II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1212 

To provide family members of an individual who they fear is a danger 

to himself, herself, or others, and law enforcement, with new tools to 

prevent gun violence. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2017 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide family members of an individual who they fear 

is a danger to himself, herself, or others, and law enforcement, with new tools to prevent gun violence. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gun Violence Preven5 tion Order Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘family or household member’’ 

9 means, with respect to an individual, any— 


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1 (A) individual related by blood, marriage, 

2 or adoption to the respondent; 

3 (B) dating partner of the respondent; 

4 (C) individual who has a child in common 

5 with the respondent, regardless of whether the 

6 individual has— 

7 (i) been married to the respondent; or 

8 (ii) lived together with the respondent 

9 at any time; 

10 (D) an individual who resides or has re11 sided with the respondent during the past year; 

12 (E) domestic partner of the respondent; 

13 (F) individual who has a biological or legal 

14 parent-child relationship with the respondent, 

15 including a stepparent-stepchild and grand16 parent-grandchild relationship; and 

17 (G) any individual who is acting or has 

18 acted as the legal guardian of the respondent; 

19 (2) the term ‘‘firearm’’ has the meaning given 

20 the term in section 921 of title 18, United States 

21 Code; 

22 (3) the term ‘‘gun violence prevention order’’ 

23 means a written order, issued by a State court or 

24 signed by a magistrate (or other comparable judicial 

25 officer)— 


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1 (A) prohibiting a named individual from 

2 having under the custody or control of the indi3 vidual, owning, purchasing, possessing, or re4 ceiving any firearms; or 

5 (B) having a firearm removed; 

6 (4) the term ‘‘gun violence prevention warrant’’ 

7 means a written order, issued by a State court or 

8 signed by a magistrate (or other comparable judicial 

9 officer), regarding an individual who is subject to a 

10 gun violence prevention order and who is known to 

11 own or possess one or more firearms, that directs a 

12 law enforcement officer to temporarily remov and re13 tain any firearm in the possession of the individual; 

14 (5) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means 

15 a public servant authorized by State law or by a 

16 State government agency to engage in or supervise 

17 the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecu18 tion of an offense; and 

19 (6) the term ‘‘wellness check’’ means a visit 

20 conducted by a law enforcement officer to the resi21 dence of an individual for the purpose of assessing 

22 whether the individual poses a danger to the indi23 vidual or others due to a mental, behavioral, or 

24 physical condition. 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ORDER 

2 AND WARRANT LAW. 

3 (a) ENACTMENT OF GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

4 ORDER LAW.—In order to receive a grant under section 

5 4, on the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, each State shall have in effect legislation 

7 that— 

8 (1) authorizes a gun violence prevention order 

9 and gun violence prevention warrant in accordance 

10 with subsection (b); and 

11 (2) requires each law enforcement agency of the 

12 State to comply with subsection (c). 

13 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR GUN VIOLENCE PREVEN14 TION ORDERS AND WARRANTS.—Legislation required 

15 under subsection (a) shall be subject to the following re16 quirements: 

17 (1) APPLICATION FOR GUN VIOLENCE PREVEN18 TION ORDER.—A family or household member of an 

19 individual, or a law enforcement officer, may submit 

20 an application to a State court, on a form designed 

21 by the court, that— 

22 (A) describes the facts and circumstances 

23 necessitating that a gun violence prevention 

24 order be issued against the named individual; 

25 (B) is signed by the applicant, under oath; 

26 and 


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1 (C) includes any additional information re2 quired by the State court or magistrate (or 

3 other comparable judicial officer) to dem4 onstrate that possession of a firearm by the 

5 named individual poses a substantial risk or a 

6 higher standard of risk of personal injury to the 

7 named individual or others. 

8 (2) EXAMINATION OF APPLICANT AND WIT9 NESSES.—A State court or magistrate (or other 

10 comparable judicial officer) shall, before issuing a 

11 gun violence prevention order— 

12 (A) examine under oath, the individual 

13 who applied for the order under paragraph (1) 

14 and any witnesses the individual produces; and 

15 (B)(i) require that the individual or any 

16 witness submit a signed affidavit, which de17 scribes the facts the applicant or witness be18 lieves establish the grounds of the application; 

19 or 

20 (ii) take an oral statement from the indi21 vidual or witness under oath. 

22 (3) STANDARD FOR ISSUANCE OF ORDER.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State court or mag24 istrate (or other comparable judicial officer) 

25 may issue a gun violence prevention order upon 


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1 a finding that there is a reasonable suspicion 

2 that possession of a firearm by the named indi3 vidual poses a significant risk of personal injury 

4 to the named individual or others. 

