BROOKLYN, NY – U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke has become a co-sponsor of legislation that will prevent convicted criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses from buying firearms.

The proposal – the Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2013 – would expand the existing background check program to almost every purchase of a firearm. Representative Peter King, a Republican from New York, and Representative Mike Thompson, a Democrat from California, introduced the legislation.

“Currently, members of a terrorist organizations and people convicted of violent crimes have the ability to purchase assault weapons at gun shows and in private transactions,” said Representative Yvette D. Clarke. “We need to eliminate this serious risk to families and children.”

“For more than forty years, licensed firearm dealers have completed background checks for purchases in their stores,” said Representative Clarke. “We should require every dealers of firearms to comply.”

The proposal would also improves the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, by providing support for states to improve reporting of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill and by directing future grant funds toward the best record-sharing systems.