A high-capacity magazine (or large-capacity magazine) is a
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
capable of holding more than the usual number of rounds of
ammunition
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...
for a particular
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
.
A magazine may also be defined as high-capacity in a legal sense, based on the number of rounds that are allowed by law in a particular jurisdiction. For example, in the United States, the now-expired
Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 restricted magazines that could hold more than ten cartridges.
Types, characteristics, and manufacturers
Drum magazine
A drum magazine is a type of high-capacity magazine for firearms. Cylindrical in shape (similar to a drum), drum magazines store rounds in a spiral around the center of the magazine, facing the direction of the barrel. Drum magazines are contra ...
s are high-capacity magazines that are in a cylindrical shape; they once had a reputation for unreliability, but technological improvements resulted in better performance and cheaper cost.
[Ben Kesling & Zusha Elinson]
Mass Shootings Draw Attention to 'Drum Magazines'
''Wall Street Journal'' (August 16, 2019). As a result, drum magazines became more common in the civilian market in the United States, although they are far less common than standard, lower-capacity, typically 30 round, box magazines.
As of 2019, about six manufacturers produced drum magazine in the United States, retailing for about $100 each.
Manufacturers include KCI USA and
Magpul Industries
Magpul Industries Corporation is an American designer and manufacturer of high-tech polymer and composite firearms accessories like M-LOK. Magpul Industries takes its name from its first product, the MagPul (Magazine Puller), an accessory for th ...
; the latter produces the same drum magazines for both civilian and military use.
Legal status
Australia
In Australia, handgun magazines holding more than ten rounds as well as rifle magazines holding more than 15 rounds are heavily restricted.
United States
Federal law
Between 1994 and 2004, the
Federal Assault Weapons Ban
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which includ ...
, which included
a ban on high-capacity magazines, was in effect. It prohibited new magazines over 10 rounds in the United States.
After the expiration of the ban, there is no nationwide prohibition against the possession of high-capacity magazines, which are considered an unregulated firearm accessory.
Legislation to restore a federal high-capacity magazine ban has been repeatedly introduced by
Democrats in the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
since the expiration of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, especially in the wake of
mass shootings in the United States
Mass shootings are incidents involving multiple victims of firearm-related violence. Definitions vary, with no single, broadly accepted definition. One definition is an act of public firearm violence—excluding gang killings, domestic violen ...
in which high-capacity magazines were used, including the
Tucson shooting (2011), the
Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting (2012), and the
Harvest music festival shooting (2017). These efforts have been thus far unsuccessful. The federal Keep Americans Safe Act, which would restore the ban on new magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, passed the
House Judiciary Committee
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, ...
in September 2019.
State laws
As of 2019, nine states and the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
set a maximum limit on the capacity of magazines for at least some firearms.
[Griff Witte]
As mass shootings rise, experts say high-capacity magazines should be the focus
''Washington Post'' (August 18, 2019).[Large Capacity Magazines]
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The nine states with high-capacity-magazine limitations are
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
(
Proposition 63, passed in 2016),
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, and
Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
.
[ Hawaii's magazine-size limitation only applies to handguns; the laws in the other eight states and D.C. apply to all types of guns.][ All of the ten jurisdictions with magazine-size limits set the maximum at 10 rounds, except for Colorado (which sets a maximum of 15 rounds) and Vermont (which sets a maximum of 15 rounds for handguns and 10 rounds for long-guns).][ The types of acts prohibited vary among the ten jurisdictions; most prohibit manufacturer, sale, or possession, but some states' laws are narrower (Maryland law does not ban possession of high-capacity magazines) while other states' laws are broader (some states also ban the transfer, transportation, or acquisition of high-capacity magazines).][ Some states' laws include "grandfather" pre-ban high-capacity magazines, exempting these from their law, while other states' laws do not.][
The constitutionality of high-capacity magazine bans has been repeatedly upheld by United States courts of appeal courts, under a prior "interest balancing test" approach which has been ruled as an unconstitutional method of deciding second amendment cases, including the courts of appeals for the ]First Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Maine
* District of Massachusetts
* ...
, Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate jur ...
, Third Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts:
* District of Delaware
* District of New Jersey
* Eas ...
, Fourth Circuit, Seventh Circuit, Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
, and D.C. Circuit,. The Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...
has issued grant, vacate, and remand orders for the active cases in the Third, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits to be reconsidered in light of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.[https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/justices-send-assault-weapon-magazine-bans-back-to-lower-courts]
See also
*Assault weapon
In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magaz ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
{{-
Gun politics in the United States
Magazines (firearms)