5 (B) NOTIFICATION.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—The court shall no7 tify the Department of Justice and com8 parable State agency of the gun violence 

9 prevention order not later than 2 court 

10 days after issuing the order. The court 

11 shall also notify the Department of Justice 

12 and comparable State agency of any order 

13 restoring the ability of the individual to 

14 own or possess firearms not later than 2 

15 court days after issuing the order to re16 store the individual’s right to own or pos17 sess any type of firearms that may be law18 fully owned and possessed. Such notice 

19 shall be submitted in an electronic format, 

20 in a manner prescribed by the Department 

21 of Justice and the comparable State agen22 cy. 

23 (ii) UPDATE OF DATABASES.—As 

24 soon as practicable after receiving a notifi25 cation under clause (i), the Department of 


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1 Justice and comparable State agency shall 

2 update the background check databases of 

3 the Department and agency, respectively, 

4 to reflect the prohibitions articulated in the 

5 gun violence prevention order. 

6 (4) ISSUANCE OF GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

7 WARRANT.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—After issuing a gun vio9 lence prevention order, a State court or mag10 istrate (or other comparable judicial officer) 

11 shall, upon a finding of probable cause to be12 lieve that the named individual subject to the 

13 order has a firearm in his custody or control, 

14 issue a gun violence prevention warrant order15 ing the temporary seizure of all firearms speci16 fied in the warrant. 

17 (B) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to paragraph 

18 (6), a gun violence prevention warrant issued 

19 under subparagraph (A) shall require that any 

20 firearm described in the warrant be taken from 

21 any place, or from any individual in whose pos22 session, the firearm may be. 

23 (5) SERVICE OF GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

24 ORDER.—When serving a gun violence prevention 

25 order or warrant, a law enforcement officer or procVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212

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1 ess server shall provide the individual with a form to 

2 request a hearing in accordance with paragraph 

3 (6)(F). 

4 (6) TEMPORARY SEIZURE OF FIREARMS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—When a law enforce6 ment officer takes property under a gun vio7 lence prevention warrant or a gun violence pre8 vention order, the law enforcement officer shall 

9 give a receipt for the property taken, specifying 

10 the property in detail, to the individual from 

11 whom it was taken. In the absence of a person, 

12 the law enforcement officer shall leave the re13 ceipt in the place where the law enforcement of14 ficer found the property, if such information is 

15 available. 

16 (B) TEMPORARY CUSTODY OF REMOVED

17 FIREARMS.—All firearms removed pursuant to 

18 a gun violence prevention warrant shall be re19 tained by the law enforcement officer or the law 

20 enforcement agency in custody, subject to the 

21 order of the court that issued the warrant or to 

22 any other court in which an offense with re23 spect to the firearm is triable. 

24 (C) LIMITATION ON SEIZURE OF FIRE25 ARMS.—If the location to be searched during 


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1 the execution of a gun violence prevention war2 rant is jointly occupied by multiple parties and 

3 a firearm is located during the execution of the 

4 seizure warrant, and it is determined that the 

5 firearm is owned by an individual other than 

6 the individual named in the gun violence pre7 vention warrant, the firearm may not be re8 moved if— 

9 (i) the firearm is stored in a manner 

10 that the individual named in the gun vio11 lence prevention warrant does not have ac12 cess to or control of the firearm; and 

13 (ii) there is no evidence of unlawful 

14 possession of the firearm by the owner. 

15 (D) GUN SAFE.—If the location to be 

16 searched during the execution of a gun violence 

17 prevention warrant is jointly occupied by mul18 tiple parties and a gun safe is located, and it 

19 is determined that the gun safe is owned by an 

20 individual other than the individual named in 

21 the gun violence prevention warrant, the con22 tents of the gun safe shall not be searched ex23 cept in the owner’s presence, or with the own24 er’s consent, or unless a valid search warrant 

25 has been obtained. 


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1 (E) RETURN OF FIREARM TO RIGHTFUL

2 OWNER.—If any individual who is not a named 

3 individual in a gun violence prevention warrant 

4 claims title to a firearm removed pursuant to a 

5 gun violence prevention warrant, the firearm 

6 shall be returned to the lawful owner not later 

7 than 30 days after the date on which the title 

8 is claimed. 

9 (F) RIGHT TO REQUEST A HEARING.—A 

10 named individual may submit 1 written request 

11 at any time during the effective period of a gun 

12 violence prevention order issued against the in13 dividual for a hearing for an order allowing the 

14 individual to own, possess, purchase, or receive 

15 a firearm. 

