II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2169 

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

violence by preventing their abusers from possessing or receiving firearms, to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

1968 to establish a grant program relating to the removal of firearms 

from adjudicated domestic violence offenders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. MERKLEY, 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) 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, to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

establish a grant program relating to the removal of 

firearms from adjudicated domestic violence offenders, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lori Jackson-Nicolette 

3 Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Congress has the responsibility to keep the 

7 populace of the United States safe, and domestic 

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

9 of the United States. 

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

11 600 women are shot to death by an intimate part12 ner. More women are killed in the United States by 

13 domestic partners than by any other type of assail14 ant, and most of these homicides are committed with 

15 firearms. 

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

17 the United States today report having been threat18 ened with a gun by a domestic partner. 

19 (4) More than half of intimate partner homi20 cides in the United States are committed with a fire21 arm. If a woman has an abusive male partner who 

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

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

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

25 domestic violence assaults involving a gun are 12 

26 times more likely to result in death than domestic viVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2169.IS S2169

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1 olence assaults involving other weapons or bodily 

2 force. 

3 (5) Perpetrators of intimate partner violence 

4 are far more likely to commit additional acts of gun 

5 violence. Nearly half of all mass shooters have com6 mitted acts of domestic violence. 

7 (6) Victims of intimate partner violence often 

8 pursue restraining orders as a means of protection 

9 in the immediate aftermath of, or in conjunction 

10 with, leaving dangerous partners and situations. 

11 This time period is especially dangerous for victims. 

12 (7) Although individuals against whom there is 

13 a domestic violence restraining order are barred 

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

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

16 that section allow perpetrators to purchase and 

17 maintain possession of firearms. For example, Fed18 eral law only protects domestic violence victims 

19 against spouses, former spouses, cohabitants, former 

20 cohabitants, and individuals with whom those vic21 tims have a child. Furthermore, under Federal law, 

22 protective orders issued against domestic violence 

23 abusers on an emergency or ex parte basis do not 

24 prohibit those abusers from possessing or purchasing 

25 firearms. 


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1 (8) Some States and local governments have 

2 passed laws that go beyond the Federal baseline by 

3 expanding the range of abusive partners included in 

4 firearm restrictions to encompass abusive dating 

5 partners. Numerous studies conducted between 2000 

6 and 2017 have shown that States that pass these 

7 laws experience a significant reduction in intimate 

8 partner homicides. 

9 (9) States that restrict access to guns to indi10 viduals subject to active domestic violence restrain11 ing orders have experienced a 13 percent reduction 

12 in intimate partner homicides involving firearms. 

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

14 standard to protect domestic violence victims who 

15 seek restraining orders against abusive partners by 

16 preventing those abusive partners from possessing or 

17 purchasing firearms and ammunition while the re18 straining order is in effect. 

19 SEC. 3. TITLE 18 AMENDMENTS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS OF ‘‘INTIMATE PARTNER’’ AND

21 ‘‘MISDEMEANOR CRIME OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE’’ EX22 PANDED.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) by inserting before paragraph (32) the fol25 lowing: 


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

2 order’ means a court order, with respect to a per3 son— 

4 ‘‘(A)(i) that was issued after a hearing of 

5 which the person received actual notice, and at 

6 which the person had an opportunity to partici7 pate; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an ex parte order, rel9 ative to which notice and opportunity to be 

10 heard are provided— 

11 ‘‘(I) within the time required by 

12 State, Tribal, or territorial law; and 

13 ‘‘(II) in any event within a reasonable 

14 time after the order is issued, sufficient to 

15 protect the due process rights of the per16 son; 

17 ‘‘(B) that restrains the person from— 

18 ‘‘(i) harassing, stalking, or threat19 ening an intimate partner of the person or 

20 child of the intimate partner or person, or 

21 engaging in other conduct that would place 

22 an intimate partner in reasonable fear of 

23 bodily injury to the partner or child; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) intimidating or dissuading a wit25 ness from testifying in court; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) that— 

2 ‘‘(i) includes a finding that the person 

3 represents a credible threat to the physical 

4 safety of an individual described in sub5 paragraph (B); or 

6 ‘‘(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits 

7 the use, attempted use, or threatened use 

8 of physical force against an individual de9 scribed in subparagraph (B) that would 

10 reasonably be expected to cause bodily in11 jury.’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (32), by striking all that fol13 lows after ‘‘The term ‘intimate partner’ ’’ and insert14 ing the following: ‘‘— 

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

16 spouse of the person, a former spouse of the person, 

17 an individual who is a parent of a child of the per18 son, and an individual who cohabitates or has 

19 cohabited with the person; and 

20 ‘‘(B) includes— 

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

22 2266) or former dating partner; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) any other individual similarly situated 

24 to a spouse who is protected by the domestic or 

25 family violence laws of the State, local, or TribVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2169.IS S2169

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1 al 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 inserting ‘‘dating partner (as 

12 defined in section 2266),’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’ 

13 each place it appears. 

