Survival And Prosperity

U.S. House Democrats Announce Introduction Of ‘High-Capacity’ Ammunition Magazine Ban

Nothing new about the highly-publicized “assault weapons” ban bill that’s supposed to be coming from U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). But another gun “control” bill focusing on “high-capacity” ammunition magazines appears to be on the verge of being introduced in Congress. Lucy Madison reported on the CBS News website yesterday:

As lawmakers return to Capitol Hill today to kick off the start of the 113th Congress, Democrats are already priming for a renewed battle over gun control, announcing the introduction of a bill banning high-capacity ammunition magazines before the first House session had been gaveled in.

The High Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act, which is being introduced by Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and is co-sponsored by Diana DeGette, D-Colo., would ban the sale or transfer of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds…

“These assault magazines help put the ‘mass’ in ‘mass shooting’ and anything we can do to stop their proliferation will save lives in America,” said McCarthy in a statement. “These devices are used to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible and we owe it to innocent Americans everywhere to keep them out of the hands of dangerous people. We don’t even allow hunters to use them – something’s deeply wrong if we’re protecting game more than we’re protecting innocent human beings.”

(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)

In 2004, a research report submitted by the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, to the United States Department of Justice and the National Institute of Justice found no statistically-significant evidence that the decade-long bans on “assault weapons” and ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds that began in 1994 had reduced firearm-related murders. From “An Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994-2003” in June 2004:

Because the ban has not yet reduced the use of LCMs in crime, we cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence.

(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)

With LCM’s being “large-capacity” magazines.

To be fair, the report also noted:

However, the ban’s exemption of millions of pre-ban AWs and LCMs ensured that the effects of the law would occur only gradually. Those effects are still unfolding and may not be fully felt for several years into the future, particularly if foreign, pre-ban LCMs continue to be imported into the U.S. in large numbers.

Yet, common-sense dictates the bad guys will just bring more “low-capacity” magazines along with them when performing their dirty deeds. As I said on New Year’s Eve:

Call me crazy, but something tells me the bad guys won’t be hindered by either of these proposed bans. In fact, in the event the criminals are ever short “hi-cap” mags, don’t be surprised to hear tales of them mastering super-fast magazine changes on the “low-capacity” ones they brought along in more numbers.

By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (http://www.survivalandprosperity.com)

Sources:

Madison, Lucy. “House Dems introduce new gun control bill.” CBS News. 3 Jan. 2013. (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57561852-10391739/house-dems-introduce-new-gun-control-bill/). 4. Jan. 2013.

Koper, Christopher S., Roth, Jeffrey A., and Woods, Daniel J. “An Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994-2003.” Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania. June 2004. (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/jerrylee/research/aw_final2004.pdf). 4 Jan. 2013.

Tags: An Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence 1994-2003, Carolyn McCarthy, Democrats, Diana DeGette, gun control, High Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act, high-capacity ammunition magazines, high-capacity magazine bans, House Democrats, murders