Sponsors (9)
The bill expands federally funded legal resources, multilingual assistance, training, and legal protections to encourage ERPO petitions and earlier interventions for public safety, but does so at measurable fiscal cost and with risks to due process, uneven implementation, limited remedies for those harmed by bad‑faith petitions, and potential conflicts where local offices are funded to both support and oppose petitioners.
Covered petitioners — including immigrants and non-English speakers — will get substantially improved access to counsel, interpreters, and multilingual legal resources (hiring of attorneys/coordinators), speeding and improving ERPO representation.
People who petition for ERPOs will be largely shielded from most civil lawsuits arising from filing a petition, reducing fear of retaliation and encouraging more people to come forward when concerned about firearm risk.
State, local, Tribal and federal authorities — and the public they serve — may see more and earlier ERPO filings (enabling earlier interventions to prevent firearm harm) as petitioners face fewer civil-suit risks.
Victims or others harmed by retaliatory or bad‑faith petitions may lose access to a federal forum and face limited remedies unless they can prove a petition was false or intentionally harassing, constraining redress for real harms.
People subject to ERPOs may face increased risk of erroneous firearm removal or perceived due‑process problems if standards and implementation vary across jurisdictions.
Taxpayers will fund up to about $350 million in new federal spending between 2028–2034 to run this program.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal grant program to fund legal representation, interpretation, resource centers, staff, and training for people seeking ERPOs and limits most federal suits against such petitioners.
Introduced January 21, 2026 by Judy Chu · Last progress January 21, 2026
Creates a federal grant program to help people who file extreme risk protection order (ERPO) petitions get legal representation, interpretation services, and access to multilingual legal resources; funds may also support hiring staff, subgrants to nonprofit legal aid groups, and practitioner training. The Attorney General would award grants to States, local governments, and Tribal governments and the bill authorizes $50 million per year for fiscal years 2028–2034. The measure also prevents most federal courts from hearing lawsuits that arise solely because someone filed an ERPO petition, except when a petitioner filed a knowingly false or intentionally harassing petition.