14 (b) UNLAWFUL SALE OF FIREARM TO A PERSON

15 SUBJECT TO COURT ORDER.—Section 922(d)(8) of title 

16 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

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

18 court order; or’’. 

19 (c) LIST OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO A RESTRAINING

20 OR SIMILAR ORDER PROHIBITED FROM POSSESSING OR

21 RECEIVING A FIREARM EXPANDED.—Section 922(g)(8) 

22 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as 

23 follows: 

24 ‘‘(8) who is subject to a covered domestic vio25 lence court order; or’’. 


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1 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 

3 U.S.C. 40902 et seq.) is amended— 

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

5 striking ‘‘court order (as described in section 

6 922(g)(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘covered domestic violence 

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

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

9 40912(b)(1)(C)(v)), by striking ‘‘court order de10 scribed in section 922(g)(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘covered 

11 domestic violence court order, as defined in section 

12 921(a)’’. 

13 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

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

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

17 ‘‘PART PP—GRANT PROGRAM REGARDING RE18 MOVAL OF FIREARMS FROM ADJUDICATED 

19 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PARTIES 

20 ‘‘SEC. 3061. DEFINITIONS. 

21 ‘‘In this part: 

22 ‘‘(1) AMMUNITION; FIREARM.—The terms ‘am23 munition’ and ‘firearm’ have the meanings given 

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

25 Code. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en2 tity’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) a State; 

4 ‘‘(B) an Indian Tribe; or 

5 ‘‘(C) a unit of local government. 

6 ‘‘(3) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTION

7 ORDER.—The term ‘domestic violence protection 

8 order’ has the meaning given the term ‘covered do9 mestic violence court order’ in section 921 of title 

10 18, United States Code. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 3062. GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

13 General may make grants to covered entities to assist the 

14 covered entities in carrying out the policies, procedures, 

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

16 section 3063. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE COVERED ENTITY.— 

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

19 eligible to receive a grant under this section on and 

20 after the date on which the Attorney General deter21 mines that the covered entity has in effect policies, 

22 procedures, protocols, laws, court rules, or regula23 tions that are substantially similar to the policies, 

24 procedures, laws, court rules, or regulations de25 scribed in section 3063. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—In making a deter2 mination under paragraph (1), the Attorney General 

3 may consider policies, procedures, protocols, laws, 

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

5 substantially similar to the policies, procedures, 

6 laws, courts rules, or regulations described in section 

7 3063 even if the policies, procedures, protocols, laws, 

8 court rules, or regulations of the covered entity— 

9 ‘‘(A) vary in scope; 

10 ‘‘(B) prescribe different types of protective 

11 orders or firearm surrender orders; or 

12 ‘‘(C) provide different timing requirements. 

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

14 this section may be used by a covered entity— 

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

16 courts of the covered entity in carrying out the poli17 cies, procedures, protocols, laws, court rules, or reg18 ulations described in section 3063; and 

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

20 violence victims after a domestic violence protection 

21 order is issued in accordance with the policies, pro22 cedures, protocols, laws, court rules, or regulations 

23 described in section 3063, to partner with and pro24 vide support to not less than 1 domestic violence vicVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2169.IS S2169

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1 tim service provider, which may include an organiza2 tion that is a culturally specific organization. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.— 

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

5 grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney 

6 General an application at such time, in such man7 ner, and containing or accompanied by such infor8 mation as the Attorney General may reasonably re9 quire. 

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

11 under this subsection shall include a description of 

12 an action plan of the covered entity to establish a 

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

14 ‘‘SEC. 3063. STATE AND TRIBAL POLICIES AND PROCE15 DURES. 