16 (7) HEARING ON GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

17 ORDER AND GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION WAR18 RANT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

20 subparagraph (E), not later than 30 days after 

21 the date on which a gun violence prevention 

22 order and, when applicable, a gun violence pre23 vention warrant, is issued, the court that issued 

24 the order and, when applicable, the warrant, or 

25 another court in that same jurisdiction, shall 


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1 hold a hearing to determine whether the indi2 vidual who is the subject of the order may have 

3 under the custody or control of the individual, 

4 own, purchase, possess, or receive firearms and, 

5 when applicable, whether any removed firearms 

6 should be returned to the individual named in 

7 the warrant. 

8 (B) NOTICE.—The individual named in a 

9 gun violence prevention order requested to be 

10 renewed under subparagraph (A) shall be given 

11 written notice and an opportunity to be heard 

12 on the matter. 

13 (C) BURDEN OF PROOF.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

15 in clause (ii), at any hearing conducted 

16 under subparagraph (A), the State or peti17 tioner shall have the burden of establishing 

18 probable or reasonable suspicion that the 

19 individual poses a significant risk of per20 sonal injury to the individual or others by 

21 owning or possessing the firearm. 

22 (ii) HIGHER BURDEN OF PROOF.—A 

23 State may establish a burden of proof for 

24 hearings conducted under subparagraph 


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1 (A) that is higher than the burden of proof 

2 required under clause (i). 

3 (D) REQUIREMENTS UPON FINDING OF

4 SIGNIFICANT RISK OR A HIGHER STANDARD OF

5 RISK.—If the named individual is found at the 

6 hearing to pose a substantial risk or a higher 

7 standard of risk of personal injury to the 

8 named individual or others by owning or pos9 sessing a firearm, the following shall apply: 

10 (i) The firearm or firearms removed 

11 pursuant to the warrant shall be retained 

12 by the law enforcement agency for a period 

13 not to exceed 3 years. 

14 (ii) The named individual shall be 

15 prohibited from owning or possessing, pur16 chasing or receiving, or attempting to pur17 chase or receive a firearm for a period not 

18 to exceed 1 year, a violation of which shall 

19 be considered a misdemeanor offense. 

20 (iii) The court shall notify the Depart21 ment of Justice and comparable State 

22 agency of the gun violence prevention order 

23 not later than 10 court days after issuing 

24 the order. The court shall also notify the 

25 Department of Justice and comparable 


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1 State agency of any order restoring the 

2 ability of the individual to own or possess 

3 firearms not later than 10 court days after 

4 issuing the order to restore the individual’s 

5 right to own or possess any type of fire6 arms that may be lawfully owned and pos7 sessed. Such notice shall be submitted in 

8 an electronic format, in a manner pre9 scribed by the Department of Justice and 

10 the comparable State agency. 

11 (iv) As soon as practicable after re12 ceiving a notification under clause (iii), the 

13 Department of Justice and comparable 

14 State agency shall update the background 

15 check databases of the Department and 

16 agency, respectively, to reflect— 

17 (I) the prohibitions articulated in 

18 the gun violence prevention order; or 

19 (II) an order issued to restore an 

20 individual’s right to own or possess a 

21 firearm. 

22 (E) RETURN OF FIREARMS.—If the court 

23 finds that the State has not met the required 

24 standard of proof, any firearm removed pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212

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1 ant to the warrant shall be returned to the 

2 named individual in a timely manner. 

3 (F) LIMITATION ON HEARING REQUIRE4 MENT.—If an individual named in a gun vio5 lence prevention warrant is prohibited from 

6 owning or possessing a firearm for a period of 

7 1 year or more by another provision of State or 

8 Federal law, a hearing pursuant to subpara9 graph (A) is not required and the court shall 

10 issue an order to hold the firearm until either 

11 the individual is no longer prohibited from own12 ing a firearm or the individual sells or transfers 

13 ownership of the firearm to a licensed firearm 

14 dealer. 

15 (8) RENEWING GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

16 ORDER AND GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION WAR17 RANT.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (E), if a law enforcement agency, 

20 a law enforcement officer, or a family or house21 hold member, has probable cause to believe that 

22 an individual who is subject to a gun violence 

23 prevention order continues to pose a significant 

24 risk of personal injury to the named individual 

25 or others by possessing a firearm, the agency, 


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1 law enforcement officer, or family or household 

2 member may initiate a request for a renewal of 

3 the order, on a form designed by the court, de4 scribing the facts and circumstances necessi5 tating the request. 

