I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4806 
To provide family members and close associates of an individual who they 
fear is a danger to himself, herself, or others new tools to prevent 
gun violence. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 5, 2014 
Mrs. CAPPS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide family members and close associates of an indi-
vidual who they fear is a danger to himself, herself, 
or others new tools to prevent gun violence. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pause for Safety Act 
of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘close associate’’ means, with re-
spect to an individual— 
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(A) a dating partner, friend, co-worker, or 
neighbor of the individual; or 
(B) any other person who has a relation-
ship with the individual so as to be concerned 
about the safety and well-being of the indi-
vidual, as determined by a State; 
(2) the term ‘‘family member’’ means, with re-
spect to an individual, a spouse, child, parent, sib-
ling, grandchild, or grandparent of the individual; 
(3) the term ‘‘firearm’’ has the meaning given 
the term in section 921 of title 18, United States 
Code; 
(4) the term ‘‘gun violence prevention order’’ 
means a written order, issued by a State court or 
signed by a magistrate (or other comparable judicial 
officer), prohibiting a named individual from having 
under the custody or control of the individual, own-
ing, purchasing, possessing, or receiving any fire-
arms; 
(5) the term ‘‘gun violence prevention warrant’’ 
means a written order, issued by a State court or 
signed by a magistrate (or other comparable judicial 
officer), regarding an individual who is subject to a 
gun violence prevention order and who is known to 
own or possess 1 or more firearms, that directs a 
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law enforcement officer to temporarily seize and re-
tain any firearm in the possession of the individual; 
(6) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means 
a public servant authorized by State law or by a 
State government agency to engage in or supervise 
the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecu-
tion of an offense; and 
(7) the term ‘‘wellness check’’ means a visit 
conducted by a law enforcement officer to the resi-
dence of an individual for the purpose of assessing 
whether the individual poses a danger to the indi-
vidual or others due to a mental, behavioral, or 
physical condition. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ORDER 
AND WARRANT LAW. 
(a) ENACTMENT OF GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION 
ORDER LAW.—In order to receive a grant under section 
4, on the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, each State shall have in effect legislation 
that— 
(1) authorizes a gun violence prevention order 
and gun violence prevention warrant in accordance 
with subsection (b); and 
(2) requires each law enforcement agency of the 
State to comply with subsection (c). 
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(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR GUN VIOLENCE PREVEN-
TION ORDERS
AND WARRANTS.—Legislation required 
under subsection (a) shall be subject to the following re-
quirements: 
(1) APPLICATION FOR GUN VIOLENCE PREVEN-
TION ORDER.—A family member or close associate 
of an individual may submit an application to a 
State court, on a form designed by the court, that— 
(A) describes the facts and circumstances 
necessitating that a gun violence prevention 
order be issued against the named individual; 
(B) is signed by the applicant, under oath; 
and 
(C) includes any additional information re-
quired by the State court or magistrate (or 
other comparable judicial officer) to dem-
onstrate that possession of a firearm by the 
named individual poses a significant risk of per-
sonal injury to the named individual or others. 
(2) EXAMINATION
OF
APPLICANT
AND
WIT-
NESSES.—A State court or magistrate (or other 
comparable judicial officer) may, before issuing a 
gun violence prevention order— 
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(A) examine under oath, the individual 
who applied for the order under paragraph (1) 
and any witnesses the individual produces; and 
(B)(i) require that the individual or any 
witness submit a signed affidavit, which de-
scribes the facts the applicant or witness be-
lieves establish the grounds of the application; 
or 
(ii) take an oral statement from the indi-
vidual or witness under oath. 
(3) STANDARD FOR ISSUANCE OF ORDER.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A State court or mag-
istrate (or other comparable judicial officer) 
may issue a gun violence prevention order only 
upon a finding of probable cause that posses-
sion of a firearm by the named individual poses 
a significant risk of personal injury to the 
named individual or others. 
(B) NOTIFICATION.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—The court shall no-
tify the Department of Justice and com-
parable State agency of the gun violence 
prevention order not later than 2 court 
days after issuing the order. The court 
shall also notify the Department of Justice 
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and comparable State agency of any order 
restoring the ability of the individual to 
own or possess firearms not later than 2 
court days after issuing the order to re-
store the individual’s right to own or pos-
sess any type of firearms that may be law-
fully owned and possessed. Such notice 
shall be submitted in an electronic format, 
in a manner prescribed by the Department 
of Justice and the comparable State agen-
cy. 
(ii) UPDATE
OF
DATABASES.—As 
soon as practicable after receiving a notifi-
cation under clause (i), the Department of 
Justice and comparable State agency shall 
update the background check databases of 
the Department and agency, respectively, 
to reflect the prohibitions articulated in the 
gun violence prevention order. 
(4) ISSUANCE OF GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION 
WARRANT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—After issuing a gun vio-
lence prevention order, a State court or mag-
istrate (or other comparable judicial officer) 
shall, upon a finding of probable cause to be-
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lieve that the named individual subject to the 
order has a firearm in his custody or control, 
issue a gun violence prevention warrant order-
ing the temporary seizure of all firearms speci-
fied in the warrant. 
(B) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to paragraph 
(6), a gun violence prevention warrant issued 
under subparagraph (A) shall require that any 
firearm described in the warrant be taken from 
any place, or from any individual in whose pos-
session, the firearm may be. 
