Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., is calling for banning possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons.

In a column for USA Today, Swalwell said the government should also buy back any existing "weapons from all who choose to abide by the law, and we should criminally prosecute any who chose to defy it by keeping their weapons."

The ban would not apply to law enforcement agencies or shooting clubs, he said.

Swalwell said his past work as a prosecutor in California convinced him about the damage the weapons can inflict.

"Trauma surgeons and coroners will tell you the high-velocity bullet fired from a military-style, semiautomatic assault weapon moves almost three times as fast as a 9mm handgun bullet, delivering far more energy," he noted.

"The bullets create cavities through the victim, wrecking a wider swath of tissue, organs and blood vessels. And a low-recoil weapon with a higher-capacity magazine means more of these deadlier bullets can be fired accurately and quickly without reloading."

He said: "We can finally act to remove weapons designed for war from our street, once and for all."

Swalwell pointed to the students who survived the deadly shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and are now working to toughen gun laws.

"The Parkland teens have taught us there is no right more important than every student's right to come home after class," he said. "The right to live is supreme over any other."

And he concluded: "America has a deadly problem, a problem other developed nations have avoided or addressed. Some say we're already too far gone to take corrective action, but we cannot have a defeatist attitude about this.

"Fixing our problem requires boldness and will be costly, but the cost of letting it fester will be far higher — for our wallets and for our souls."