30 years ago, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced what would become the nation's first federal assault weapons ban.
Then-Pres. Bill Clinton signed the ban into law in 1994, prohibiting the use and sale of assault weapons nationwide.
The ban, enacted as part of the 1994 crime bill, prohibited more than a dozen semiautomatic assault weapons nationwide.
The ban also applied to large-capacity magazines and weapons that carried more than 10 bullets. (ABC News)
The ban lasted for ten years before lapsing in 2004. Congress, then controlled by Republicans, didn't renew the ban.
How did the ban come to be? Feinstein first introduced legislation to ban assault weapons in Nov. 1993.
Feinstein introduced the ban in wake of the 101 California Street mass shooting in San Francisco, which killed nine. (LAT)
Feinstein: "It was the 1993 mass shooting at 101 California Street...That was the tipping point for me." (NPR)
On Nov. 18, 1993, the Senate voted 56–43 to pass Feinstein's ban as an amendment to what would become the 1994 crime bill.
Feinstein had to accept several compromises to pass the ban: 650 rifles and shotguns were exempted. (LAT)
The ban also only applied to future sale and manufacturing of assault weapons, exempting those bought before the ban.
Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times in 1993: "I was amazed to see the degree to which the NRA controls this body."
In the House, then-Rep. Chuck Schumer led the effort to pass a ban. The chamber first voted on the issue in May 1994.
In May 1994, former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan wrote to the House, urging the ban. (ABC)
The House would later vote again in Aug. to pass the ban as part of the crime bill: the final vote was 235-195. (ABC News)
In the Senate, then-Sen. Joe Biden led efforts to pass the reconciled version of the ban in the crime bill. (AP)