Preventing Pretrial Gun Purchases Act

The Preventing Pretrial Gun Purchases Act would strengthen the national background check system by adding a specific type of court order—pretrial release orders—to the list of prohibitions that prevent someone from buying or possessing a firearm. The bill defines “pretrial release order” as a court order governing the release of someone awaiting trial, and it requires background checks to deny a firearm purchase to anyone who is subject to such an order that forbids firearm possession. It makes related changes to federal gun laws to ensure that licensed firearm dealers cannot knowingly transfer a firearm to someone under these orders and aligns various provisions across the Gun Control Act, Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, and the NICS Improvement Amendments Act to reflect this new rule. The bill also creates a new federal grant program—with $25 million annually for 2026 through 2030—to help states and Indian Tribes report pretrial release orders to the national instant criminal background check system (NICS). In short, the act would broaden the eligibility screen for firearm purchases to include people who are legally prohibited from possessing firearms due to pretrial release restrictions, and it would provide funding to improve reporting of those orders to the background check system.