I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5435 

To prevent a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, 

or received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor because of hate 

or bias in its commission, from obtaining a firearm. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023 

Ms. ESCOBAR (for herself, Mr. FROST, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. 

CLYBURN, Mr. GARAMENDI, and Ms. PORTER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prevent a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or received an enhanced sentence 

for a misdemeanor because of hate or bias in its commission, from obtaining a firearm. 

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 ‘‘Disarm Hate Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF PERSON WHO HAS BEEN CON2 VICTED OF A MISDEMEANOR HATE CRIME, 

3 OR RECEIVED AN ENHANCED SENTENCE FOR 

4 A MISDEMEANOR BECAUSE OF HATE OR BIAS 

5 IN ITS COMMISSION, FROM OBTAINING A 

6 FIREARM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(36) The term ‘convicted in any court of a mis11 demeanor hate crime’— 

12 ‘‘(A) means being convicted by a court of an of13 fense that— 

14 ‘‘(i) is a misdemeanor under Federal, 

15 State, or tribal law; 

16 ‘‘(ii) has, as an element, that the conduct 

17 of the offender was motivated by hate or bias 

18 because of the actual or perceived race, color, 

19 religion, national origin, gender, sexual orienta20 tion, gender identity (as defined in section 

21 249), or disability of any person; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) involves the use or attempted use of 

23 physical force, the threatened use of a deadly 

24 weapon, or other credible threat to the physical 

25 safety of any person; and 

26 ‘‘(B) does not include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a conviction of an offense described in 

2 subparagraph (A), unless— 

3 ‘‘(I) the person— 

4 ‘‘(aa) was represented by counsel 

5 in the case; or 

6 ‘‘(bb) knowingly and intelligently 

7 waived the right to counsel in the 

8 case; and 

9 ‘‘(II) in the case of a prosecution for 

10 an offense described in subparagraph (A) 

11 for which a person was entitled to a jury 

12 trial in the jurisdiction in which the case 

13 was tried— 

14 ‘‘(aa) the case was tried by a 

15 jury; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) the person knowingly and 

17 intelligently waived the right to have 

18 the case tried by a jury, by guilty plea 

19 or otherwise; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) a conviction of an offense described in 

21 subparagraph (A) if— 

22 ‘‘(I) the conviction— 

23 ‘‘(aa) has been expunged or set 

24 aside; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) is an offense for which the 

2 person has been pardoned or has had 

3 civil rights restored (if the law of the 

4 applicable jurisdiction provides for the 

5 loss of civil rights under such an of6 fense); and 

7 ‘‘(II) the pardon, expungement, or 

8 restoration of civil rights does not ex9 pressly provide that the person may not 

10 ship, transport, possess, or receive fire11 arms. 

12 ‘‘(37) The term ‘received from any court an enhanced 

13 hate crime misdemeanor sentence’— 

14 ‘‘(A) means a court has imposed a sentence for 

15 a misdemeanor under Federal, State, or tribal law— 

16 ‘‘(i) that involves the use or attempted use 

17 of physical force, the threatened use of a deadly 

18 weapon, or other credible threat to the physical 

19 safety of any person; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) based, in whole or in part, on a judi21 cial finding that the conduct of the offender 

22 was motivated, in whole or in part, by hate or 

23 bias for any reason referred to in paragraph 

24 (36)(A)(ii); and 

25 ‘‘(B) does not include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the imposition of a sentence described 

2 in subparagraph (A), unless— 

3 ‘‘(I) the person— 

4 ‘‘(aa) was represented by counsel 

5 in the case; or 

6 ‘‘(bb) knowingly and intelligently 

7 waived the right to counsel in the 

8 case; and 

9 ‘‘(II) if the sentence described in sub10 paragraph (A) was imposed in a prosecu11 tion for an offense for which a person was 

12 entitled to a jury trial in the jurisdiction in 

13 which the case was tried— 

14 ‘‘(aa) the case was tried by a 

15 jury; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) the person knowingly and 

17 intelligently waived the right to have 

18 the case tried by a jury, by guilty plea 

19 or otherwise; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) the imposition of a sentence described 

21 in subparagraph (A) if— 

22 ‘‘(I)(aa) the conviction of the offense 

23 for which the sentence was imposed has 

24 been expunged or set aside; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the offense for which the sen2 tence was imposed is an offense for which 

3 the person has been pardoned or has had 

4 civil rights restored (if the law of the appli5 cable jurisdiction provides for the loss of 

6 civil rights under such an offense); and 

7 ‘‘(II) the pardon, expungement, or 

8 restoration of civil rights does not ex9 pressly provide that the person may not 

10 ship, transport, possess, or receive fire11 arms.’’. 

12 (b) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR OTHER DISPOSITION

13 OF FIREARM.—Section 922(d) of such title is amended in 

14 the first sentence— 

15 (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

16 end; 

17 (2) in paragraph (11)— 

18 (A) by redesignating such paragraph as 

19 paragraph (12); and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘through (10)’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘through (11)’’; and 

22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (10) the fol23 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(11) has been convicted in any court of a mis2 demeanor hate crime, or has received from any court 

3 an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence; or’’. 

4 (c) PROHIBITION ON POSSESSION, SHIPMENT, OR

5 TRANSPORT OF FIREARM.—Section 922(g) of such title 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the comma 

10 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol12 lowing: 

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

14 a misdemeanor hate crime, or has received from any 

15 court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sen16 tence,’’. 

Æ 


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