(CNN) Joe Biden is proposing to force owners of assault-style rifles to either sell their firearms through a voluntary buyback program or register them with the federal government under the same law that was first used to strictly control sales of machine guns in the wake of the gangland shootings of the 1920s and '30s.

The gun control plan that Biden's campaign unveiled on Wednesday also aims to tackle urban gun violence with an eight-year, $900 million program that would go toward efforts to combat shootings in 40 cities with the highest rates of gun violence.

It would eliminate legal protections that prevent gun manufacturers from being held liable for how their products are used.

And it includes a series of measures backed by nearly all of the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential primary contenders. Among them: closing loopholes in background checks before gun purchases, banning the sale of assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines, and allowing states to implement "red flag" laws.

The former vice president's package of gun proposals stops short of the high-profile plans other Democratic presidential candidates have offered, such as former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke's call for mandatory buybacks of assault-style rifles and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker's proposed national gun registry.

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