[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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