Everytown for Gun Safety Applauds House GVP Task Force for Filing Discharge Petition on the Keep Americans Safe Act

WASHINGTON – Today, Everytown for Gun Safety released the following statements applauding Representative DeGette and the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force for filing a discharge petition on the Keep Americans Safe Act — legislation that would prohibit the importation, sale, possession, or transfer of high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.

“All too often, high-capacity magazines help put the ‘mass’ in mass shootings,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We applaud Rep. DeGette and the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force for championing this lifesaving legislation, which would prevent potential mass shooters from being able to wreak havoc with a single pull of the trigger.”

“There is simply no reason that civilian Americans need to possess or purchase a high-capacity magazine,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “Time and time again, we’ve seen the extreme violence, death and destruction these magazines can enable during mass shootings. This petition by Representative DeGette and the House is nothing short of lifesaving.”

Shootings involving high-capacity magazines have more fatalities and wounds than those that do not. In mass shootings with four or more people killed between 2015 and 2022, high-capacity magazines led to more than twice as many people killed, and nearly 10 times as many people wounded per incident on average. Firearms equipped with high-capacity magazines account for an estimated 22 to 36 percent of crime guns