WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52) voted to pass the Assault Weapons Ban Act of 2022. This bill, cosponsored by Rep. Peters, would help protect Americans from senseless gun violence and take weapons of war off the streets.

“I co-sponsored the assault weapons ban because I am tired of seeing innocent Americans killed senselessly with military-style weapons – children at school, grandmothers at grocery stores, families at places of worship as we saw with the 2019 shooting at the Chabad of Poway,” said Rep. Peters. “Congress just this week heard about how these weapons of war are being marketed to young people. They do not belong in our communities and I won’t give up the fight until they are off our streets.”

The Assault Weapons Ban Act outlaws the importation, sale, manufacture, or transfer of:

• Semi-automatic rifles that can accept a detachable magazine and have certain military features described in the bill.
• Semiautomatic rifles with fixed magazines that can accept more than 10 rounds.
• Bump fire stocks or accessories which accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle.
• All semiautomatic pistols that can accept a detachable magazine and have certain military features described in the bill.
• All semi-automatic shotguns that have certain features described in the bill.
• High capacity feeding devices (magazines, strips, and drums) capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.

Recent mass shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York were both carried out by 18-year-olds legally armed with semi-automatic assault rifles. Just this past weekend, at least thirteen mass shootings scarred more communities across the country.

Rep. Peters continues to be a champion for gun safety reform:

• His 2016 livestream of the sit-in gained national media attention and was aired on CSPAN after Republicans shut off the cameras that broadcast official video of the House floor.
• Between 2015 and 2016, Rep. Peters took to the House floor over 20 times in a series titled ‘The Human Cost of Inaction’ to read the names of gun violence victims and call on then-Speaker Paul Ryan to schedule a vote on background checks.
• 2017 and 2018, Rep. Peters attended a Town Hall for Our Lives in San Diego following the Parkland shooting, opposed arming teachers, cosponsored legislation that bans
• Throughout assault weapons, and voted against extending concealed carry reciprocity, which would allow concealed carry licenses to be valid in states other than the issuing state.
• In 2019, when former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to put the Bipartisan Background Check Act of 2019 up for a vote in the Senate, Rep. Peters delivered over 700 letters from San Diegans to Sen. McConnell’s office about how gun violence has affected them.