Most basically, the legislation – headed for first-ever votes in the Rhode Island legislature – would prohibit the manufacture, purchase, sale, transfer and possession of certain "assault weapons," including certain types of semiautomatic shotguns, rifles and pistols.

The proposed "assault weapons" ban has passed the RI House, but not without fierce debate. Here's what happened, and what's next for the legislation.

Judges have struggled to apply the Supreme Court's controversial bar for gun restrictions that says bans must be grounded in historic tradition.