As the one-year anniversary of the Parkland school shooting approaches, lawmakers and gun safety advocates reintroduced the Keep Americans Safe Act. Originally introduced after the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, the federal bill focuses on banning and classifying magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Like Connecticut's ban, it does not prohibit the manufacturing, transferring or possession of high capacity magazines for military and law enforcement. Connecticut is one of eight states, along with Washington D.C., that some form of a magazine ban in place. Lawmakers say it doesn't deny gun owners from having ammunition, it just limits the amount and is another "common sense gun safety measure" that could help save lives, particualrly in the event of a mass shooting.
"Children escaped, they fled as a result of those precious seconds when the shooter had to reload," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. "Again and again and again, what we see in these mass shootings is that the key enabler is a high capacity magazine or a collection of high capacity magazines that literally enable the increased lethality of assault weapons and other guns."
Magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition are commonly used in semi-automatic rifles like the ones that have been used in mass shootings. Those magazines are compatible with handguns and pistols, which are are also frequently used in mass shootings and other types of gun violence.
