Hakeem is working to make every neighborhood safer by fighting to get illegal guns off our streets and strengthening the relationship between the police and our community. In Congress, Hakeem has been a leader on gun violence prevention legislation, pushing for commonsense measures like universal background checks for firearm purchases and a ban on assault weapons that belong in war zones, not in our streets. Too many illegal weapons are purchased in the South and make their way up to New York City by way of the Iron Pipeline. Hakeem helped pass the first meaningful gun safety legislation in decades, which makes gun trafficking a federal crime for the first time in U.S. history. Throughout his time in Congress, Hakeem has worked to restore the balance between effective law enforcement and protecting our civil rights, introducing the Eric Garner Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act and advancing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.