High-capacity magazine ban

A high-capacity magazine ban is a law which bans or otherwise restricts high-capacity magazines, detachable firearm magazines that can hold more than a certain number of rounds of ammunition. For example, in the United States, the now-expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 included limits regarding magazines that could hold more than ten rounds. Eight U.S. states, and a number of local governments, ban or regulate magazines that they have legally defined as high-capacity. The majority of states (42) do not ban or regulate any magazines on the basis of capacity. States that do have large capacity magazine bans or restrictions typically do not apply to firearms with fixed magazines whose capacity would otherwise exceed the large capacity threshold.

The federal ban which was in effect from 1994 to 2004 defined a magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition as a large capacity ammunition feeding device. Likewise, the state of California defines a large capacity magazine as "any ammunition feeding device with a capacity to accept more than 10 rounds." Such devices are commonly called high-capacity magazines. Among states with bans, the maximum capacity is 10 to 20 rounds. Several municipalities, such as New York City, restrict magazine capacity to 5 rounds for rifles and shotguns. The state of New York previously limited magazine capacity to 7 rounds, but a District Court ruled this ban to be excessive and could not "survive intermediate scrutiny". A majority of Americans support a ban on the sale and possession of high capacity magazines, according to polls.

Most pistols sold in the U.S. are made and sold with magazines holding between 10 and 17 rounds. In November 2013, the National Rifle Association sued the city of San Francisco over an ordinance banning possession of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. In March 2014, the Supreme Court refused to halt a similar ban by the city of Sunnyvale, California.

Magazine bans by country

Canada

With the passage of Bill C-17 in 1993 under Prime Minister Kim Campbell (in response to the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique Massacre), magazines designed for use in semi-automatic centrefire rifles and semi-automatic shotguns became limited to five rounds, and magazines designed for use in handguns are limited to 10 rounds. Magazines designed for use in semi-automatic rimfire rifles, as well as manually operated long guns, are exempt from the magazine capacity restrictions.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend of ways to legally work around the magazine capacity restrictions. Numerous semi-automatic centrefire rifles also happen to accept handgun magazines, thereby legally increasing magazine capacity. Numerous rifle and handgun magazines designed for a particular caliber also happen to fit an over-the-limit number of smaller caliber rounds, also legally increasing magazine capacity.

United Kingdom

There is no ban, restriction or other additional legal requirements on the possession, purchase, sale or import of high capacity magazines in the UK that are designed for use in rifles and pistols. However, since January 1989 all semi automatic rifles (other then those chambered for .22 rifmire cartridges) have been generally prohibited for possession by the general public due to legislation enacted after the 1987 Hungerford Massacre. This means that even though high capacity magazines are legal, they can only be legally used on semi automatic rifles owned by citizens if they are chambered to .22 rimfire. Bolt action, straight pull and lever release rifles can be owned in any caliber however.

Additionally there is legislation on all lever action, pump action and semi automatic shotguns that restricts them to holding a maximum of 3 cartridges at any one time if they are held on a Shotgun Certificate. However shotguns with an unlimited capacity can be held on the more strict Firearm Certificate if an applicant provides a 'good reason' to the chief constable of their local police force as to why they need a shotgun with a capacity over 3 shots, typically a 'good reason' would be for example those hunting or controlling dangerous animals (such as wild boar/hogs) or those who need to control large numbers of pests at once (such as herds of rabbits). More can be found here Firearms policy in the United Kingdom.

United States

Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994

Main article: Federal Assault Weapons Ban

William B. Ruger, a founder of Sturm, Ruger & Co., is often ascribed with providing the impetus for high capacity magazine restrictions. Ruger proposed that instead of banning firearms, Congress should outlaw magazines holding more than 15 rounds. “No honest man needs more than 10 rounds in any gun,” Ruger told Tom Brokaw of NBC News in 1992. On March 30, 1989, Ruger sent a letter to every member of the US Congress stating:

"The best way to address the firepower concern is therefore not to try to outlaw or license many millions of older and perfectly legitimate firearms (which would be a licensing effort of staggering proportions) but to prohibit the possession of high capacity magazines. By a simple, complete and unequivocal ban on large capacity magazines, all the difficulty of defining 'assault rifle' and 'semi-automatic rifles' is eliminated. The large capacity magazine itself, separate or attached to the firearm, becomes the prohibited item. A single amendment to Federal firearms laws could effectively implement these objectives."

