II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3303 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to protect more victims of domestic 

violence by preventing their abusers from possessing or receiving firearms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 13), 2023 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. 

SHAHEEN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. DURBIN, 

Mr. FETTERMAN, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. COONS, 

Ms. BUTLER, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. WARREN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to protect more 

victims of domestic violence by preventing their abusers 

from possessing or receiving firearms, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Lori Jackson-Nicolette 

5 Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Congress has the responsibility to keep the 

4 populace of the United States safe, and domestic 

5 gun violence is a significant threat to the well-being 

6 of the United States. 

7 (2) Each year in the United States, more than 

8 800 women are shot and killed by an intimate part9 ner. More women are killed in the United States by 

10 domestic partners than by any other type of assail11 ant, and most of these homicides are committed with 

12 firearms. 

13 (3) Approximately 4,500,000 women alive in 

14 the United States today report having been threat15 ened with a gun by a domestic partner. 

16 (4) Almost two-thirds of intimate partner homi17 cides in the United States are committed with a fire18 arm. If a woman has an abusive male partner who 

19 has access to a firearm, the woman is 5 times more 

20 likely to be killed than she would be if the abusive 

21 male partner did not have access to a firearm, and 

22 domestic violence assaults involving a gun are 12 

23 times more likely to result in death than domestic vi24 olence assaults involving other weapons or bodily 

25 force. 


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1 (5) Perpetrators of intimate partner violence 

2 are far more likely to commit additional acts of gun 

3 violence. Nearly half of all mass shooters have com4 mitted acts of domestic violence. 

5 (6) Victims of intimate partner violence often 

6 pursue restraining orders as a means of protection 

7 in the immediate aftermath of, or in conjunction 

8 with, leaving dangerous partners and situations. 

9 This time period is especially dangerous for victims. 

10 (7) Although individuals against whom there is 

11 a domestic violence restraining order are barred 

12 from purchasing a firearm under section 922(g)(8) 

13 of title 18, United States Code, various loopholes in 

14 that section allow perpetrators to purchase and 

15 maintain possession of firearms. For example, Fed16 eral law only protects domestic violence victims 

17 against spouses, former spouses, cohabitants, former 

18 cohabitants, and individuals with whom those vic19 tims have a child. Furthermore, under Federal law, 

20 protective orders issued against domestic violence 

21 abusers on an emergency or ex parte basis do not 

22 prohibit those abusers from possessing or purchasing 

23 firearms. 

24 (8) Some States and local governments have 

25 passed laws that go beyond the Federal baseline by 


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1 expanding the range of abusive partners included in 

2 firearm restrictions to encompass abusive dating 

3 partners. Numerous studies conducted between 2000 

4 and 2017 have shown that States that pass these 

5 laws experience a significant reduction in intimate 

6 partner homicides. 

7 (9) States that restrict access to guns to indi8 viduals subject to active domestic violence restrain9 ing orders have experienced a 13-percent reduction 

10 in intimate partner homicides involving firearms. 

11 (10) Congress has the power to set a national 

12 standard to protect domestic violence victims who 

13 seek restraining orders against abusive partners by 

14 preventing those abusive partners from possessing or 

15 purchasing firearms and ammunition while the re16 straining order is in effect. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS OF ‘‘INTIMATE PARTNER’’ AND ‘‘MIS18 DEMEANOR CRIME OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE’’ 

19 EXPANDED. 

20 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by inserting before paragraph (32) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(31) The term ‘covered domestic violence court 

25 order’ means a court order— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that was issued— 

2 ‘‘(i) after a hearing of which such per3 son received actual notice, and at which 

4 such person had an opportunity to partici5 pate; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an ex parte order, 

7 relative to which notice and opportunity to 

8 be heard are provided— 

9 ‘‘(I) within the time required by 

10 State, tribal, or territorial law; and 

11 ‘‘(II) in any event within a rea12 sonable time after the order is issued, 

13 sufficient to protect the due process 

14 rights of the person; 

