Warner, Kaine, Colleagues Reintroduce Assault Weapons Ban
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), (both D-VA) and 40 of their congressional colleagues reintroduced the bicameral Assault Weapons Ban of 2025, legislation that would revive the 1994 nationwide ban on assault weapons two decades after the original ban expired in 2004. This legislation would ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and import of military-style assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and other high-capacity ammunition feeding devices that have repeatedly been used in mass shootings across the nation.
“Gun violence continues to rock communities across the country over and over without meaningful intervention from lawmakers,” said Warner. “It’s time that we step up and once again put in place this commonsense safeguard to better protect Virginians from these weapons of war.”
“Everyone in America should be able to live free from the fear of injury or death caused by a firearm,” said Kaine. “I’m proud to reintroduce this commonsense gun safety legislation that will once again put in place this essential safeguard to make Virginia and our nation a safer place for all, and I’ll keep pushing for additional legislation to make our communities safer from gun violence.”
While the 1994 ban was in place, the United States saw gun massacres decline by 37% and mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely. When the ban expired, deaths in a gun massacre rose 239%. A ban on assault-style weapons is widely supported by Americans.
In addition to Senators Warner and Kaine, the bill is led by U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) and co-sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Congresswoman Lucy McBath (D-GA-06) is leading the bill’s reintroduction in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill has been endorsed by Brady: United Against Gun Violence, GIFFORDS, Newtown Action Alliance, Everytown for Gun Safety, March for Our Lives, Sandy Hook Promise, and the National Parent Teacher Association.
Warner and Kaine have long supported gun violence protection measures. Earlier this month, Kaine introduced the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act and the bipartisan Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act, two pieces of legislation that will help protect communities from gun violence by limiting large capacity ammunition feeding devices and prohibiting the sale of bump stocks, devices that are used to turn semiautomatic weapons into machine guns by increasing their rate of fire. Warner and Kaine have championed the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act, legislation to federally enact a series of commonsense gun violence prevention measures adopted by Virginia since 2020, including provisions to mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms, prevent children from accessing firearms, and implement a one-handgun-a-month policy.
Full text of the bill is available here.
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