Assault weapon control becomes an unavoidable subject in the United States. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more than nine hundred people have died in mass shootings over the past seven years and an assault rifle was used in twelve of forty-three mass shootings over the past four years. The U.S. Department of Defense has long defined assault rifles as fully automatic rifles used for military purposes. The National Firearm Act of 1934 banned fully automatic weapons in the United States. The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban banned semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons as well as any weapon with military-style features. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is leading the charge within the U.S. government to pass a bill that would limit the capacity of ammunition in a magazine and ban assault weapons that are too dangerous for public use. It is time for the U.S. government to act quickly and recognize the dangers assault rifles pose. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an assault rifle as any automatic or semi-automatic rifle with high-capacity magazines designed for military use. An assault weapon may have features such as a pistol grip, silencer, bayonet mount, grenade launcher, or flash hider. The Violence Policy Center, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, provided a study listing the top ten points on what assault weapons are and why they are so deadly. This document stated that "semi-automatic assault rifles (such as the AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles) are civilian versions of military assault rifles and there is virtually no significant difference between them. two ". Military style machine guns or assault rifles are fully automatic, which means that while you are in the middle of paper......3. Internet. February 5, 2014 < http://home.nra.org/nraila>.7. Plumer, Brad. “Everything you need to know about the assault weapons ban, in one article.” The Washington Post, December 17, 2012. Web. January 24, 2014 http.8. Siddiqui, Sabrina. “Assault weapons ban and high-capacity magazine measures fail Senate vote. » Huffington Post, April 17, 2013. Web. February 4, 2014. .“S. 150: The Largest Proposed Ban on Guns and Magazines in American History” National Rifle Association, February 5, 2013. Web. February 5, 2014 .10. “US Senator Dianne Feinstein.” Assault weapons -. Np, and Web. February 5. 2014. .