AG Eric Holder told reporters yesterday that the Obama administration intends to enact an "assault weapons" ban. In 1994 the House passed such a ban, which outlawed any semi-automatic rifle with a combination of two features such as a scope and a pistol grip, by a 216 to 214 vote.
The ban expired in 2004, and it's not entirely clear that Democrats now have the votes in Congress to pass another ban. In 2006, the NRA endorsed 68 Democrats. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam tells me that that number is a good indicator of how many Democrats would probably vote against a ban, so about 35 Republicans would have to join the Democrats to pass it.
