Democrats Introduce Ban on Magazines Holding More Than 10 Rounds

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) are pushing legislation to ban the sale and possession of ammunition magazines holding more than ten rounds.

A press release on the legislation indicates it would also ban the importation and manufacture of said magazines and authorize “a buyback program for high capacity magazines using Byrne JAG grants.”

Deutch tweeted about the push on Wednesday:

The introduction of the legislation is designed to coincide with the anniversary of the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech attack, in which an attacker used handguns to kill 32 people on a gun-free campus.

A Virginia Tech Review Panel studied the attack and on December 30, 2012, Breitbart News reported that the panel found a ban on high capacity magazines would have had a negligible impact. The panel noted some of the magazines used by the attacker had 15 round capacity yet they noted forcing him to use ten round magazines instead of those that hold 15 rounds “would have not made that much difference in the incident.”

The same Virginia Tech Review Panel report contains testimony from Virginia Tech grads who had concealed carry licenses and had spent their time at Virginia Tech arguing for a change in the school’s gun-free policy. According to the report, these concealed carry permit holders “told the panel that they felt it was safer for responsible people to be armed so they could fight back in exactly the type of situation that occurred on April 16, 2007.”

National Shooting Sports Foundation figures show there are “approximately 71.2 million pistol magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds, and 79.2 million rifle magazines capable of holding 30 or more rounds in circulation.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.