(CNN) Less than two weeks after the El Paso, Texas, mass shooting and two years after violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday released a plan to take on domestic terrorism, by making it harder for suspected individuals to get guns.

The California Democrat's proposal focuses on two areas where Congress has failed to act: creating a federal "red flag" law and requiring background checks for online gun sales.

"In America, loaded guns should not be a few clicks away for any domestic terrorist with a laptop or smartphone," the 2020 presidential candidate said in a statement. "We need to take action to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people and stop violent, hate-fueled attacks before they happen. By focusing on confronting these domestic terror threats, we can save lives."

Harris calls her red flag order "Domestic Terrorism Prevention Orders," a measure that would empower federal courts "to temporarily seize the gun of a suspected terrorist or individual who may imminently perpetrate a hate crime," according to a proposal reviewed by CNN. Law enforcement or family would be able, under Harris' plan, to petition a federal court to take that person's guns away before a hate crime could be committed.

Seventeen states plus Washington, DC, have passed some variation of a red flag law -- many did so after the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida -- but gun violence prevention groups say a uniform federal law would be more effective.

Read More