After the November 2008 election , the website of President-elect Barack Obama listed a detailed agenda for the forthcoming administration . The stated positions included " making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent . " Three months later , newly sworn-in Attorney General Eric Holder reiterated the Obama administration 's desire to reinstate the ban . The mention came in response to a question during a joint press conference with DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart , discussing efforts to crack down on Mexican drug cartels . Attorney General Holder said that " there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make , and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons . " Efforts to pass a new federal assault weapons ban were made in December 2012 after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting , in Newtown , Connecticut . On January 24 , 2013 , Senator Feinstein introduced , the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 ( AWB 2013 ) . The bill was similar to the 1994 ban , but differed in that it would not expire after 10 years , and it used a one-feature test for a firearm to qualify as an assault weapon rather than the two-feature test of the defunct ban . The GOP Congressional delegation from Texas and the NRA condemned Feinstein 's bill . On March 14 , 2013 , the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a version of the bill along party lines . On April 17 , 2013 , AWB 2013 failed on a Senate vote of 40 to 60
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Federal Assault Weapons Ban