Washington will be the fifth state to ban assault riles for buyers under 21 after gun violence killed 14,577 people in 2018

Elaine Thompson/AP

• Washington state has now banned anyone under 21 from buying a semi-automatic assault rifle, effective Wednesday.
• The new measures come as 14,577 were killed from gun-related violence in the US in 2018, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
• A spokesperson at the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility called the new law among the most comprehensive gun-violence prevention measures to pass in the United States.
• Assault rifles are the weapon of choice for mass shooters.

Washington on Tuesday joined a handful of other states that ban anyone under 21 from buying a semi-automatic assault rifle.

The measures come into effect after voters passed a sweeping firearms measure in November that has drawn a court challenge from gun-rights advocates.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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