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. But these inexpensive magazines have a costly human impact.

Shootings involving high-capacity magazines have more fatalities and injuries than those that do not. In mass shootings between 2009 and 2018, events that involved high-capacity magazines had 2x as many deaths and 14x as many injuries.

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% of crime guns. 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. Nine states and DC have some type of high-capacity magazine prohibition in place. Research shows that states with restrictions on magazine size experience mass shootings at less than half the rate of states without restrictions. Another study estimated that mass shooting deaths were 70% less likely to occur when the federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was in effect.