15 ‘‘(B) that restrains such person from— 

16 ‘‘(i) harassing, stalking, or threat17 ening an intimate partner of such person 

18 or child of such intimate partner or person, 

19 or engaging in other conduct that would 

20 place an intimate partner in reasonable 

21 fear of bodily injury to the partner or 

22 child; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) intimidating or dissuading a wit24 ness from testifying in court; and 

25 ‘‘(C) that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) includes a finding that such per2 son represents a credible threat to the 

3 physical safety of such individual described 

4 in subparagraph (B); or 

5 ‘‘(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits 

6 the use, attempted use, or threatened use 

7 of physical force against such individual 

8 described in subparagraph (B) that would 

9 reasonably be expected to cause bodily in10 jury.’’; 

11 (2) in paragraph (32), by striking all that fol12 lows after ‘‘The term ‘intimate partner’ ’’ and insert13 ing the following: ‘‘— 

14 ‘‘(A) means, with respect to a person, the 

15 spouse of the person, a former spouse of the person, 

16 an individual who is a parent of a child of the per17 son, and an individual who cohabitates or has 

18 cohabited with the person; and 

19 ‘‘(B) includes— 

20 ‘‘(i) a dating partner (as defined in section 

21 2266) or former dating partner; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) any other person similarly situated to 

23 a spouse who is protected by the domestic or 

24 family violence laws of the State, local, or tribal 


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1 jurisdiction in which the injury occurred or 

2 where the victim resides.’’; and 

3 (3) in paragraph (33)(A)— 

4 (A) in clause (i), by inserting after ‘‘Fed5 eral, State,’’ the following: ‘‘municipal,’’; and 

6 (B) in clause (ii)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘or the threatened’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘the threatened’’; 

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or stalking’’ after 

10 ‘‘deadly weapon’’; and 

11 (iii) by striking ‘‘, or by a person who 

12 has a current or recent former dating rela13 tionship with the victim’’ and inserting ‘‘to 

14 whom the victim is or was a dating partner 

15 (as defined in section 2266), or by a per16 son to whom the victim is the child of a 

17 dating partner’’. 

18 SEC. 4. UNLAWFUL SALE OF FIREARM TO A PERSON SUB19 JECT TO COURT ORDER. 

20 Section 922(d)(8) of title 18, United States Code, is 

21 amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(8) is subject to a covered domestic violence 

23 court order; or’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. LIST OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO A RESTRAINING OR 

2 SIMILAR ORDER PROHIBITED FROM POS3 SESSING OR RECEIVING A FIREARM EX4 PANDED. 

5 Section 922(g)(8) of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(8) who is subject to a covered domestic vio8 lence court order; or’’. 

9 SEC. 6. GRANT PROGRAM REGARDING THE REMOVAL OF 

10 FIREARMS FROM ADJUDICATED DOMESTIC 

11 VIOLENCE PARTIES. 

12 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime 

13 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 

14 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘PART PP—GRANT PROGRAM REGARDING RE16 MOVAL OF FIREARMS FROM ADJUDICATED 

17 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PARTIES 

18 ‘‘SEC. 3061. DEFINITIONS. 

19 ‘‘In this part: 

20 ‘‘(1) AMMUNITION; FIREARM.—The terms ‘am21 munition’ and ‘firearm’ have the meanings given 

22 those terms in section 921 of title 18, United States 

23 Code. 

24 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en25 tity’ means— 

26 ‘‘(A) a State; 


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1 ‘‘(B) an Indian Tribe; or 

2 ‘‘(C) a unit of local government. 

3 ‘‘(3) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTION

4 ORDER.—The term ‘domestic violence protection 

5 order’ has the meaning given the term ‘covered do6 mestic violence court order’ in section 921 of title 

7 18, United States Code. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 3062. GRANT PROGRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—The Attorney 

10 General may make grants to covered entities to assist the 

11 covered entities in carrying out the policies, procedures, 

12 protocols, laws, court rules, or regulations described in 

13 section 3063. 

14 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE COVERED ENTITY.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered entity shall be 

16 eligible to receive a grant under this section on and 

17 after the date on which the Attorney General deter18 mines that the covered entity has in effect policies, 

19 procedures, protocols, laws, court rules, or regula20 tions that are substantially similar to the policies, 

21 procedures, laws, court rules, or regulations de22 scribed in section 3063. 

23 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—In making a deter24 mination under paragraph (1), the Attorney General 

25 may consider policies, procedures, protocols, laws, 


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1 court rules, or regulations of a covered entity to be 

2 substantially similar to the policies, procedures, 

3 laws, courts rules, or regulations described in section 

4 3063 even if the policies, procedures, protocols, laws, 

5 court rules, or regulations of the covered entity— 

6 ‘‘(A) vary in scope; 

7 ‘‘(B) prescribe different types of protective 

8 orders or firearm surrender orders; or 

9 ‘‘(C) provide different timing requirements. 

10 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 

11 this section may be used by a covered entity— 

12 ‘‘(1) to assist law enforcement agencies or 

13 courts of the covered entity in carrying out the poli14 cies, procedures, protocols, laws, court rules, or reg15 ulations described in section 3063; and 

16 ‘‘(2) in order to ensure the safety of domestic 

17 violence victims after a domestic violence protection 

18 order is issued in accordance with the policies, pro19 cedures, protocols, laws, court rules, or regulations 

20 described in section 3063, to partner with and pro21 vide support to not less than 1 domestic violence vic22 tim service provider, which may include an organiza23 tion that is a culturally specific organization. 

24 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered entity desiring a 

2 grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney 

3 General an application at such time, in such man4 ner, and containing or accompanied by such infor5 mation as the Attorney General may reasonably re6 quire. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 

8 under this subsection shall include a description of 

9 an action plan of the covered entity to establish a 

10 partnership described in subsection (c)(2). 

11 ‘‘SEC. 3063. STATE AND TRIBAL POLICIES AND PROCE12 DURES. 

13 ‘‘The policies, procedures, protocols, laws, court rules, 

14 or regulations described in this section are policies, proce15 dures, protocols, laws, court rules, or regulations relating 

16 to the possession of a firearm or ammunition that— 

17 ‘‘(1) direct a court, upon the issuance of a do18 mestic violence protection order, to issue an addi19 tional order (referred to in this section as a ‘firearm 

20 surrender order’) that— 

21 ‘‘(A) is in effect for the duration of the do22 mestic violence protection order; 

23 ‘‘(B) automatically terminates upon the ex24 piration of the domestic violence protection 

25 order; 


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1 ‘‘(C) requires— 

2 ‘‘(i) the individual subject to the fire3 arm surrender order to, not later than 24 

4 hours after the firearm surrender order is 

5 served, surrender physical possession of all 

6 firearms and ammunition in the posses7 sion, care, custody, or control of the indi8 vidual, including any firearm that the indi9 vidual has entrusted or lent to a third 

10 party, by either— 

11 ‘‘(I) surrendering the firearms 

12 and ammunition to the chief law en13 forcement officer of the district in 

14 which the individual resides or a law 

15 enforcement agency designated by the 

16 State or Indian Tribe to receive and 

17 store firearms and ammunition; or 

18 ‘‘(II) selling the firearms and 

19 ammunition to a licensed dealer (as 

20 defined in section 921 of title 18, 

21 United States Code); or 

22 ‘‘(ii) the chief law enforcement officer 

23 of the district in which the individual re24 sides or a law enforcement agency des25 ignated by the State or Indian Tribe to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Nov 18, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3303.IS S3303

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1 ceive and store firearms and ammunition 

2 to, not later than 24 hours after the fire3 arm surrender order is served, request the 

4 surrender of and remove and store any 

5 firearm or ammunition in the possession, 

6 care, custody, or control of the individual, 

7 including firearms and ammunition that 

8 the individual has entrusted or lent to a 

9 third party; 

10 ‘‘(D) prohibits the individual from pur11 chasing, possessing, or receiving, or attempting 

12 to purchase or receive, a firearm or ammunition 

13 for the period of time during which the firearm 

14 surrender order is in effect; 

