Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3480 To support State, Tribal, and local efforts to remove access to firearms from individuals who are a danger to themselves or others pursuant to court orders for this purpose. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2021 Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself, Mr. BEYER, Ms. BROWNLEY, and Mrs. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To support State, Tribal, and local efforts to remove access to firearms from individuals who are a danger to them- selves or others pursuant to court orders for this pur- pose. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Extreme Risk Protec- 4 tion Order Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER GRANT PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3480 IH (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means— 2 (A) a State or Indian Tribe— 3 (i) that enacts legislation described in 4 subsection (c); 5 (ii) with respect to which the Attorney 6 General determines that the legislation de- 7 scribed in clause (i) complies with the re- 8 quirements under subsection (c)(1); and 9 (iii) that certifies to the Attorney 10 General that the State or Indian Tribe 11 shall— 12 (I) use the grant for the purposes 13 described in subsection (b)(2); and 14 (II) allocate not less than 25 per- 15 cent and not more than 70 percent of 16 the amount received under a grant 17 under subsection (b) for the develop- 18 ment and dissemination of training 19 for law enforcement officers in accord- 20 ance with subsection (b)(4); or 21 (B) a unit of local government or other 22 public or private entity that— 23 (i) is located in a State or in the terri- 24 tory under the jurisdiction of an Indian 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3480 IH Tribe that meets the requirements de- 1 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara- 2 graph (A); and 3 (ii) certifies to the Attorney General 4 that the unit of local government or entity 5 shall— 6 (I) use the grant for the purposes 7 described in subsection (b)(2); and 8 (II) allocate not less than 25 per- 9 cent and not more than 70 percent of 10 the amount received under a grant 11 under this section for the development 12 and dissemination of training for law 13 enforcement officers in accordance 14 with subsection (b)(4). 15 (2) EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER.—The 16 term ‘‘extreme risk protection order’’ means a writ- 17 ten order or warrant, issued by a State or Tribal 18 court or signed by a magistrate (or other com- 19 parable judicial officer), the primary purpose of 20 which is to reduce the risk of firearm-related death 21 or injury by doing 1 or more of the following: 22 (A) Prohibiting a named individual from 23 having under the custody or control of the indi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3480 IH vidual, owning, purchasing, possessing, or re- 1 ceiving a firearm. 2 (B) Having a firearm removed or requiring 3 the surrender of firearms from a named indi- 4 vidual. 5 (3) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the 6 meaning given the term in section 921 of title 18, 7 United States Code. 8 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 9 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 10 section 1709 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 11 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10389). 12 (5) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 13 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means a public servant 14 authorized by Federal, State, local, or Tribal law or 15 by a Federal, State, local, or Tribal government 16 agency to— 17 (A) engage in or supervise the prevention, 18 detection, investigation, or prosecution of an of- 19 fense; or 20 (B) supervise sentenced criminal offenders. 21 (6) PETITIONER.—The term ‘‘petitioner’’ 22 means an individual authorized under State or Trib- 23 al law to petition for an extreme risk protection 24 order. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3480 IH (7) RESPONDENT.—The term ‘‘respondent’’ 1 means an individual named in the petition for an ex- 2 treme risk protection order or subject to an extreme 3 risk protection order. 4 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 5 (A) a State; 6 (B) the District of Columbia; 7 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 8 and 9 (D) any other territory or possession of the 10 United States. 11 (9) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 12 ‘‘unit of local government’’ has the meaning given 13 the term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus 14 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 15 U.S.C. 10251). 16 (b) GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 18 Community Oriented Policing Services of the De- 19 partment of Justice shall establish a program under 20 which, from amounts made available to carry out 21 this section, the Director may make grants to eligi- 22 ble entities to assist in carrying out the provisions 23 of the legislation described in subsection (c). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3480 IH (2) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under 1 this subsection may be used by an applicant to— 2 (A) enhance the capacity of law enforce- 3 ment agencies and the courts of a State, unit 4 of local government, or Indian Tribe by pro- 5 viding personnel, training, technical assistance, 6 data collection, and other resources to carry out 7 enacted legislation described in subsection (c); 8 (B) train judges, court personnel, health 9 care and legal professionals, and law enforce- 10 ment officers to more accurately identify indi- 11 viduals whose access to firearms poses a danger 12 of causing harm to themselves or others by in- 13 creasing the risk of firearms suicide or inter- 14 personal violence; 15 (C) develop and implement law enforce- 16 ment and court protocols, forms, and orders so 17 that law enforcement agencies and the courts 18 may carry out the provisions of the enacted leg- 19 islation described in subsection (c) in a safe, eq- 20 uitable, and effective manner, including through 21 the removal and storage of firearms pursuant to 22 extreme risk protection orders under the en- 23 acted legislation; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3480 IH (D) raise public awareness and under- 1 standing of the enacted legislation described in 2 subsection (c), including through subgrants to 3 community-based organizations for the training 4 of community members, so that extreme risk 5 protection orders may be issued in appropriate 6 situations to reduce the risk of firearms-related 7 death and injury. 8 (3) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a 9 grant under this subsection shall submit to the At- 10 torney General an application at such time, in such 11 manner, and containing or accompanied by such in- 12 formation as the Attorney General may reasonably 13 require. 