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 protection 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Domestic 

5 Violence and Stalking Victims Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITING PERSONS CONVICTED OF MIS2 DEMEANOR CRIMES AGAINST DATING PART3 NERS AND PERSONS SUBJECT TO PROTEC4 TION ORDERS. 

5 Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (32), by striking all that fol8 lows after ‘‘The term ‘intimate partner’ ’’ and insert9 ing the following: ‘‘— 

10 ‘‘(A) means, with respect to a person, the 

11 spouse of the person, a former spouse of the 

12 person, an individual who is a parent of a child 

13 of the person, and an individual who cohabi14 tates or has cohabited with the person; and 

15 ‘‘(B) includes— 

16 ‘‘(i) a dating partner or former dating 

17 partner (as defined in section 2266); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) any other person similarly situ19 ated to a spouse who is protected by the 

20 domestic or family violence laws of the 

21 State or Tribal jurisdiction in which the 

22 injury occurred or where the victim re23 sides.’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (33)(A)— 

25 (A) in clause (i), by inserting after ‘‘Fed26 eral, State,’’ the following: ‘‘municipal,’’; and 


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1 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘intimate 

2 partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’ each place it appears; 

3 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (34) and (35) 

4 as paragraphs (35) and (36) respectively; and 

5 (4) by inserting after paragraph (33) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(34)(A) The term ‘misdemeanor crime of stalking’ 

8 means an offense that— 

9 ‘‘(i) is a misdemeanor crime of stalking under 

10 Federal, State, Tribal, or municipal law; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) is a course of harassment, intimidation, or 

12 surveillance of another person that— 

13 ‘‘(I) places that person in reasonable fear 

14 of material harm to the health or safety of— 

15 ‘‘(aa) that person; 

16 ‘‘(bb) an immediate family member 

17 (as defined in section 115) of that person; 

18 ‘‘(cc) a household member of that per19 son; or 

20 ‘‘(dd) a spouse or intimate partner of 

21 that person; or 

22 ‘‘(II) causes, attempts to cause, or would 

23 reasonably be expected to cause emotional dis24 tress to a person described in item (aa), (bb), 

25 (cc), or (dd) of subclause (I). 


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1 ‘‘(B) A person shall not be considered to have been 

2 convicted of such an offense for purposes of this chapter, 

3 unless— 

4 ‘‘(i) the person was represented by counsel in 

5 the case, or knowingly and intelligently waived the 

6 right to counsel in the case; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a prosecution for an offense 

8 described in this paragraph for which a person was 

9 entitled to a jury trial in the jurisdiction in which 

10 the case was tried, either— 

11 ‘‘(I) the case was tried by a jury; or 

12 ‘‘(II) the person knowingly and intel13 ligently waived the right to have the case tried 

14 by a jury, by guilty plea or otherwise. 

15 ‘‘(C) A person shall not be considered to have been 

16 convicted of such an offense for purposes of this chapter 

17 if the conviction has been expunged or set aside, or is an 

18 offense for which the person has been pardoned or has 

19 had civil rights restored (if the law of the applicable juris20 diction provides for the loss of civil rights under such an 

21 offense) unless the pardon, expungement, or restoration 

22 of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not 

23 ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING STALKERS AND INDIVIDUALS SUB2 JECT TO COURT ORDER FROM POSSESSING A 

3 FIREARM. 

4 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (d)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘that re8 strains such person’’ and all that follows, and 

9 inserting ‘‘described in subsection (g)(8);’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

12 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(10) who has been convicted in any court of 

15 a misdemeanor crime of stalking.’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (g)— 

17 (A) by amending paragraph (8) to read as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(8) who is subject to a court order— 

20 ‘‘(A) that was issued— 

21 ‘‘(i) after a hearing of which such per22 son received actual notice, and at which 

23 such person had an opportunity to partici24 pate; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an ex parte order, 

2 relative to which notice and opportunity to 

3 be heard are provided— 

4 ‘‘(I) within the time required by 

5 State, Tribal, or territorial law; and 

6 ‘‘(II) in any event within a rea7 sonable time after the order is issued, 

8 sufficient to protect the due process 

9 rights of the person; 

10 ‘‘(B) that restrains such person from— 

11 ‘‘(i) harassing, stalking, or threat12 ening an intimate partner of such person 

13 or child of such intimate partner or person, 

14 or engaging in other conduct that would 

15 place an intimate partner in reasonable 

16 fear of bodily injury to the partner or 

17 child; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) intimidating or dissuading a wit19 ness from testifying in court; and 

20 ‘‘(C) that— 

21 ‘‘(i) includes a finding that such per22 son represents a credible threat to the 

23 physical safety of such individual described 

24 in subparagraph (B); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits 

2 the use, attempted use, or threatened use 

3 of physical force against such individual 

4 described in subparagraph (B) that would 

5 reasonably be expected to cause bodily in6 jury;’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the 

8 comma at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(10) who has been convicted in any court of 

12 a misdemeanor crime of stalking,’’. 

Æ 


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