NEWTOWN — Lawmakers are calling on congress to get on board and pass what they call common sense gun safety measures.
Thursday in Washington D.C., U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) unveiled their Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act.
It would ban the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.
Currently several states already have restrictive laws on magazine limits, including Connecticut, but lawmakers want to take it a step further by calling for a federal ban.
According to the Newtown Action Alliance, a number of mass shootings have taken place when the shooter carried out the attack with a large capacity magazine, thus allowing the shooter to take more lives, more rapidly.
High capacity magazines were used in all these mass shootings: Aurora, Colorado; Tucson, Arizona; Fort Hood, Texas; Newtown, Connecticut.
The Newtown Action Alliance said Adam Lanza was able to cause so much anguish because he used 30 round magazines and was able to fire 154 shots in less than 5 minutes, killing 20 children and 6 educators. Only when Lanza was reloading were children able to escape.
“During the dark day of Dec. 14, 2012, eleven innocent children escaped the ravages of gun shots at Sandy Hook Elementary School because shooter Adam Lanza had to pause to reload his gun. Large capacity magazines that allow people to shoot up to 100 rounds of ammunition have no place in our schools, our movie theaters, our parks, or our streets,” said Rep. Esty.
Lawmakers argue there’s no need for Americans to possess such powerful weapons.
Also in attendance at the unveiling of the bill were Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).
“The vast majority of Americans support this common-sense measure—it’s time that Members of Congress remember who they represent here, and pass this bill,” said Senator Murphy.
“More magazine changes might have helped save more lives. Even if we cannot stop all killers, we can make them less lethal,” said Senator Blumenthal.
According to the National Rifle Association, the magazines lawmakers are looking to ban are specifically used for self-defense and are often preferred by millions of Americans for that very reason.