14 (4) TRAINING.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant 16 under this subsection shall provide training to 17 law enforcement officers, including officers of 18 relevant Federal, State, local, and Tribal law 19 enforcement agencies, in the safe, impartial, ef- 20 fective, and equitable use and administration of 21 extreme risk protection orders, including train- 22 ing to address— 23 (i) bias based on race and racism, eth- 24 nicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3480 IH identity, religion, language proficiency, and 1 classism in the use and administration of 2 extreme risk protection orders; 3 (ii) the appropriate use of extreme 4 risk protection orders in cases of domestic 5 violence, including the applicability of other 6 policies and protocols to address domestic 7 violence in situations that may also involve 8 extreme risk protection orders and the ne- 9 cessity of safety planning with the victim 10 before a law enforcement officer petitions 11 for and executes an extreme risk protection 12 order, if applicable; 13 (iii) interacting with persons with a 14 mental illness or emotional distress, includ- 15 ing de-escalation and crisis intervention; 16 and 17 (iv) best practices for referring per- 18 sons subject to extreme risk protection or- 19 ders and associated victims of violence to 20 social service providers that may be avail- 21 able in the jurisdiction and appropriate for 22 those individuals, including health care, 23 mental health, substance abuse, and legal 24 services, employment and vocational serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3480 IH ices, housing assistance, case management, 1 and veterans and disability benefits. 2 (B) CONSULTATION WITH EXPERTS.—A 3 recipient of a grant under this subsection, in 4 developing law enforcement training required 5 under subparagraph (A), shall seek advice from 6 domestic violence service providers (including 7 culturally specific (as defined in section 40002 8 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 9 U.S.C. 12291)) organizations), social service 10 providers, suicide prevention advocates, violence 11 intervention specialists, and other community 12 groups working to reduce suicides and violence, 13 including domestic violence, within the State or 14 the territory under the jurisdiction of the In- 15 dian Tribe, as applicable, that enacted the legis- 16 lation described in subsection (c) that enabled 17 the grant recipient to be an eligible entity. 18 (5) INCENTIVES.—For each of fiscal years 2022 19 through 2026, the Attorney General shall give af- 20 firmative preference in awarding any discretionary 21 grant awarded by the Office of Community Oriented 22 Policing Services to a State or Indian Tribe that has 23 enacted legislation described in subsection (c) or to 24 a unit of local government or other public or private 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3480 IH entity located in such a State or in the territory 1 under the jurisdiction of such an Indian Tribe. 2 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 4 as are necessary to carry out this section. 5 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR EXTREME RISK PROTECTION 6 ORDER GRANT PROGRAM.— 7 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Legislation described in 8 this subsection is legislation that establishes require- 9 ments that are substantially similar to the following: 10 (A) APPLICATION FOR EXTREME RISK 11 PROTECTION ORDER.—A petitioner, including a 12 law enforcement officer, may submit an applica- 13 tion to a State or Tribal court, on a form de- 14 signed by the court or a State or Tribal agency, 15 that— 16 (i) describes the facts and cir- 17 cumstances justifying that an extreme risk 18 protection order be issued against the 19 named individual; and 20 (ii) is signed by the applicant, under 21 oath. 22 (B) NOTICE AND DUE PROCESS.—The in- 23 dividual named in an application for an extreme 24 risk protection order as described in subpara- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3480 IH graph (A) shall be given written notice of the 1 application and an opportunity to be heard on 2 the matter in accordance with this paragraph. 3 (C) ISSUANCE OF EXTREME RISK PROTEC- 4 TION ORDERS.— 5 (i) HEARING.— 6 (I) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt 7 of an application described in sub- 8 paragraph (A) or request of an indi- 9 vidual named in such an application, 10 the court shall order a hearing to be 11 held within a reasonable time, and not 12 later than 30 days after the date of 13 the application or request. 14 (II) DETERMINATION.—If the 15 court finds at the hearing ordered 16 under subclause (I), by a preponder- 17 ance of the evidence or according to a 18 higher evidentiary standard estab- 19 lished by the State or Indian Tribe, 20 that the respondent poses a danger of 21 causing harm to self or others by hav- 22 ing access to a firearm, the court may 23 issue an extreme risk protection order. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3480 IH (ii) DURATION OF EXTREME RISK 1 PROTECTION ORDER.—An extreme risk 2 protection order shall be in effect— 3 (I) until an order terminating or 4 superseding the extreme risk protec- 5 tion order is issued; or 6 (II) for a set period of time. 7 (D) EX PARTE EXTREME RISK PROTEC- 8 TION ORDERS.— 9 (i) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of an 10 application described in subparagraph (A), 11 the court may issue an ex parte extreme 12 risk protection order, if— 13 (I) the application for an extreme 14 risk protection order alleges that the 15 respondent poses a danger of causing 16 harm to self or others by having ac- 17 cess to a firearm; and 18 (II) the court finds there is rea- 19 sonable cause to believe, or makes a 20 finding according to a higher evi- 21 dentiary standard established by the 22 State or Indian Tribe, that the re- 23 spondent poses a danger of causing 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:27 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3480.IH H3480 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3480 IH harm to self or others by having ac- 1 cess to a firearm. 2 (ii) DURATION OF EX PARTE EX- 3 TREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER.—An ex 4 parte extreme risk protection order shall 5 remain in effect only until the hearing re- 6 quired under subparagraph (C)(i). 7 (E) STORAGE OF REMOVED FIREARMS.— 8 (i) AVAILABILITY FOR RETURN.—All 9 firearms removed or surrendered pursuant 10 to an extreme risk protection order shall 11 only be available for return to the named 12 individual when the indiv [Text truncated for display. 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