The California School Employees Association expresses strong support for commonsense federal and state legislative proposals aimed at curbing the scourge of gun violence that permeates daily life in America.

"For far too long, students and school staff in America have lived with the fear that they could experience gun violence at their schools," said California School Employees Association President Matthew "Shane" Dishman. "CSEA’s mission is to ‘Improve the lives of our members, our students and our communities,’ and there can be no better way to fulfill that mission than to support commonsense gun safety measures that will go a long way toward keeping us safe. That is why CSEA will play an active role in supporting and moving these bills forward in Sacramento and Washington, D.C."

CSEA supports the following bills aimed at making our schools and communities safer:

Federal bills

• HR 8 (Thompson): The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021
  To close the gun show and online sales loophole by making it illegal for anyone to trade or sell firearms who is not a licensed firearm importer, manufacturer, or dealer.
  
  This bill enacts nationally what is already current state law in California, by requiring the trading or selling of a firearm to go through a licensed dealer, which requires a background check to be completed.
   
• HR 1446 (Clyburn): Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021
  Closes a loophole in federal law that allows a gun sale to proceed without a completed background check by extending the initial background check review period from 3 to 10 business days, and if the check has not been completed within 10 days, a gun purchaser may request an expedited review by the FBI.
  
  This bill enacts nationally what is already current state law in California and will ensure that other states will also require a background check to be complete prior to a transfer of a firearm to an unlicensed individual.
   
• HR 5428 (Wasserman Shultz): School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act
  Requires the U.S. Secretary of Education, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, to publish an annual report on school crime and safety, including statistics on school shootings.
  
  This bill will require the federal government to track and compile valuable information that will help policy makers advance legislative efforts to ensure our schools are safe for students and staff.

State Bills

• SB 1327 (Hertzberg): Firearms: Private Rights of Action
  Establishes a private civil right of action against persons who manufacture, distribute, transport, or import into the state illegal assault weapons and ghost guns.
  
  This bill allows Californians to help stop the spread of these illegal weapons and recover damages of at least $10,000 for each weapon involved as well as attorney’s fees.
   
• AB 1594 (Ting): Firearms: Civil Suits
  Allows the California Attorney General, local governments and victims of gun violence to pursue legal action against gun manufacturers, importers, and dealers who are irresponsible, reckless, or negligent in the sale or marketing of their products.
  
  This bill creates a "firearm industry standard of conduct" which provides civil justice to victims and survivors while also encouraging the gun industry to act responsibly.
   
• AB 1621 (Gipson): Firearms: Unserialized Firearms
  Prohibits the sale, possession, and purchase of the unserialized firearm precursor parts and kits used to build “ghost guns” and prohibits the possession of existing ghost guns that have not been serialized pursuant to California law after a six-month period.
  
  This bill would prevent the possession of unserialized ghost guns by individuals, which would make our communities safer.
   
• AB 2571: Bauer-Kahan: Firearms: Advertising to Minors
  Prohibits marketing and advertising of firearm-related products to minors and allows injured plaintiffs to bring a civil action to enforce the prohibition and seek civil penalties or damages caused by a violation of the prohibition.
  
  This bill would make our communities and schools safer by reducing the harmful effects caused by targeting minors through marketing and advertisements by the firearm industry.