Democracy Rules

Lacking a precise definition, stalking is a complex crime that is often misunderstood and underreported. Stalking behavior is the unwanted or obsessive attention by an individual towards another person. It is often a combination of individual acts that, by themselves, may seem benign. Forty nine States and the District of Columbia have laws against stalking but this crime is only reported to police less than 40% of the time it occurs. Rather, victims of stalkers often change their everyday activities, move in with family, and block or change their contact information. Each year, between 6 million and 7.5 million American adults are victims of stalking, and about 75% of these victims are female. Two-thirds of these female victims are stalked by an intimate partner, 13% by strangers. Stalker behaviors include harassment, intimidation and surveillance of the victim. Many of these victims are also attacked.

Women who are victimized by an intimate partner are much more likely to experience crimes such as physical violence and rape. The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of fatality by 500%. More than 90% of all female homicide victims are killed by someone they know and more than 75% of these women were stalked before being murdered. Guns are the most common weapon used in the deaths of these women. Previous law only prohibits gun possession among individuals convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence if the abuser has been married to, lived with, or had a child with the victim. However, the 2022 Safer Communities Act extends existing federal law to cover dating abusers who are convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. It narrows the “boyfriend loophole” by prohibiting someone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence as part of a dating relationship from purchasing or possessing a firearm for at least five years.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of S.527 - Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act of 2021
Prospective Sponsor: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN)

I oppose reforming current stalking policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Leader Charles Schumer (NY).
I support expanding the list of persons who are prohibited from possessing or purchasing a firearm who is subject to a restraining or similar order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, threatening, or engaging in other conduct that would put an individual in reasonable fear of bodily injury to such individual, including an order that was issued at the request of an employer on behalf of its employee or at the request of an institution of higher education on behalf of its student, among others. And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.

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I support expanding the list of persons who are prohibited from possessing or purchasing a firearm who is subject to a restraining or similar order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, threatening, or engaging in other conduct that would put an individual in reasonable fear of bodily injury to such individual, including an order that was issued at the request of an employer on behalf of its employee or at the request of an institution of higher education on behalf of its student, among others. And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.