Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 527 To protect victims of stalking from gun violence. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 2 (legislative day, MARCH 1), 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. COONS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. TESTER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To protect victims of stalking from gun violence. 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 ‘‘Protecting Domestic 4 Violence and Stalking Victims Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S527.IS S527 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 527 IS SEC. 2. ADDITION OF DATING PARTNERS AND INDIVIDUALS 1 SUBJECT TO RESTRAINING ORDERS. 2 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 3 States Code, is amended— 4 (1) by striking paragraph (32) and inserting 5 the following: 6 ‘‘(32) The term ‘intimate partner’— 7 ‘‘(A) means with respect to a person, the spouse 8 of the person, a former spouse of the person, an in- 9 dividual who is a parent of a child of the person, and 10 an individual who cohabitates or has cohabited with 11 the person; and 12 ‘‘(B) includes— 13 ‘‘(i) a dating partner or former dating 14 partner (as defined in section 2266); and 15 ‘‘(ii) any other person similarly situated to 16 a spouse who is protected by the domestic or 17 family violence laws of the State or tribal juris- 18 diction in which the injury occurred or where 19 the victim resides.’’; 20 (2) in paragraph (33)(A)— 21 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘municipal,’’ 22 after ‘‘State,’’; and 23 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘dating 24 partner (as defined in section 2266),’’ after 25 ‘‘spouse,’’ each place it appears; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S527.IS S527 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 527 IS (3) by redesignating paragraphs (34) and (35) 1 as paragraphs (35) and (36), respectively; and 2 (4) by inserting after paragraph (33) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(34)(A) The term ‘misdemeanor crime of stalking’ 5 means an offense that is— 6 ‘‘(i) a misdemeanor crime of stalking under 7 Federal, State, municipal, or Tribal law; and 8 ‘‘(ii) a course of harassment, intimidation or 9 surveillance of another person that— 10 ‘‘(I) places that person in reasonable fear 11 of material harm to the health or safety of— 12 ‘‘(aa) that person; 13 ‘‘(bb) an immediate family member 14 (as defined in section 115) of that person; 15 ‘‘(cc) a household member of that per- 16 son; or 17 ‘‘(dd) a spouse or intimate partner of 18 that person; or 19 ‘‘(II) causes, attempts to cause, or would 20 reasonably be expected to cause emotional dis- 21 tress to a person described in item (aa), (bb), 22 (cc), or (dd) of subclause (I). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S527.IS S527 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 527 IS ‘‘(B) A person shall not be considered to have been 1 convicted of such an offense for purposes of this chapter, 2 unless— 3 ‘‘(i) the person was represented by counsel in 4 the case, or knowingly and intelligently waived the 5 right to counsel in the case; and 6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a prosecution for an offense 7 described in this paragraph for which a person was 8 entitled to a jury trial in the jurisdiction in which 9 the case was tried, either 10 ‘‘(I) the case was tried by a jury, or 11 ‘‘(II) the person knowingly and intel- 12 ligently waived the right to have the case tried 13 by a jury, by guilty plea or otherwise. 14 ‘‘(C) A person shall not be considered to have been 15 convicted of such an offense for purposes of this chapter 16 if the conviction has been expunged or set aside, or is an 17 offense for which the person has been pardoned or has 18 had civil rights restored (if the law of the applicable juris- 19 diction provides for the loss of civil rights under such an 20 offense) unless the pardon, expungement, or restoration 21 of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not 22 ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S527.IS S527 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 527 IS SEC. 3. PROHIBITING STALKERS FROM POSSESSING A 1 FIREARM. 2 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) in subsection (d)— 5 (A) in paragraph (8)(ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ 6 at the end; 7 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe- 8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(10) has been convicted in any court of a mis- 12 demeanor crime of stalking.’’; and 13 (2) in subsection (g)— 14 (A) in paragraph (8)(C)(ii), by striking 15 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 16 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the 17 comma at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 18 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(10) who has been convicted in any court of 21 a misdemeanor crime of stalking,’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S527.IS S527 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS