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    The U.S. Once Had A Ban On Assault Weapons — Why Did It Expire?

    To secure enough votes in 1994, the ban's sponsors in Congress accepted a "sunset provision" — meaning it would last 10 years but need to be reauthorized. Politics in the U.S. changed.
    by Ron Elving Aug 13, 2019 5 minutes

    On the presidential campaign trail in Iowa and on the op-ed page of The New York Times, former Vice President Joe Biden has made the case for going back to a nationwide ban on assault weapons and making it "even stronger."

    Some have reacted with quizzical expressions: "Back?" "Stronger?"

    Yes. Twenty five years ago, when Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Congress passed the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act — commonly called the assault weapons ban.

    It prohibited the manufacture or sale for civilian use of certain semi-automatic weapons that could be converted to fire automatically. The act also banned magazines that could accommodate 10 rounds or more.

    "Assault weapons — military-style firearms designed to fire rapidly — are a threat to our national security, and we should treat them as such,"

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