Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1906 To amend title 18, United States Code to prohibit persons convicted of misdemeanor crimes against dating partners and persons subject to pro- tection orders from possessing firearms, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 16, 2021 Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code to prohibit persons convicted of misdemeanor crimes against dating partners and persons subject to protection orders from possessing firearms, and for other purposes. 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 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1906.IH H1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1906 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITING PERSONS CONVICTED OF MIS- 1 DEMEANOR CRIMES AGAINST DATING PART- 2 NERS AND PERSONS SUBJECT TO PROTEC- 3 TION ORDERS. 4 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 5 amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (32), by striking all that fol- 7 lows after ‘‘The term ‘intimate partner’ ’’ and insert- 8 ing the following: ‘‘— 9 ‘‘(A) means, with respect to a person, the 10 spouse of the person, a former spouse of the 11 person, an individual who is a parent of a child 12 of the person, and an individual who cohabi- 13 tates or has cohabited with the person; and 14 ‘‘(B) includes— 15 ‘‘(i) a dating partner or former dating 16 partner (as defined in section 2266); and 17 ‘‘(ii) any other person similarly situ- 18 ated to a spouse who is protected by the 19 domestic or family violence laws of the 20 State or Tribal jurisdiction in which the 21 injury occurred or where the victim re- 22 sides.’’; 23 (2) in paragraph (33)(A)— 24 (A) in clause (i), by inserting after ‘‘Fed- 25 eral, State,’’ the following: ‘‘municipal,’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1906.IH H1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1906 IH (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘intimate 1 partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’ each place it appears; 2 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (34) and (35) 3 as paragraphs (35) and (36) respectively; and 4 (4) by inserting after paragraph (33) the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(34)(A) The term ‘misdemeanor crime of stalking’ 7 means an offense that— 8 ‘‘(i) is a misdemeanor crime of stalking under 9 Federal, State, Tribal, or municipal law; and 10 ‘‘(ii) is a course of harassment, intimidation, or 11 surveillance of another person that— 12 ‘‘(I) places that person in reasonable fear 13 of material harm to the health or safety of— 14 ‘‘(aa) that person; 15 ‘‘(bb) an immediate family member 16 (as defined in section 115) of that person; 17 ‘‘(cc) a household member of that per- 18 son; or 19 ‘‘(dd) a spouse or intimate partner of 20 that person; or 21 ‘‘(II) causes, attempts to cause, or would 22 reasonably be expected to cause emotional dis- 23 tress to a person described in item (aa), (bb), 24 (cc), or (dd) of subclause (I). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1906.IH H1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1906 IH ‘‘(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 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1906.IH H1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1906 IH SEC. 3. PROHIBITING STALKERS AND INDIVIDUALS SUB- 1 JECT TO COURT ORDER FROM POSSESSING A 2 FIREARM. 3 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 4 amended— 5 (1) in subsection (d)— 6 (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘that re- 7 strains such person’’ and all that follows, and 8 inserting ‘‘described in subsection (g)(8);’’; 9 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe- 10 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 11 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(10) who has been convicted in any court of 14 a misdemeanor crime of stalking.’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (g)— 16 (A) by amending paragraph (8) to read as 17 follows: 18 ‘‘(8) who is subject to a court order— 19 ‘‘(A) that was issued— 20 ‘‘(i) after a hearing of which such per- 21 son received actual notice, and at which 22 such person had an opportunity to partici- 23 pate; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1906.IH H1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1906 IH ‘‘(ii) in the case of an ex parte order, 1 relative to which notice and opportunity to 2 be heard are provided— 3 ‘‘(I) within the time required by 4 State, Tribal, or territorial law; and 5 ‘‘(II) in any event within a rea- 6 sonable time after the order is issued, 7 sufficient to protect the due process 8 rights of the person; 9 ‘‘(B) that restrains such person from— 10 ‘‘(i) harassing, stalking, or threat- 11 ening an intimate partner of such person 12 or child of such intimate partner or person, 13 or engaging in other conduct that would 14 place an intimate partner in reasonable 15 fear of bodily injury to the partner or 16 child; or 17 ‘‘(ii) intimidating or dissuading a wit- 18 ness from testifying in court; and 19 ‘‘(C) that— 20 ‘‘(i) includes a finding that such per- 21 son represents a credible threat to the 22 physical safety of such individual described 23 in subparagraph (B); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1906.IH H1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1906 IH ‘‘(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits 1 the use, attempted use, or threatened use 2 of physical force against such individual 3 described in subparagraph (B) that would 4 reasonably be expected to cause bodily in- 5 jury;’’; 6 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the 7 comma at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 8 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(10) who has been convicted in any court of 11 a misdemeanor crime of stalking,’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1906.IH H1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS