MONTPELIER — Vermont lawmakers plan this year to weigh in on the national debate over gun rights following a recent spate of mass shootings, including one in which 20 Connecticut schoolchildren and six school staff died.

Sen. Philip Baruth, the majority leader in the Senate, is introducing a bill that would reinstate in Vermont the federal assault weapons ban that had been in effect for several years but no longer is.

Baruth’s bill also seeks to cap the number of rounds in a gun’s magazine to five.

He said the restrictions would not affect hunters or people who want to protect themselves at home.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Sears said, meanwhile, that his committee will hold a public hearing on gun legislation in early February.