Gun Safety

Senator Feinstein has long advocated for commonsense laws to reduce gun violence. Most notably, she achieved passage of the landmark, federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994 and has advocated for its reinstatement since it expired in 2004.

Senator Feinstein in 2019 introduced three pieces of gun safety legislation in the Senate: an updated Assault Weapons Ban, the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act to help states develop court processes that allow family members to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and a bill to raise the federal age to purchase assault weapons and high-capacity magazines from 18 to 21.

Senator Feinstein is also a strong proponent of universal background checks; a bill to accomplish that was passed in the House in 2019 but not taken up by Senate Republican leaders. 

Resources for Senator Feinstein’s Gun Safety Bills

• Assault Weapon Ban Act bill text
• Assault Weapons Ban booklet
• Extreme Risk Protection Order Act bill text
• Age 21 Act bill text

Op-eds

• The Hill: Extreme Risk Protection Order Act will help keep guns out of the wrong hands 1/27/20
• Los Angeles Times: Dianne Feinstein to Republicans: Ban high-capacity ammunition magazines right now 9/16/19
• Time Magazine: Our Republican Colleagues in the Senate Must Act to Break the Cycle of Gun Deaths 6/14/19
• Santa Barbara Independent: Stop the Shootings 5/23/19
• New York Daily News: Dianne Feinstein: We owe it to the victims of Columbine, Sandy Hook and other massacres to finally pass sane gun safety laws 4/18/19

Press Releases

• Feinstein, Menendez Introduce Bill to Stop Fraudulent Online Gun Sales 9/24/20
• Members of Congress: Include FBI Background Check Bill in Coronavirus Relief Package 8/3/20
• Feinstein, Harris, Blumenthal Introduce Bill to Close Background Check Loophole for Gun Sales 6/25/20
• Senators Introduce Gun Safety Bill to Ensure Completion of Background Checks 5/21/20
• Senators Introduce Bill to Ban Untraceable ‘Ghost’ Guns 5/14/20
• Feinstein Praises Canada for Banning Assault Weapons 5/1/20
• Senators Will Introduce Gun Safety Bill to Ensure Completion of Background Checks 4/22/2019
• Feinstein Statement on Santa Clarita Shooting 11/14/19
• Feinstein Statement on House Assault Weapons Ban Hearing 9/25/19
• States With Weak Gun Laws Suffer From More Gun Violence 9/24/19
• Studies Show Gun Ownership Correlates with More Shootings, Not Fewer 9/23/19
• Fact: Arming More People Doesn’t Make Us Safer 9/23/19
• Mass Shootings Involving Assault Weapons Kill More People Than Other Weapons 9/20/19
• Extreme Risk Gun Laws Constitutional, Effective 9/20/19
• Feinstein Agrees with Companies: Act Now on Gun Violence 9/12/19
• House Judiciary Committee Passes Three Key Gun Reform Bills 9/11/19
• Feinstein: Congress Must Act on Commonsense Gun Safety Legislation 9/10/19
• Feinstein: Gun Safety Bills Must Be Top Priority When Congress Returns 9/3/19
• Feinstein on West Texas Shooting 9/1/19
• Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws Work 8/22/19
• Feinstein to Graham: Schedule Vote on Extreme-Risk Protection Order Bill 8/5/19
• Feinstein Statement on Dayton Shooting 8/4/19
• Feinstein Statement on El Paso Shooting 8/3/19
• Feinstein Statement on Gilroy Shooting 7/29/19
• Feinstein on Gun Violence: ‘Far Past Time to Act’ 6/19/19
• Feinstein Applauds Salesforce Joining Effort to End Gun Violence 5/31/19
• Feinstein Calls for Commonsense Gun Reform 5/2/19
• Feinstein to Introduce Bill Increasing Age to Buy Assault Rifles 4/29/19
• Feinstein on San Diego Synagogue Shooting 4/27/19
• Feinstein Calls for Passage of Gun Violence Restraining Orders 3/26/19
• Feinstein on New Zealand Assault Weapons Ban 3/21/19
• Feinstein Introduces Bill to Keep Guns from Dangerous Individuals 2/14/19
• Feinstein, Menendez, Introduce Bill to Block Trump Admin Push to Allow Proliferation of 3D Printable Guns 2/12/19
• Senators Introduce Assault Weapons Ban 1/9/19