I

116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION

H. R. 2708

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.

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 14, 2019
Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. BASS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN of
Maryland, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CÁRDENAS,
Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New
York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COX of California, Mr.
CRIST, Mr. CROW, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs.
DAVIS of California, Ms. DEAN, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr.
DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr.
ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr.
GARCÍA of Illinois, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. HILL of California, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms.
JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. KELLY of Illinois,
Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr.
LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE of
California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL,
Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MEEKS,
Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr.
NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms.
OMAR, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. ROSE of New
York, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RUSH, Ms.
SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SHALALA, Ms.
SHERRILL, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Ms.
SPEIER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Ms.
TITUS, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. TONKO, Mr. TRONE, Mr.
VARGAS, Ms. VELÁZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WATERS,
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WEXTON, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary

VerDate Sep 11 2014

06:30 May 24, 2019

Jkt 089200

PO 00000

Frm 00001

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6652

E:\BILLS\H2708.IH

H2708

 2

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 Representa-

2 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’’.

5

SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF PERSON WHO HAS BEEN CON-

6

VICTED OF A MISDEMEANOR HATE CRIME,

7

OR RECEIVED AN ENHANCED SENTENCE FOR

8

A MISDEMEANOR BECAUSE OF HATE OR BIAS

9

IN ITS COMMISSION, FROM OBTAINING A

10
11

FIREARM.

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

12 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing:
14

‘‘(36) The term ‘convicted in any court of a mis-

15 demeanor hate crime’—
16
17

‘‘(A) means being convicted by a court of an offense that—

18

‘‘(i) is a misdemeanor under Federal,

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS

19

State, or tribal law;

20

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

21

of the offender was motivated by hate or bias
•HR 2708 IH

VerDate Sep 11 2014

06:30 May 24, 2019

Jkt 089200

PO 00000

Frm 00002

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

E:\BILLS\H2708.IH

H2708

 3
1

because of the actual or perceived race, color,

2

religion, national origin, gender, sexual orienta-

3

tion, gender identity (as defined in section

4

249), or disability of any person; and

5

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

6

physical force, the threatened use of a deadly

7

weapon, or other credible threat to the physical

8

safety of any person; and

9

‘‘(B) does not include—

10

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

11

subparagraph (A), unless—

12

‘‘(I) the person—

13

‘‘(aa) was represented by counsel

14

in the case; or

15

‘‘(bb) knowingly and intelligently

16

waived the right to counsel in the

17

case; and

18

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

19

an offense described in subparagraph (A)

20

for which a person was entitled to a jury

21

trial in the jurisdiction in which the case

22

was tried—

23

‘‘(aa) the case was tried by a

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS

24

jury; or

•HR 2708 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014

06:30 May 24, 2019

Jkt 089200

PO 00000

Frm 00003

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

E:\BILLS\H2708.IH

H2708

 4
1

‘‘(bb) the person knowingly and

2

intelligently waived the right to have

3

the case tried by a jury, by guilty plea

4

or otherwise; or

5

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

6

subparagraph (A) if—

7

‘‘(I) the conviction—

8

‘‘(aa) has been expunged or set

9

aside; or

10

‘‘(bb) is an offense for which the

11

person has been pardoned or has had

12

civil rights restored (if the law of the

13

applicable jurisdiction provides for the

14

loss of civil rights under such an of-

15

fense); and

16

‘‘(II) the pardon, expungement, or

17

restoration of civil rights does not ex-

18

pressly provide that the person may not

19

ship, transport, possess, or receive fire-

20

arms.

21

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

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS

22 hate crime misdemeanor sentence’—
23

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

24

a misdemeanor under Federal, State, or tribal law—

•HR 2708 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014

06:30 May 24, 2019

Jkt 089200

PO 00000

Frm 00004

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

E:\BILLS\H2708.IH

H2708

 5
1

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

2

of physical force, the threatened use of a deadly

3

weapon, or other credible threat to the physical

4

safety of any person; and

5

‘‘(ii) based, in whole or in part, on a judi-

6

cial finding that the conduct of the offender

7

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

8

bias for any reason referred to in paragraph

9

(36)(A)(ii); and

10

‘‘(B) does not include—

11

‘‘(i) the imposition of a sentence described

12

in subparagraph (A), unless—

13

‘‘(I) the person—

14

‘‘(aa) was represented by counsel

15

in the case; or

16

‘‘(bb) knowingly and intelligently

17

waived the right to counsel in the

18

case; and

19

‘‘(II) if the sentence described in sub-

20

paragraph (A) was imposed in a prosecu-

21

tion for an offense for which a person was

22

entitled to a jury trial in the jurisdiction in

23

which the case was tried—

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS

24

‘‘(aa) the case was tried by a

25

jury; or

•HR 2708 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014

06:30 May 24, 2019

Jkt 089200

PO 00000

Frm 00005

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

E:\BILLS\H2708.IH

H2708

 6
1

‘‘(bb) the person knowingly and

2

intelligently waived the right to have

3

the case tried by a jury, by guilty plea

4

or otherwise; or

5

‘‘(ii) the imposition of a sentence described

6

in subparagraph (A) if—

7

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

8

for which the sentence was imposed has

9

been expunged or set aside; or

10

‘‘(bb) the offense for which the sen-

11

tence was imposed is an offense for which

12

the person has been pardoned or has had

13

civil rights restored (if the law of the appli-

14

cable jurisdiction provides for the loss of

15

civil rights under such an offense); and

16

‘‘(II) the pardon, expungement, or

17

restoration of civil rights does not ex-

18

pressly provide that the person may not

19

ship, transport, possess, or receive fire-

20

arms.’’.

21

(b) PROHIBITION

22

OF

ON

SALE

OR

OTHER DISPOSITION

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

23 the first sentence—
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS

24
25

(1) in paragraph (8)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at
the end;

•HR 2708 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014

06:30 May 24, 2019

Jkt 089200

PO 00000

Frm 00006

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

E:\BILLS\H2708.IH

H2708

 7
1
2

(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and
inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

3
4

(3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:

5

‘‘(10) has been convicted in any court of a mis-

6

demeanor hate crime, or has received from any court

7

an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence.’’.

8

(c) PROHIBITION

9 TRANSPORT

OF

POSSESSION, SHIPMENT,

ON

OR

FIREARM.—Section 922(g) of such title

10 is amended—
11
12

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

13
14

(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the comma
and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

15
16

(3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:

17

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

18

a misdemeanor hate crime, or has received from any

19

court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sen-

20

tence,’’.

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS

Æ

•HR 2708 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014

06:30 May 24, 2019

Jkt 089200

PO 00000

Frm 00007

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6301

E:\BILLS\H2708.IH

H2708