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TUCSON (AP) - A federal judge who sentenced the man who shot former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords says it's time to bring back the federal assault weapons ban.

In an opinion piece published Friday in the Los Angeles Times, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns wrote that "Congress must reinstate and toughen the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines."

The San Diego-based judge says there's "no reason civilians need to own assault weapons" and regulating the number of rounds a gun can fire without reloading "might be able to take the 'mass' out of 'mass shooting.'"

Burns sentenced Jared Lee Loughner to seven consecutive life sentences plus 140 years in prison for the January 2011 shooting outside a Tucson supermarket that left six people dead and injured 13 people, including Giffords.