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

17 or regulations described in this section are policies, proce18 dures, protocols, laws, court rules, or regulations relating 

19 to the possession of a firearm or ammunition that— 

20 ‘‘(1) direct a court, upon the issuance of a do21 mestic violence protection order, to issue an addi22 tional order (referred to in this section as a ‘firearm 

23 surrender order’) that— 

24 ‘‘(A) is in effect for the duration of the do25 mestic violence protection order; 


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1 ‘‘(B) automatically terminates upon the ex2 piration of the domestic violence protection 

3 order; 

4 ‘‘(C) requires— 

5 ‘‘(i) the individual subject to the fire6 arm surrender order to, not later than 24 

7 hours after the firearm surrender order is 

8 served, surrender physical possession of all 

9 firearms and ammunition in the posses10 sion, care, custody, or control of the indi11 vidual, including any firearm that the indi12 vidual has entrusted or lent to a third 

13 party, by either— 

14 ‘‘(I) surrendering the firearms 

15 and ammunition to the chief law en16 forcement officer of the district in 

17 which the individual resides or a law 

18 enforcement agency designated by the 

19 State or Indian Tribe to receive and 

20 store firearms and ammunition; or 

21 ‘‘(II) selling the firearms and 

22 ammunition to a licensed dealer (as 

23 defined in section 921 of title 18, 

24 United States Code); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the chief law enforcement officer 

2 of the district in which the individual re3 sides or a law enforcement agency des4 ignated by the State or Indian Tribe to re5 ceive and store firearms and ammunition 

6 to, not later than 24 hours after the fire7 arm surrender order is served, request the 

8 surrender of and remove and store any 

9 firearm or ammunition in the possession, 

10 care, custody, or control of the individual, 

11 including firearms and ammunition that 

12 the individual has entrusted or lent to a 

13 third party; 

14 ‘‘(D) prohibits the individual from pur15 chasing, possessing, or receiving, or attempting 

16 to purchase or receive, a firearm or ammunition 

17 for the period of time during which the firearm 

18 surrender order is in effect; 

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

20 individual to purchase, possess or carry a fire21 arm or ammunition for the period of time dur22 ing which the firearm surrender order is in ef23 fect; and 

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

25 firearm surrender order to, not later than 48 


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1 hours after the firearm surrender order is 

2 served by a court, file with the court— 

3 ‘‘(i) a declaration under penalty of 

4 perjury that— 

5 ‘‘(I) the individual has made the 

6 surrender described in subparagraph 

7 (C)(i); 

8 ‘‘(II) the chief law enforcement 

9 officer of the district in which the in10 dividual resides has conducted the re11 moval described in subparagraph 

12 (C)(ii); or 

13 ‘‘(III) the individual did not pos14 sess any firearm or ammunition at the 

15 time of the issuance and service of the 

16 firearm surrender order and continues 

17 to not possess any firearms or ammu18 nition; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) an itemized receipt of any fire20 arms or ammunition surrendered by the 

21 individual subject to the firearm surrender 

22 order under subparagraph (C)(i), or re23 moved by a chief law enforcement officer 

24 from that individual under subparagraph 

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


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1 took possession of those firearms or am2 munition; 

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

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

5 are reasonable grounds to believe that the individual 

6 possesses or has purchased a firearm, require the 

7 chief law enforcement officer or designated law en8 forcement agency described in paragraph (1)(C)(ii) 

9 to remove any firearm or ammunition from the indi10 vidual; 

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

12 designated law enforcement agency that conducts a 

13 removal under paragraph (1)(C)(ii) or (2) or re14 ceives a firearm or ammunition surrendered by an 

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

16 than 48 hours after conducting the removal or re17 ceiving the surrendered firearm or ammunition, no18 tify the court of the removal or surrender; 

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

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

21 any firearm or ammunition removed under para22 graph (1)(C)(ii) or (2), require the law enforcement 

23 agency to which the firearm or ammunition is sur24 rendered or that removes any firearm or ammunition 

25 to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) safely store the firearm or ammuni2 tion; and 

3 ‘‘(B) at the request of the individual sub4 ject to the firearm surrender order, not later 

5 than 7 days after the date on which the domes6 tic violence protection order described in para7 graph (1) expires or is removed— 

8 ‘‘(i) perform a background check on 

9 the individual subject to the firearm sur10 render order to determine whether the in11 dividual is prohibited from possessing or 

12 receiving a firearm under Federal or State 

13 law; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) return the firearm or ammuni15 tion to the individual subject to the firearm 

16 surrender order if the individual is not pro17 hibited from possessing or receiving a fire18 arm under Federal, State, or Tribal law; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(5) require the courts and relevant law en21 forcement agencies to partner with and provide sup22 port for local domestic violence programs in order to 

23 ensure the safety of victims of domestic violence 

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


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

2 1001(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

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

4 adding at the end the following: 

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

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

Æ 


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