S. 2186 — Preventing Pretrial Gun Purchases Act

This section (1) defines the term "pretrial release order" in 18 USC 921(a)(39) as an order of a Federal, State, Tribal, or local court governing the pretrial release of an arrested person; and (2) prohibits licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers from selling or otherwise disposing of any firearm or ammunition to any person subject to such an order that prohibits the person from purchasing, possessing, or receiving firearms (adding new 922(d)(12)). It also makes conforming amendments throughout 922(t) to the national instant criminal background check requirements to account for the new prohibition (i.e., ensuring checks verify that a knowing sale, disposition, or receipt of a firearm by the prospective purchaser would not violate 922(d), (g), or (n)). (Thus, firearms dealers must deny transfers to individuals subject to qualifying pretrial release orders, and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System must reflect this prohibition.)

This section makes conforming amendments to federal firearms licensing and background check requirements under the Gun Control Act of 1968, Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, and NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to include prohibitions on knowing sales or dispositions of firearms or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. §922(d) (i.e., to fugitives from justice, unlawful users or addicts of controlled substances, persons adjudicated as mental defectives or committed to mental institutions, unlawful aliens, persons dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces, persons who have renounced U.S. citizenship, persons under certain domestic violence court orders, and persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence) alongside existing prohibitions under subsections (g) (unlawful possession) and (n) (indicted persons). (Thus, these changes ensure consistent application of National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) requirements and related procedures to 922(d) prohibited persons.) Specifically, the section (1) amends 18 U.S.C. §§923(d)(1)(B) and 925A(2); (2) revises multiple provisions of sec. 103 of the Brady Act (34 U.S.C. §40901), including expanding NICS check triggers in subsections (e)(1), (g), and (i)(2); and (3) revises provisions of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act (34 U.S.C. §§40911, 40912).

This section authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to states and Indian tribes to report covered pretrial release orders—state, tribal, or local court orders releasing an arrested individual pending trial that prohibit firearm or ammunition possession—to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Grants are in addition to funding under the National Criminal History Improvement Program or NICS Act Record Improvement Program. The section authorizes $25 million for each of FY2026 through 2030.