[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1287 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1287
To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to States and units of
local government to implement statutes, rules, policies, or procedures
to authorize courts to issue relinquishment orders with respect to
individuals charged with or convicted of a crime of domestic violence,
or subject to a domestic violence protective order, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 14, 2019
Mr. Swalwell of California (for himself, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Dean, Mr.
Raskin, Mr. Cisneros, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Ms. Clarke of New
York, Mr. Crist, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Haaland, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Kennedy,
Mr. Khanna, Mr. McNerney, Ms. Meng, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Norton, Ms.
Roybal-Allard, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Soto, Ms. Velazquez, and
Ms. Wilson of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to States and units of
local government to implement statutes, rules, policies, or procedures
to authorize courts to issue relinquishment orders with respect to
individuals charged with or convicted of a crime of domestic violence,
or subject to a domestic violence protective order, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``No Guns for Abusers Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF RELINQUISHMENT STATUTES.
(a) Authorization.--The Attorney General is authorized to make
grants to States or units of local government that have in place a
statute, rule, policy, or practice that is the same as or substantially
similar to the best practices published by the Attorney General under
this Act, for the purpose of implementing such statute, administrative
rule, policy, or practice.
(b) Application.--A jurisdiction seeking a grant under this section
shall submit to the Attorney General an application at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the Attorney General
may reasonably require, and including the applicable statute, rule,
policy, or practice that the jurisdiction has enacted.
SEC. 3. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, Attorney General, acting through the Director of
the National Institute of Justice, shall prepare and submit a report to
Congress on best practices for statutes, rules, policies, and
practices, which provide a process by which individuals who are charged
with or convicted of a crime of domestic violence, or who are subject
to, or in violation of a domestic violence protective order, may be
subject to relinquishment. Such report shall include an analysis of the
effect of reducing firearm access for the individuals described in the
previous sentence on reducing domestic violence and homicide.
(b) Best Practices.--In preparing the report under subsection (a),
the Director shall examine and determine the best practices for each of
the following:
(1) The types of offenses or court orders for which
relinquishment may be authorized.
(2) The level of discretion of a court in entering a
relinquishment order.
(3) The process courts use in determining whether
relinquishment is appropriate for a particular party.
(4) The process courts and law enforcement agencies use to
determine whether an individual is in possession or control of
firearms.
(5) The guidance provided to parties subject to
relinquishment orders, as well as the manner of providing
guidance.
(6) The persons or entities to which firearms may be
relinquished, including whether any entity other than a law
enforcement officer or licensed dealer under section 923 of
title 18, United States Code, may receive firearms.
(7) The person or entity which may store relinquished
firearms, including any criteria such a person or entity must
meet, which may include a background check.
(8) The period of time provided for an individual subject
to a relinquishment order to comply with the order.
(9) The manner of proof required to show a relinquishment
order is fulfilled.
(10) The power granted to a court or law enforcement agency
to compel compliance with a relinquishment order.
(11) The manner in which relinquished firearms may be
safely and securely stored.
(12) The duration of a relinquishment order.
(13) Fees that may be charged by persons or entities
storing relinquished firearms to persons subject to
relinquishment orders.
(14) Considerations for returning, disposing of, or selling
relinquished firearms.
(15) Criteria for returning a firearm to an individual
subject to a relinquishment order.
(16) The extent to which victims of offenses committed by
the individual subject to the relinquishment order, or
individuals who are protected from an individual subject to a
domestic violence protective order, should be notified when a
firearm is returned to the individual subject to the
relinquishment order.
(17) Precautions taken to ensure victim safety as a court
gathers information necessary to issue a relinquishment order
and a law enforcement officer executes the order.
(18) Procedural protections that are required to ensure
that individuals who may be subject to a relinquishment order
are provided due process at each stage of the process.
(c) Review and Consultation.--In preparing the report required
under this section, the Director shall, at a minimum--
(1) review Federal, State, and local statutes, rules,
policies, and practices that provide authority for courts to
enter relinquishment orders in effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act;
(2) review academic studies, including studies analyzing
the effectiveness of statutes, rules, policies, and practices
described in paragraph (1); and
(3) meet with, and consider any facts and analyses offered
by, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, nonprofit
organizations, Federal, State, and local courts, Federal,
State, and local law enforcement agencies, and individuals with
academic expertise in relinquishment.
(d) Identification of Items for Further Study.--In the report under
this section, the Director shall identify items for further study,
relating to the effectiveness of the best practices developed under
subsection (b).
SEC. 4. FURTHER STUDIES.
The Attorney General, acting through the Director of the National
Institute of Justice, shall enter into contracts with nongovernmental
entities to conduct studies comparing statutes, administrative rules,
policies and practices to determine the relative effectiveness of such
statutes, rules, policies, and procedures in effectively providing for
relinquishment. Not later than the date that is 10 years after the
submission of the report under section 3, the Director shall submit to
Congress not less than one report including updates to the best
practices based on the studies conducted under this section.
SEC. 5. FEDERAL ADOPTION.
(a) Statute.--The Attorney General shall prepare and submit to
Congress recommendations for Federal legislation in accordance with
section 3.
(b) Rules; Policies and Practices.--To the extent authorized by
law, the Attorney General shall make rules, policies, and practices in
accordance with the best practices described in section 3.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ``intimate partner'' has the meaning given
that term in section 921 of title 18, United States Code.
(2) The term ``dating partner'' has the meaning given that
term in section 2266 of title 18, United States Code.
(3) The term ``crime of domestic violence'' means an
offense that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of
physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon,
committed by a current or former spouse, intimate partner,
dating partner, parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person
with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who
is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim as a
spouse, intimate partner, dating partner, parent, or guardian,
or by a person similarly situated to a spouse, intimate
partner, dating partner, parent, or guardian of the victim.
(4) The term ``domestic violence protective order'' means a
court order that restrains a person from harassing, stalking,
or threatening an intimate partner or dating partner of such
person or child of such intimate partner or dating partner or
person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an
intimate partner or dating partner in reasonable fear of bodily
injury to the partner or child.
(5) The term ``relinquishment'' means the removal of a
firearm (as such term is defined in section 921 of title 18,
United States Code) or ammunition (as such term is defined in
section 921 of title 18, United States Code) from a person's
possession or control.
(6) The term ``relinquishment order'' means any mandate
from a court requiring a person to be subject to
relinquishment.
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