Representative Ted Deutch (D., Fla.) and Senator Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) will introduce legislation Tuesday that would prohibit the sale and possession of magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.Deutch, who represents the Florida district where 17 students were killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last February, cited that massacre and those that occurred in recent years in Las Vegas, Nev. and Newtown, Ct. in explaining his prioritization of a high-capacity-magazine ban.“High-capacity magazines make those shooters dramatically more dangerous. You've got to take action to address it,” Deutch said. “The fact is that these high-capacity magazines allow someone to fire off more than 10 rounds in a row. You don't need that if you're a hunter. You don't need that for any purpose. You don't need that for sporting purposes.”The bill has attracted the support of two-dozen Democrats in the Senate and 65 in the House but lacks backing from a single Republican lawmaker. National Rifle Association spokeswoman Jennifer Baker called it “arbitrary” and suggested that it would prove ineffective in combating gun violence:> This legislation would effectively ban the most commonly owned firearms for self-defense. It is an arbitrary limit pulled out of thin air with no evidence that the limits would improve public safety. In fact, the after report from the deadliest school shooting in American history states that magazine limits would have had no impact. This is just more nonsense from anti-gun zealots who are looking to score political points by proposing legislation that would make criminals out of law-abiding citizens exercising their constitutional right to self-defense while doing nothing to deter criminals from committing crimes.Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School attack, which sparked a national debate about gun control.
