Prohibit High-Capacity Magazines
What does it solve?
Firearms equipped with high-capacity magazines make instances of violence exceptionally deadly. High-capacity ammunition magazines, commonly defined as those capable of holding more than 10-rounds, are a threat to public safety and should be prohibited.
A gun magazine is the rectangular piece that holds ammunition for feeding into the firearm’s chamber. High-capacity ammunition magazines, commonly defined as those capable of holding more than 10-rounds, make shootings more deadly. The more rounds a shooter can fire without reloading, the more wounds they can inflict.1Elzerie de Jager et al., “Lethality of Civilian Active Shooter Incidents with and without Semiautomatic Rifles in the United States,” JAMA 320, no. 10 (2018): 1034, https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.11009. Congress and state legislatures should act to prohibit high-capacity magazines to reduce the devastation of gun violence in America.
High-Capacity Magazines
Which states prohibit high-capacity magazines?
Alabama has not adopted this policy
Alaska has not adopted this policy
Arizona has not adopted this policy
Arkansas has not adopted this policy
California has adopted this policy
Colorado has adopted this policy
Connecticut has adopted this policy
Delaware has adopted this policy
Florida has not adopted this policy
Georgia has not adopted this policy
Hawaii has adopted this policy
Idaho has not adopted this policy
Illinois has adopted this policy
Indiana has not adopted this policy
Iowa has not adopted this policy
Kansas has not adopted this policy
Kentucky has not adopted this policy
Louisiana has not adopted this policy
Maine has not adopted this policy
Maryland has adopted this policy
Massachusetts has adopted this policy
Michigan has not adopted this policy
Minnesota has not adopted this policy
Mississippi has not adopted this policy
Missouri has not adopted this policy
Montana has not adopted this policy
Nebraska has not adopted this policy
Nevada has not adopted this policy
New Hampshire has not adopted this policy
New Jersey has adopted this policy
New Mexico has not adopted this policy
New York has adopted this policy
North Carolina has not adopted this policy
North Dakota has not adopted this policy
Ohio has not adopted this policy
Oklahoma has not adopted this policy
Oregon has adopted this policy
Pennsylvania has not adopted this policy
Rhode Island has adopted this policy
South Carolina has not adopted this policy
South Dakota has not adopted this policy
Tennessee has not adopted this policy
Texas has not adopted this policy
Utah has not adopted this policy
Vermont has adopted this policy
Virginia has not adopted this policy
Washington has adopted this policy
West Virginia has not adopted this policy
Wisconsin has not adopted this policy
Wyoming has not adopted this policy
Myth & Fact
Myth
High-capacity magazines are not that prevalent.
Fact
Although the gun lobby has argued that these weapons are only used in a small percentage of firearm-related violent crime, a 2018 study estimated that guns equipped with high-capacity magazines, which include assault weapons and other semiautomatic firearms, account for 22 to 36 percent of crime guns in most places, with some estimates upward of 40 percent for cases involving serious violence, including homicides of law enforcement officers. And the problem may be getting worse: research suggests that the prevalence of high-capacity magazines in guns used in crimes has grown substantially since the 2004 expiration of the federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
How it works
Prohibiting high-capacity magazines would reduce mass shooting deaths.
High-capacity magazines are commonly defined as ammunition feeding devices capable of holding more than 10-rounds. These devices enable a shooter to fire many bullets without pausing to reload. High-capacity magazines can hold as many as 100-rounds, and standard high-capacity magazines hold 30-rounds and can be purchased for as little as $8.1Alain Stephens, “The Gun Industry Is Betting on Bigger High-Capacity Magazines,” The Trace, June 12, 2019, https://bit.ly/2P4qlgh. But these inexpensive magazines have a costly human impact.
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.
High-capacity magazines are often used in the violence that plagues our nation. Firearms equipped with high-capacity magazines account for an estimated 22 to 36 percent of crime guns.2Christopher S. Koper et al., “Criminal Use of Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Semiautomatic Firearms: An Updated Examination of Local and National Sources,” Journal of Urban Health 95, no. 3 (2018): 313–21, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0205-7. This threat to public safety has no place in our communities.
In 1994, Congress passed a law generally prohibiting high-capacity magazines, but the prohibition expired in 2004. As a result, high-capacity magazines are legal unless state or local law prohibits them. A 2021 study found that the federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was associated with a significant decrease in public mass shootings and related casualties, preventing at least 11 public mass shootings during the 10 years it was in effect. The researchers also estimated that had the law remained in effect from 2005 through 2019, it would have prevented 30 mass shootings that resulted in the death of 339 people and wounded 1,139 more.3Lori Post et al., “Impact of Firearm Surveillance on Gun Control Policy: Regression Discontinuity Analysis,” JMIR Public Health and Surveillance 7, no. 4 (2021): e26042, https://doi.org/10.2196/26042. Study defined mass shooting as four or more victims killed with a firearm at a public location. Familicides and felony killings were excluded.
By the numbers
5x
From 2015 to 2022, the mass shootings in which four or more people were killed that involved a firearm equipped with a high-capacity magazine resulted in nearly five times as many people shot per incident on average.
>2x
Between 2015 and 2022, mass shootings with four or more people killed where assault weapons were used resulted in more than twice as many people killed per incident on average.
10x
From 2015 to 2022, the mass shootings in which four or more people were killed that involved a firearm equipped with a high-capacity magazine resulted in nearly 10 times as many people wounded per incident on average.
$8