William B. Ruger

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 included a ban on magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition. The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, commonly called the assault weapons ban (AWB), was enacted in September 1994. The ban, including its ban on magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition, became defunct (expired) in September 2004 per a sunset provision. Attempts to renew the ban have failed on the federal level.

State high-capacity magazine bans

See also: Gun laws in the United States by state

As of April 2019, Washington, D.C. and eight U.S. states have high-capacity magazine restrictions or bans.

• Colorado (on in-state sales of magazines with a capacity of 16 rounds or greater)
• Connecticut
• Hawaii (on handguns only)
• Maryland (on in-state sales of magazines with a capacity of 11 rounds or greater)
• Massachusetts
• New Jersey
• New York
• Vermont

In Virginia, high-capacity magazines, which are defined as being over 20 rounds for a semi-automatic, centerfire rifle or pistol, and 7 shells for a shotgun, are not in and of themselves banned, but using one in combination with a firearm changes its status to an "assault firearm" which is prohibited for foreign nationals without permanent resident to possess, as well as requiring a license to carry in certain counties and cities.

Municipal and county high-capacity magazine bans

U.S. cities with high-capacity magazine restrictions or bans include:

• Denver, Colorado
• Cook County, Illinois
• Aurora, Illinois
• Chicago, Illinois
• Oak Park, Illinois
• Albany, New York
• Buffalo, New York
• New York, New York
• Rochester, New York

Legal status

In 2013, a federal judge in New York struck down the state's prohibition against gun owners loading more than seven rounds into a magazine, calling the limit “an arbitrary restriction” that violated the Second Amendment, but upheld the state's ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. In 2015, the Second Circuit upheld this decision on appeal.

In December 2013, the National Rifle Association (NRA), representing five residents of Sunnyvale, California, filed a lawsuit to stop enforcement of the city's ban on possession of magazines able to hold more than 10 rounds, in a case known as Fyock v. Sunnyvale. In March 2014, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy rejected a request to block enforcement of the law pending appeals. In March 2015 the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the magazine capacity restriction, ruling that it does not violate the Second Amendment.

Eugene Volokh, constitutional scholar, says that a Federal District Court judge was correct to decide that a local high-capacity magazine ban was constitutional, comparing limits on magazine capacity to limits on free speech.

In March of 2019, a Federal District Court judge struck down California's high-capacity magazine ban, noting that "[u]nder the simple test of Heller, California's § 32310 directly infringes Second Amendment rights".

Public opinion

Further information: Public opinion on gun control in the United States

Most Americans support a ban on the sale and possession of high capacity magazines. In 2012 62% of Americans favored banning the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines, according to a Gallup poll with a margin of error of +/- 4%. In 2017 65% of American adults supported banning high-capacity magazines, according to a Pew Research Center survey with an error attributable to sampling of +/- 2.8% at the 95% level of confidence. In late February early March 2018, after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, 63% of American adults supported a ban on the sale and possession of high-capacity or extended ammunition magazines, according to a CNN poll with a margin of error of +/- 3.7%. 73% of American adults supported banning high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, according to an NPR/Ipsos poll with a margin of error of +/- 3.5%. 70% of registered voters supported banning high-capacity magazines, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll with a margin of error +/- 2%.

Law criticism

Forty-one states presently in the United States allow citizens to keep and purchase magazines over ten rounds for privately owned firearms. Tens of millions of these magazines presently are in privately owned United States citizen hands.

Many critics of laws restricting firearm magazine capacity or mandating registration will only affect law-abiding persons, not criminals bent on committing acts of violence and murder.

Such laws requiring registration or bans of magazines would be nearly impossible to enforce as firearm magazines privately owned in the United States that hold eleven or more rounds of ammunition likely number in the hundreds of millions.

Hunting

Some jurisdictions apply magazine limits to hunters. For example, Maine and Oregon have a 5-cartridge limit on auto-loading firearms for hunting.

See also

• Assault weapons legislation in the United States
• Gun laws in the United States by state
• Gun politics in the United States
• Bullet button