6 (B) NOTICE.—The individual named in the 

7 gun violence prevention order requested to be 

8 renewed under subparagraph (A) shall be given 

9 written notice and an opportunity to be heard 

10 on the matter. 

11 (C) HEARING.—After notice is given under 

12 subparagraph (B), a hearing shall be held to 

13 determine if a request for renewal of the order 

14 shall be issued. 

15 (D) ISSUANCE OF RENEWAL.—Except as 

16 provided in subparagraph (E), a State court 

17 may issue a renewal of a gun violence preven18 tion order if there is probable cause to believe 

19 that the individual who is subject to the order 

20 continues to pose a significant risk of personal 

21 injury to the named individual or others by pos22 sessing a firearm. 

23 (E) HIGHER BURDEN OF PROOF.—A State 

24 may establish a burden of proof for initiating a 

25 request for or issuing a renewal of a gun vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212

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1 lence prevention order that is higher than the 

2 burden of proof required under subparagraph 

3 (A) or (D). 

4 (F) NOTIFICATION.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—The court shall no6 tify the Department of Justice and com7 parable State agency of a renewal of the 

8 gun violence prevention order not later 

9 than 2 court days after renewing the order. 

10 The court shall also notify the Department 

11 of Justice and comparable State agency of 

12 any order restoring the ability of the indi13 vidual to own or possess firearms not later 

14 than 2 court days after issuing the order 

15 to restore the individual’s right to own or 

16 possess any type of firearms that may be 

17 lawfully owned and possessed. Such notice 

18 shall be submitted in an electronic format, 

19 in a manner prescribed by the Department 

20 of Justice and the comparable State agen21 cy. 

22 (ii) UPDATE OF DATABASES.—As 

23 soon as practicable after receiving a notifi24 cation under clause (i), the Department of 

25 Justice and comparable State agency shall 


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1 update the background check databases of 

2 the Department and agency, respectively, 

3 to reflect— 

4 (I) the prohibitions articulated in 

5 the renewal of the gun violence pre6 vention order; or 

7 (II) an order issued to restore an 

8 individual’s right to own or possess a 

9 firearm. 

10 (c) LAW ENFORCEMENT CHECK OF STATE FIREARM

11 DATABASE.—Each law enforcement agency of the State 

12 shall establish a procedure that requires a law enforcement 

13 officer to, in conjunction with performing a wellness check 

14 on an individual, check whether the individual is listed on 

15 any of the firearm and ammunition databases of the State 

16 or jurisdiction in which the individual resides. 

17 (d) CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTIONS.—All informa18 tion provided to the Department of Justice and com19 parable State agency pursuant to legislation required 

20 under subsection (a) shall be kept confidential, separate, 

21 and apart from all other records maintained by the De22 partment of Justice and comparable State agency. 

23 SEC. 4. PAUSE FOR SAFETY GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

25 Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department 


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1 of Justice may make grants to an eligible State to assist 

2 the State in carrying out the provisions of the State legis3 lation described in section 3. 

4 (b) ELIGIBLE STATE.—A State shall be eligible to re5 ceive grants under this section on and after the date on 

6 which— 

7 (1) the State enacts legislation described in sec8 tion 3; and 

9 (2) the Attorney General determines that the 

10 legislation of the State described in paragraph (1) 

11 complies with the requirements of section 3. 

12 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under this sec13 tion may be used by a State to assist law enforcement 

14 agencies or the courts of the State in carrying out the 

15 provisions of the State legislation described in section 3. 

16 (d) APPLICATION.—An eligible State desiring a grant 

17 under this section shall submit to the Director of the Of18 fice of Community Oriented Policing Services an applica19 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing or ac20 companied by such information, as the Director may rea21 sonably require. 

22 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec24 essary to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 5. FEDERAL FIREARMS PROHIBITION. 

2 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (d)— 

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

6 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

7 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

10 following: 

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

12 such person from having under the custody or con13 trol of the person, owning, purchasing, possessing, 

14 or receiving any firearms.’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (g)— 

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

17 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

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

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

20 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(10) who is subject to a court order that pro23 hibits such person from having under the custody or 

24 control of the person, owning, purchasing, pos25 sessing, or receiving any firearms,’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. FULL FAITH AND CREDIT. 

2 Any gun violence prevention order issued under a 

3 State law enacted in accordance with this Act shall have 

4 the same full faith and credit in every court within the 

5 United States as they have by law or usage in the courts 

6 of such State from which they are issued. 

7 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

8 If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 

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

10 person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remain11 der of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, or 

12 the application of such provision to other persons or cir13 cumstances, shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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