15 ‘‘(E) revokes any permit or license of the 

16 individual to purchase, possess or carry a fire17 arm or ammunition for the period of time dur18 ing which the firearm surrender order is in ef19 fect; and 

20 ‘‘(F) requires the individual subject to the 

21 firearm surrender order to, not later than 48 

22 hours after the firearm surrender order is 

23 served by a court, file with the court— 

24 ‘‘(i) a declaration under penalty of 

25 perjury that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the individual has made the 

2 surrender described in subparagraph 

3 (C)(i); 

4 ‘‘(II) the chief law enforcement 

5 officer of the district in which the in6 dividual resides has conducted the re7 moval described in subparagraph 

8 (C)(ii); or 

9 ‘‘(III) the individual did not pos10 sess any firearm or ammunition at the 

11 time of the issuance and service of the 

12 firearm surrender order and continues 

13 to not possess any firearms or ammu14 nition; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) an itemized receipt of any fire16 arms or ammunition surrendered by the 

17 individual subject to the firearm surrender 

18 order under subparagraph (C)(i), or re19 moved by a chief law enforcement officer 

20 from that individual under subparagraph 

21 (C)(ii), that is signed by the individual who 

22 took possession of those firearms or am23 munition; 

24 ‘‘(2) in the case of an individual who does not 

25 comply with paragraph (1)(C)(i), and where there 


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1 are reasonable grounds to believe that the individual 

2 possesses or has purchased a firearm, require the 

3 chief law enforcement officer or designated law en4 forcement agency described in paragraph (1)(C)(ii) 

5 to remove any firearm or ammunition from the indi6 vidual; 

7 ‘‘(3) requires a chief law enforcement officer or 

8 designated law enforcement agency that conducts a 

9 removal under paragraph (1)(C)(ii) or (2) or re10 ceives a firearm or ammunition surrendered by an 

11 individual under paragraph (1)(C)(i)(I) to, not later 

12 than 48 hours after conducting the removal or re13 ceiving the surrendered firearm or ammunition, no14 tify the court of the removal or surrender; 

15 ‘‘(4) with respect to a firearm or ammunition 

16 that is surrendered under paragraph (1)(C)(i) or 

17 any firearm or ammunition removed under para18 graph (1)(C)(ii) or (2), require the law enforcement 

19 agency to which the firearm or ammunition is sur20 rendered or that removes any firearm or ammunition 

21 to— 

22 ‘‘(A) safely store the firearm or ammuni23 tion; and 

24 ‘‘(B) at the request of the individual sub25 ject to the firearm surrender order, not later 


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1 than 7 days after the date on which the domes2 tic violence protection order described in para3 graph (1) expires or is removed— 

4 ‘‘(i) perform a background check on 

5 the individual subject to the firearm sur6 render order to determine whether the in7 dividual is prohibited from possessing or 

8 receiving a firearm under Federal or State 

9 law; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) return the firearm or ammuni11 tion to the individual subject to the firearm 

12 surrender order if the individual is not pro13 hibited from possessing or receiving a fire14 arm under Federal, State, or Tribal law; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(5) require the courts and relevant law en17 forcement agencies to partner with and provide sup18 port for local domestic violence programs in order to 

19 ensure the safety of victims of domestic violence 

20 after the issuance of a firearm surrender order.’’. 

21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

22 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

23 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261) is amended by 

24 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(29) There are authorized to be appropriated such 

2 sums as are necessary to carry out part PP.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

4 The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 

5 (34 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) in section 3(1) (34 U.S.C. 40903(1)), by 

7 striking ‘‘court order (as described in section 

8 922(g)(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘covered domestic violence 

9 court order (as defined in section 921(a)’’; and 

10 (2) in section 102(b)(1)(C)(v) (34 U.S.C. 

11 40912(b)(1)(C)(v)), by striking ‘‘court order de12 scribed in section 922(g)(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘covered 

13 domestic violence court order, as defined in section 

14 921(a)’’. 

Æ 


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