On Tuesday, Washington became the ninth state to ban AR-15 and other similar rifles, making it one of the states with the strongest gun control laws in the country.

The ban on assault rifles came alongside laws requiring a ten day waiting period to purchase a firearm, mandatory gun safety training, and legal accountability if the firearm falls into the hands of a child or “dangerous individuals.”

Assault rifles have been used in many mass shootings, and are able to hold several rounds of ammunition. In Summer of 2020, the gunman in the Uvalde elementary school shooting used a rifle similar to an AR-15 to kill 19 children and two teachers.

When signing the bill, Governor Jay Inslee said that there was no reason for civilians to have access to "weapons of war," as they are designed only to kill.

“These weapons of war, assault weapons, have no reason other than mass murder,” he said. “Their only purpose is to kill humans as rapidly as possible in large numbers.”

California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York have all had laws barring assault rifles for decades. In 2013, Maryland also prohibited the weapons. Delaware enacted a ban last year, with Illinois passing a similar law in January.

Colorado Democrats introduced a similar ban last month, but could not get it past committee Republicans. In 1992, Hawaii banned certain modifications on guns, but to this day does not ban military-style rifles.

Democratic Representative Liz Berry sponsored one of the Washington bills, sharing that she ran for office specifically to combat gun violence. She also addressed the ongoing protests by younger generations in the past several years, who have been increasingly urging lawmakers to address the nation's mass shooting crisis.

“We see you. We hear you,” Berry said. “And, today, we are doing something about it.”