HR6258-119

What This Bill Does

The Disarm Hate Act defines “convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime” for Federal firearms law as a Federal, State, or Tribal misdemeanor involving hate or bias based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and involving physical force, attempted force, threatened deadly weapon use, or another credible threat to physical safety. It also covers enhanced misdemeanor sentences based on judicial findings of hate or bias. The definitions exclude cases lacking counsel or valid counsel waiver, jury trial or valid jury waiver where required, and convictions or sentences that were expunged, set aside, pardoned, or followed by civil-rights restoration unless the relief expressly keeps the firearms disability. The bill adds these categories to 18 U.S.C. 922(d) and 922(g), making it unlawful to sell or transfer firearms to covered people and unlawful for covered people to possess firearms.

Who Benefits and How

Victims and communities targeted by hate crimes benefit from a broader firearms disqualification for people convicted of violent misdemeanor hate crimes or given hate-crime enhanced misdemeanor sentences. Firearm background-check systems benefit from explicit statutory categories to screen. Civil rights and LGBTQ, religious, racial, disability, and national-origin communities benefit from a preventive public-safety rule aimed at hate-motivated violence.

Who Bears the Burden and How

People with covered misdemeanor hate-crime convictions or enhanced sentences lose the ability to receive, possess, ship, or transport firearms unless an exception applies. Firearms dealers and background-check administrators must screen for the new categories. Courts and record repositories may need to identify qualifying convictions, enhanced sentences, expungements, pardons, and civil-rights restorations.

Key Provisions

• Defines misdemeanor hate crime and enhanced hate-crime misdemeanor sentence for Federal firearms law.
• Adds covered misdemeanor hate-crime convictions and enhanced sentences to firearms transfer and possession prohibitions.
• Requires the underlying offense to involve force, attempted force, threatened deadly weapon use, or another credible threat to physical safety.
• Protects due process by excluding cases without counsel, valid counsel waiver, jury trial, or valid jury waiver where required.
• Excludes expunged, set-aside, pardoned, or civil-rights-restored convictions unless the relief expressly preserves the firearms restriction.