I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1494 

To protect victims of stalking from gun violence. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2021 

Mrs. DINGELL (for herself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect victims of stalking from gun violence. 

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 ‘‘Zero Tolerance for Do5 mestic Abusers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADDITION OF DATING PARTNERS AND INDIVIDUALS 

7 SUBJECT TO RESTRAINING ORDERS. 

8 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) by striking paragraph (32) and inserting 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(32) The term ‘intimate partner’— 


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

2 of the person, a former spouse of the person, an in3 dividual who is a parent of a child of the person, and 

4 an individual who cohabitates or has cohabited with 

5 the person; and 

6 ‘‘(B) includes— 

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

8 partner (as defined in section 2266); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) any other person similarly situated to 

10 a spouse who is protected by the domestic or 

11 family violence laws of the State or tribal juris12 diction in which the injury occurred or where 

13 the victim resides.’’; 

14 (2) in paragraph (33)(A)— 

15 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘municipal,’’ 

16 after ‘‘State,’’; and 

17 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘dating 

18 partner (as defined in section 2266),’’ after 

19 ‘‘spouse,’’ each place it appears; 

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

21 as paragraphs (35) and (36), respectively; and 

22 (4) by inserting after paragraph (33) the fol23 lowing: 

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

25 means an offense that is— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a misdemeanor crime of stalking under 

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

3 ‘‘(ii) a course of harassment, intimidation or 

4 surveillance of another person that— 

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

6 of material harm to the health or safety of— 

7 ‘‘(aa) that person; 

8 ‘‘(bb) an immediate family member 

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

10 ‘‘(cc) a household member of that per11 son; or 

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

13 that person; or 

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

15 reasonably be expected to cause emotional dis16 tress to a person described in item (aa), (bb), 

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

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

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

20 unless— 

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

22 the case, or knowingly and intelligently waived the 

23 right to counsel in the case; and 

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

25 described in this paragraph for which a person was 


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1 entitled to a jury trial in the jurisdiction in which 

2 the case was tried, either 

3 ‘‘(I) the case was tried by a jury, or 

4 ‘‘(II) the person knowingly and intel5 ligently waived the right to have the case tried 

6 by a jury, by guilty plea or otherwise. 

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

8 convicted of such an offense for purposes of this chapter 

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

10 offense for which the person has been pardoned or has 

11 had civil rights restored (if the law of the applicable juris12 diction provides for the loss of civil rights under such an 

13 offense) unless the pardon, expungement, or restoration 

14 of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not 

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

16 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING STALKERS FROM POSSESSING A 

17 FIREARM. 

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

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (d)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (8)(ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

22 at the end; 

23 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe24 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 


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

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(10) has been convicted in any court of a mis4 demeanor crime of stalking.’’; and 

5 (2) in subsection (g)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (8)(C)(ii), by striking 

7 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

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

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

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

11 following: 

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

13 a misdemeanor crime of stalking,’’. 

Æ 


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