(5) SERVICE OF GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION 
ORDER.—When serving a gun violence prevention 
order, a law enforcement officer shall provide the in-
dividual with a form to request a hearing in accord-
ance with paragraph (6)(F). 
(6) TEMPORARY SEIZURE OF FIREARMS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—When a law enforce-
ment officer takes property under a gun vio-
lence prevention warrant, the law enforcement 
officer shall give a receipt for the property 
taken, specifying the property in detail, to the 
individual from whom it was taken. In the ab-
sence of a person, the law enforcement officer 
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shall leave the receipt in the place where the 
law enforcement officer found the property. 
(B) TEMPORARY
CUSTODY
OF
SEIZED 
FIREARMS.—All firearms seized pursuant to a 
gun violence prevention warrant shall be re-
tained by the law enforcement officer or the law 
enforcement agency in custody, subject to the 
order of the court that issued the warrant or to 
any other court in which an offense with re-
spect to the firearm is triable. 
(C) LIMITATION
ON
SEIZURE
OF
FIRE-
ARMS.—If the location to be searched during 
the execution of a gun violence prevention war-
rant is jointly occupied by multiple parties and 
a firearm is located during the execution of the 
seizure warrant, and it is determined that the 
firearm is owned by an individual other than 
the individual named in the gun violence pre-
vention warrant, the firearm may not be seized 
if— 
(i) the firearm is stored in a manner 
that the individual named in the gun vio-
lence prevention warrant does not have ac-
cess to or control of the firearm; and 
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(ii) there is no evidence of unlawful 
possession of the firearm by the owner. 
(D) GUN
SAFE.—If the location to be 
searched during the execution of a gun violence 
prevention warrant is jointly occupied by mul-
tiple parties and a gun safe is located, and it 
is determined that the gun safe is owned by an 
individual other than the individual named in 
the gun violence prevention warrant, the con-
tents of the gun safe shall not be searched ex-
cept in the owner’s presence, or with the own-
er’s consent, or unless a valid search warrant 
has been obtained. 
(E) RETURN OF FIREARM TO RIGHTFUL 
OWNER.—If any individual who is not a named 
individual in a gun violence prevention warrant 
claims title to a firearm seized pursuant to a 
gun violence prevention warrant, the firearm 
shall be returned to the lawful owner not later 
than 30 days after the date on which the title 
is claimed. 
(F) RIGHT TO REQUEST A HEARING.—A 
named individual may submit 1 written request 
at any time during the effective period of a gun 
violence prevention order issued against the in-
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dividual for a hearing for an order allowing the 
individual to own, possess, purchase, or receive 
a firearm. 
(7) HEARING ON GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION 
ORDER
AND
GUN
VIOLENCE
PREVENTION
WAR-
RANT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (E), not later than 14 days after 
the date on which a gun violence prevention 
order and, when applicable, a gun violence pre-
vention warrant, is issued, the court that issued 
the order and, when applicable, the warrant, or 
another court in that same jurisdiction, shall 
hold a hearing to determine whether the indi-
vidual who is the subject of the order may have 
under the custody or control of the individual, 
own, purchase, possess, or receive firearms and, 
when applicable, whether any seized firearms 
should be returned to the individual named in 
the warrant. 
(B) NOTICE.—The individual named in a 
gun violence prevention order requested to be 
renewed under subparagraph (A) shall be given 
written notice and an opportunity to be heard 
on the matter. 
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(C) BURDEN OF PROOF.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 
in clause (ii), at any hearing conducted 
under subparagraph (A), the State or peti-
tioner shall have the burden of establishing 
probable cause that the individual poses a 
significant risk of personal injury to the in-
dividual or others by owning or possessing 
the firearm. 
(ii) HIGHER BURDEN OF PROOF.—A 
State may establish a burden of proof for 
hearings conducted under subparagraph 
(A) that is higher than the burden of proof 
required under clause (i). 
(D) REQUIREMENTS
UPON
FINDING
OF 
SIGNIFICANT RISK.—If the named individual is 
found at the hearing to pose a significant risk 
of personal injury to the named individual or 
others by owning or possessing a firearm, the 
following shall apply: 
(i) The firearm or firearms seized 
pursuant to the warrant shall be retained 
by the law enforcement agency for a period 
not to exceed 1 year. 
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(ii) The named individual shall be 
prohibited from owning or possessing, pur-
chasing or receiving, or attempting to pur-
chase or receive a firearm for a period not 
to exceed 1 year, a violation of which shall 
be considered a misdemeanor offense. 
(iii) The court shall notify the Depart-
ment of Justice and comparable State 
agency of the gun violence prevention order 
not later than 2 court days after issuing 
the order. The court shall also notify the 
Department of Justice and comparable 
State agency of any order restoring the 
ability of the individual to own or possess 
firearms not later than 2 court days after 
issuing the order to restore the individual’s 
right to own or possess any type of fire-
arms that may be lawfully owned and pos-
sessed. Such notice shall be submitted in 
an electronic format, in a manner pre-
scribed by the Department of Justice and 
the comparable State agency. 
(iv) As soon as practicable after re-
ceiving a notification under clause (iii), the 
Department of Justice and comparable 
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