A firearm magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. The term “high capacity” magazine is often used to describe magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds, including box, drum, rotary and horizontal magazines. Many gun safety advocates claim there is no legitimate reason for these devices since they are rarely needed for hunting or target shooting. They wish to prohibit these magazines which are often used by mass-shooters. They claim the number of bullets these killers can fire before needing to reload can determine the degree of carnage that results from an assault. Opponents are not sure reducing the size of magazines would reduce causalities. They claim several mass-shooters have not used high capacity magazines, they just brought more guns and loaded magazines along with them. They also say that aside from mass shootings, most homicides are committed using far fewer than 10 rounds. For this reason, they claim a high capacity magazine ban would not have a measurable effect on our murder rate.

Pending Legislation: S.1108 - Keep Americans Safe Act
Sponsor: Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ)
Status: Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Chair: Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT)