Prohibit High-Capacity Magazines Archives

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.

Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines Report

A gun magazine is the rectangular piece that holds ammunition for feeding into the firearm’s chamber. High-capacity ammunition magazines make shootings more deadly. The more rounds a shooter can fire without reloading, the more wounds they can inflict.¹ 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?

High-capacity magazines are not that prevalent.

Although the gun lobby has argued that these weapons are only used in a small percentage of firearm-related violent crime,¹ 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.²

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 $8.¹But these inexpensive magazines have a costly human impact.

High-capacity magazines are often used in the violence that plagues our nation.² Shootings involving high-capacity magazines result in more people killed or wounded than those that do not.

In 1994, Congress passed a law generally prohibiting assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, but the prohibition expired in 2004.³ As a result, high-capacity magazines are legal unless state or local law prohibits them. This threat to public safety has no place in our communities.

Research shows states with restrictions on magazine size experience mass shootings at lower rates than states without restrictions.⁴

Lawmakers should act urgently to prohibit these excessively dangerous devices.

By the numbers

400%

Mass shootings involving at least one assault weapon or firearm equipped with a high-capacity magazine lead to 400 percent more victims.

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If the federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines had remained in effect from 2005 through 2022, an estimated 38 public mass shootings could have been prevented.

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+62%

From 1990 to 2017, the use of high-capacity magazines in high-fatality shootings resulted in a 62 percent increase in the average death toll of mass shootings.

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Standard high-capacity magazines hold 30-rounds and can be purchased for as little as $8.

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Prohibit High-Capacity Magazines

What does it solve?

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

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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 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

Fact

How it works

Prohibiting high-capacity magazines would reduce mass shooting deaths.

By the numbers

Mass shootings involving at least one assault weapon or firearm equipped with a high-capacity magazine lead to 400 percent more victims.

If the federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines had remained in effect from 2005 through 2022, an estimated 38 public mass shootings could have been prevented.

From 1990 to 2017, the use of high-capacity magazines in high-fatality shootings resulted in a 62 percent increase in the average death toll of mass shootings.

Standard high-capacity magazines hold 30-rounds and can be purchased for as little as $8.

Victories

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