[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 527 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Domestic Violence and
Stalking Victims Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. ADDITION OF DATING PARTNERS AND INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT TO
RESTRAINING ORDERS.
(a) Definition.--Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (32) and inserting the following:
``(32) The term `intimate partner'--
``(A) means with respect to a person, the spouse of the
person, a former spouse of the person, an individual who is a
parent of a child of the person, and an individual who
cohabitates or has cohabited with the person; and
``(B) includes--
``(i) a dating partner or former dating partner (as
defined in section 2266); and
``(ii) any other person similarly situated to a
spouse who is protected by the domestic or family
violence laws of the State or tribal jurisdiction in
which the injury occurred or where the victim
resides.'';
(2) in paragraph (33)(A)--
(A) in clause (i), by inserting ``municipal,''
after ``State,''; and
(B) in clause (ii), by inserting ``dating partner
(as defined in section 2266),'' after ``spouse,'' each
place it appears;
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (34) and (35) as paragraphs
(35) and (36), respectively; and
(4) by inserting after paragraph (33) the following:
``(34)(A) The term `misdemeanor crime of stalking' means an offense
that is--
``(i) a misdemeanor crime of stalking under Federal, State,
municipal, or Tribal law; and
``(ii) a course of harassment, intimidation or surveillance
of another person that--
``(I) places that person in reasonable fear of
material harm to the health or safety of--
``(aa) that person;
``(bb) an immediate family member (as
defined in section 115) of that person;
``(cc) a household member of that person;
or
``(dd) a spouse or intimate partner of that
person; or
``(II) causes, attempts to cause, or would
reasonably be expected to cause emotional distress to a
person described in item (aa), (bb), (cc), or (dd) of
subclause (I).
``(B) A person shall not be considered to have been convicted of
such an offense for purposes of this chapter, unless--
``(i) the person was represented by counsel in the case, or
knowingly and intelligently waived the right to counsel in the
case; and
``(ii) in the case of a prosecution for an offense
described in this paragraph for which a person was entitled to
a jury trial in the jurisdiction in which the case was tried,
either
``(I) the case was tried by a jury, or
``(II) the person knowingly and intelligently
waived the right to have the case tried by a jury, by
guilty plea or otherwise.
``(C) A person shall not be considered to have been convicted of
such an offense for purposes of this chapter if the conviction has been
expunged or set aside, or is an offense for which the person has been
pardoned or has had civil rights restored (if the law of the applicable
jurisdiction provides for the loss of civil rights under such an
offense) unless the pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights
expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or
receive firearms.''.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING STALKERS FROM POSSESSING A FIREARM.
Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (d)--
(A) in paragraph (8)(ii), by striking ``or'' at the
end;
(B) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
``(10) has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor
crime of stalking.''; and
(2) in subsection (g)--
(A) in paragraph (8)(C)(ii), by striking ``or'' at
the end;
(B) in paragraph (9), by striking the comma at the
end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
``(10) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor
crime of stalking,''.
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