Current federal law only requires a gun dealer to wait 3 days for the FBI to conduct a NICS background check before selling a gun to a purchaser. If the FBI has not reached a conclusion after 3 days, the dealer may complete the sale. This bill would close the “Charleston Loophole” by extending the background check period from 3 to up to 10 days, which is a more reasonable period of time for the FBI’s investigation to be completed without undue burden to the purchaser.

Women are five times more likely to be killed if a gun is accessible in a domestic violence situation. This bill would prevent abusive dating partners and stalkers from accessing guns and allow law enforcement to remove guns from those who have been convicted of a domestic violence crime.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s “American Jobs Plan” calls on Congress to invest $5 billion over eight years to support evidence-based community violence intervention programs that train at-risk individuals for jobs and provide other wraparound services to prevent violence and assist victims. These strategies will help rebuild economies in the hardest-hit areas.

This civil rights and police reform bill would combat police misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in policing. As police shootings continue to disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities across the nation, we must reform laws to demand accountability and save lives.

Numerous states, including New York, have enacted state Extreme Risk Protection (“Red Flag”) laws to give law enforcement, families, and others a tool to use the court system to remove guns from individuals in crisis. A federal bill should establish an Extreme Risk process for federal courts in all 50 states and provide funding to states to support ERPO implementation.

Mass shootings have traumatized our nation and invaded every American space–from schools to churches, concerts, and beyond. Research has shown that the lapsed 1994 federal ban substantially reduced crimes committed with assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. It is time to again enact a federal law to ban these weapons of war and save lives.

This legislation would make chokeholds or maneuvers that restrict oxygen intake or blood flow to the brain by law enforcement unlawful under federal civil rights law. To prevent gun violence and ensure safer and more just communities, police practices that are violent and disproportionately harm Black and Brown communities must be prohibited.

Punitive and harmful disciplinary actions in our schools fuel the “school-to-prison” pipeline and lead to more violence impacting Black and Brown youth. This bill would end punitive, unfair, and school-based harm and disrupt intergenerational cycles of trauma, violence, and incarceration. The Ending PUSHOUT Act acknowledges the harmful ways in which Black and Brown youth are criminalized and overpoliced at school and invests in safe and nurturing school environments for all students, especially girls of color.