Final answer:
The Federal Assault Weapons Ban, active from 1992 to 2002, prohibited the manufacture, transfer, and possession of certain semi-automatic firearms and large-capacity ammunition magazines.
Step-by-step explanation:
The law that prohibited the manufacturing, transfer, and possession of certain weapons and expired after 10 years (1992-2002) was the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.
This law was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The ban prohibited the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms, referred to as assault weapons, and certain ammunition magazines that it defined as "large capacity."
Despite the prohibition, police could issue one-year licenses for handguns, and there were specific provisions concerning the safe storage of lawfully registered firearms.
Federal gun control laws have evolved over time, starting from the 1930s in response to organized crime, with important cases such as United States v. Miller setting judicial precedents on the Second Amendment's interpretation. In 2008, the District of Columbia v. Heller decision recognized an individual's right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes.