended by striking
9 ‘‘section 922(g)(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (8) or (10)
10 of section 922(g)’’.
11

SEC. 7. FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.

12

Any extreme risk protection order issued under a

13 State or Tribal law enacted in accordance with this Act
14 shall be accorded the same full faith and credit by the
15 court of another State or Indian Tribe (the enforcing
16 State or Indian Tribe) and enforced by the court and law
17 enforcement personnel of the other State or Tribal govern18 ment as if it were the order of the enforcing State or
19 Tribe.
20

SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY.

21

If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made

22 by this Act, or the application of such provision to any

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23 person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remain24 der of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, or

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1 the application of such provision to other persons or cir2 cumstances, shall not be affected.

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Æ

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