U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar is once again calling for the nation to outlaw assault weapons.
Escobar, D-El Paso, announced Monday, June 23, that she had signed onto the Assault Weapons Ban Act of 2025 from U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta. The bill would ban certain semi-automatic weapons, including the popular AR-15, and high-capacity magazines.
“Weapons of war have no place in our neighborhoods,” Escobar said in a news release. “Tragically, too many communities, including our own, have shouldered the devastating yet preventable consequences of assault weapons.”
Along with Escobar, who has supported the legislation every year she has been in office, the bill has the support of 165 other members of Congress, including 41 senators. However, it likely has little chance of surviving with Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate, as well as the White House.
Ironically, that was not the case the last time the nation had an assault weapons ban in place.
Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan penned a joint letter to the U.S. House of Representatives backing an assault weapons ban in 1994.
“While we recognize that assault-weapon legislation will not stop all assault-weapon crime, statistics prove that we can dry up the supply of these guns, making them less accessible to criminals,” the letter stated. “We urge you to listen to the American public and to the law enforcement community and support a ban on the further manufacture of these weapons.”
A 10-year federal ban was in place from 1994 to 2004, but it expired. Subsequent efforts to renew the ban have repeatedly failed.
A 2019 study from the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery found that during the decade that the U.S. was covered by a federal assault weapons ban, mass shooting incidents decreased by 70%.
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: US Rep. Escobar backs bill to ban assault weapons, including AR-15, high-capacity mags
Reporting by Adam Powell, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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