U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, both Democrats from California, have revived an effort to impose a nationwide ban on assault weapons — more than two decades after a similar ban expired.
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That original ban was the result of legislation by then-Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was successful in getting her bill passed in 1994 but was unable to extend it after the ban sunset in 2004. The 1994 passage occurred after a schoolyard shooting in Stockton.
The senators said they are championing the effort this year as a way to carry on the legacy of Feinstein, who died in 2023.
“The assault weapons ban was a vital tool in the struggle to reduce gun violence and mass shootings. It saved lives. Today, I’m honored to carry on the legacy of Dianne Feinstein, and work to ban these weapons that have led to the most terrible mass casualty events in our communities,” Schiff said on Wednesday, April 30, when he led other members of Congress in introducing the bill called the Assault Weapons Ban of 2025.
“The time to act on this life-saving legislation is now — not tomorrow, not next week, and not when the next tragedy strikes,” Schiff said.
Gun safety advocates attend a press conference introducing the Assault Weapons Ban of 2025 on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. The legislation would ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons at the state level to help prevent future mass shootings. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Padilla, a co-author of the bill, said those who oppose a ban on the grounds of Second Amendment rights are using a false argument.
“Should military assault weapons be on the streets of our communities? No. Should weapons of war be found in our grocery stores, at concerts and houses of worship? No,” he said.
Padilla further said that bans on assault weapons can save lives.
“We know they reduce the number of mass shootings, and we know that if we fail to act, more Americans, more children will die.”
The two senators’ remarks came nearly two weeks after a gunman killed two and wounded six at Florida State University, resurrecting a longstanding debate over access to guns in the U.S.
Their bill would ban the sale, transfer, manufacture and import of military-style assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and other high-capacity ammunition feeding devices.
According to statistics cited by Schiff’s and Padilla’s offices, the country saw a 37% decline in gun massacres and mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur between 1994 and 2004 when a ban on assault weapons was in place. Deaths resulting from a gun massacre rose 239% after the ban expired.
A Gallup poll conducted in October found that 52% of Americans support a ban on the manufacture, possession and sale of semiautomatic guns. While still a majority, that percentage was lower than what Gallup reported in two previous surveys.
The bill that Schiff and Padilla announced on Wednesday is co-authored by Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both Democrats from Connecticut, where 26 people, including 20 elementary school children, were killed by a gunman in Sandy Hook in 2012.
Three dozen other Democrats in the Senate, plus Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, have also signed on as co-sponsors. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Georgia, is leading the effort to pass the bill in the lower chamber.
But given that Republicans control both houses of Congress and President Donald Trump — who once called himself “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House” — was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, it is questionable whether Democrats will be successful in getting the bill signed into law.
John Commerford, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, in an emailed statement, criticized the proposed legislation as one that would ban “commonly owned firearms that are used by millions of Americans each and every day to defend themselves and their loved ones.”
“Instead of addressing the root causes of violent crime, Schiff would rather infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Commerford said. “Thankfully, because NRA members and gun owners turned out to the polls in November, we have a pro-gun majority in the U.S. Senate who should dispose of this unconstitutional proposal.”
Schiff acknowledged during a press conference Wednesday that it would be difficult to get the bill passed.
“Until we get a few Republican members — it doesn’t have to be a majority, it certainly doesn’t have to be all — but until we get a few that place a higher priority on the lives of their constituents and the young people in their districts, then we’re going to have difficulty getting this bill through,” he said.
Still, he expressed confidence that the bill will eventually pass
“It is just a question of how quickly we can get it passed, and I’m certainly determined … to do everything I can to make sure that day comes soon,” he said.
Feinstein, California’s longest-serving senator, was less optimistic about the likelihood of another assault weapons ban more than a decade ago. In 2013, after multiple attempts to renew the nation’s initial assault weapons ban, Feinstein said she would not try again to revive her bill.
“Until you elect people who are willing to go against the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America, and say, ‘We want a moderate program to see that weapons are registered and certain military weapons are kept under control and out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them,’ we’re not going to go anywhere,” she said at the time.
Schiff was elected to the U.S. Senate in November, replacing Sen. Laphonza Butler, who was appointed to represent California in Washington, D.C., by the governor after Feinstein’s death.