I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8842 

To ensure that the background check system used for firearms purchases 

denies a firearm to a person prohibited from possessing a firearm by 

a lawful court order governing the pretrial release of the person. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2024 

Mr. GOLDMAN of New York (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

TLAIB, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mr. AMO, and 

Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure that the background check system used for firearms purchases denies a firearm to a person prohibited 

from possessing a firearm by a lawful court order governing the pretrial release of the person. 

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 ‘‘Preventing Pretrial 

5 Gun Purchases Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE GUN CONTROL ACT OF 1968. 

2 (a) SECTION 921.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(38) The term ‘pretrial release order’ means an 

6 order of a Federal, State, tribal, or local court that gov7 erns the release of an arrested person pending the trial 

8 of the person for a crime.’’. 

9 (b) SECTION 922.—Section 922 of title 18, United 

10 States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (d)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

13 the end; 

14 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe15 riod and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

16 (C) by inserting after paragraph (11) the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(12) is subject to a pretrial release order that 

19 prohibits the person from purchasing, possessing, or 

20 receiving firearms.’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (t)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking 

23 ‘‘receipt of a firearm’’ and all that follows 

24 through ‘‘section’’ and inserting ‘‘knowing sale 

25 or disposition of a firearm by the licensee to 

26 such other person or the receipt of a firearm by 


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1 such other person would violate subsection (d), 

2 (g), or (n) of this section’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre4 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘receipt’’ 

5 and all that follows through ‘‘(n)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘the knowing sale or disposition of a firearm to 

7 the person or the receipt of a firearm by the 

8 person would not violate subsection (d), (g), or 

9 (n)’’; 

10 (C) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by striking 

11 ‘‘that possession’’ and inserting ‘‘that knowing 

12 sale or disposition of a firearm by a licensee to 

13 such other person or possession’’; 

14 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘receipt’’ and all that 

16 follows through ‘‘(n)’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘knowing sale or disposition of a firearm 

18 by a licensee to such other person or the 

19 receipt of a firearm by such other person 

20 would violate subsection (d), (g), or (n)’’; 

21 and 

22 (ii) by inserting a comma after 

23 ‘‘State’’; and 

24 (E) in paragraph (5)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘receipt’’ and all that 

2 follows through ‘‘(n)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘knowing sale or disposition of a firearm 

4 by a licensee to such other person or re5 ceipt of a firearm by such other person 

6 would violate subsection (d), (g), or (n)’’; 

7 and 

8 (ii) by inserting a comma after 

9 ‘‘State’’. 

10 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

11 (a) SECTION 923.—Section 923(d)(1)(B) of title 18, 

12 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘under section 

13 922(g) and (n) of this chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘by sub14 section (g) or (n) of section 922 and is not a person to 

15 whom the knowing sale or disposition of any firearm or 

16 ammunition is prohibited by section 922(d)’’. 

17 (b) SECTION 925A.—Section 925A(2) of title 18, 

18 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘and to 

19 whom the knowing sale or disposition of a firearm was 

20 not prohibited by subsection (d) of that section or State 

21 law’’ before the comma. 

22 (c) BRADY HANDGUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

23 ACT.—Section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Pre24 vention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (e)(1)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘for 

2 whom receipt’’ and all that follows through 

3 ‘‘(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘to whom the knowing sale 

4 or disposition of or for whom receipt of a fire5 arm would violate subsection (d), (g),’’; 

6 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘(g)’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘(d), (g),’’; 

8 (C) in subparagraph (F)(iii)(I), by striking 

9 ‘‘(g) or (n)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d), (g), or (n)’’; 

10 and 

11 (D) in subparagraph (G)(i), by striking 

12 ‘‘(g) or (n)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d), (g), or (n)’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘receipt of a 

14 firearm by a prospective transferee would violate 

15 subsection (g) or (n)’’ and inserting ‘‘the knowing 

16 sale or disposition of a firearm to or receipt of a 

17 firearm by a prospective transferee would violate 

18 subsection (d), (g), or (n)’’; and 

19 (3) in subsection (i)(2), by striking all that fol20 lows after ‘‘respect to persons’’ and inserting ‘‘to 

21 whom the knowing sale or disposition of, or for 

22 whom receipt of, a firearm is prohibited by sub23 section (d), (g), or (n) of section 922 of title 18, 

24 United States Code, or State law.’’ 


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1 (d) NICS IMPROVEMENT AMENDMENTS ACT OF

2 2007.—Title I of the NICS Improvement Amendments 

3 Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40911 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) in section 101(b) (34 U.S.C. 40911(b))— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘a 

6 person is disqualified from possessing or receiv7 ing a firearm under subsection (g)’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘the knowing sale or disposition of a fire9 arm to a person or receipt of a firearm by a 

10 person is prohibited by subsection (d), (g),’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘after the’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘after a court martial imposes a pre15 trial release order or the’’; and 

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘a member of the 

17 Armed Forces involved in such proceeding 

18 is disqualified from possessing or receiving 

19 a firearm under subsection (g) or (n)’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘the knowing sale or disposition 

21 of a firearm to or receipt of a firearm by 

22 a member of the Armed Forces is prohib23 ited by subsection (d), (g), or (n)’’; and 

24 (2) in section 102 (34 U.S.C. 40912)— 


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1 (A) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘are 

2 prohibited from possessing or receiving a fire3 arm under subsection (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘are 

4 described in one of the categories under sub5 section (d), (g),’’; and 

6 (B) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by inserting 

7 ‘‘the knowing sale or disposition of a firearm to 

8 a person would be prohibited under subsection 

9 (d) of section 922 of title 18, United States 

10 Code, or applicable State law or whether’’ after 

11 ‘‘determination of whether’’. 

12 SEC. 4. FUNDS FOR STATES THAT REPORT PRETRIAL OR13 DERS RESTRICTING FIREARM POSSESSION 

14 TO NICS. 

15 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 

16 pretrial release order’’ means an order of a State, Tribal, 

17 or local court that governs the release of an arrested indi18 vidual pending the trial of the individual for a crime, and 

19 which prohibits the individual from possessing a firearm 

20 or ammunition (as such terms are defined in section 921 

21 of title 18, United States Code). 

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General may 

23 make grants to States and Indian Tribes for the purpose 

24 of reporting information about covered pretrial release or25 ders to the national instant criminal background check 


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1 system established under section 103 of the Brady Hand2 gun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901). 

3 (c) APPLICATIONS.—The chief executive of a State 

4 or Indian Tribe seeking a grant under this section shall 

5 submit to the Attorney General an application at such 

6 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 

7 the Attorney General may reasonably require. 

8 (d) CLARIFICATION.—Grants made under this section 

9 shall be in addition to any amount that a State or Indian 

10 Tribe receives under section 302(c)(19) of title I of the 

11 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

12 U.S.C. 10132(c)(19)) (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Na13 tional Criminal History Improvement Program’’) or sec14 tion 103 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 

15 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40913) (commonly referred to as the 

16 ‘‘NICS Act Record Improvement Program’’). 

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of fis19 cal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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