“The Assault Weapons Ban saved lives. There is no escaping that fact.”
Washington, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) led Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and U.S. Representative Lucy McBath (D-Ga.-06) in introducing the Assault Weapons Ban of 2025.
Spectrum News’ Cassie Semyon reports on Schiff’s reintroduction of this legislation which was previously championed by his predecessor and mentor in the Senate, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who authored the 1994 ban that passed a bipartisan Congress, and later pushed to revive the ban after it expired in 2004 for the remainder of her tenure.
The bill would ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and import of military-style assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and other high-capacity ammunition feeding devices.
Key Excerpt:
Cassie Semyon: California Senator Dianne Feinstein made preventing gun violence a core tenant of her three decades in Congress, sponsoring the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that prohibited the sale and manufacturing of certain semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. After the law expired in 2004, Feinstein worked until her death trying to get Congress to renew it.
Schiff: The Assault Weapons Ban saved lives. There is no escaping that fact.
Cassie Semyon: California Senator Adam Schiff, who holds Feinstein’s seat, is now taking the baton, reintroducing the measure on Wednesday.
Schiff: She wasn’t just a champion for protecting communities from gun violence. She is one of the lawmakers who helped prove to all of us that it was possible to deliver results.
Cassie Semyon: The Assault Weapons Ban Schiff is introducing, alongside his fellow California Senator, Alex Padilla, is essentially the same bill Feinstein introduced over three decades ago. But although Feinstein’s 1994 bill had bipartisan support, only Democrats have signed on to co-sponsor Schiff’s bill, at least for now. Democrats are hoping some Republicans can be convinced.
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