High-capacity magazine ban

A high-capacity magazine (or large-capacity magazine) is a magazine capable of holding a higher than normal number of ammunition rounds for a particular firearm (i.e. more than in a standard magazine for that firearm). 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. that are available on the civilian market in the United States; they have been used on rare occasions in shootings, for example the 2019 Dayton shooting. ==Australia==

In Australia, handgun, semi-automatic rimfire, pump-action and lever-action rifle magazines (excluding tubular magazines like those found in gallery guns or Winchester rifles for manually repeating rifles) holding more than ten rounds, shotgun magazines holding more than five rounds, and bolt-action and straight-pull rifle magazines holding more than 15 rounds are heavily restricted (Category D). ==Canada==

In Canada, magazines designed for use in semi-automatic centrefire rifles and semi-automatic shotguns are limited to 5 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. == Russia ==

In Russia, all magazines for use with any type of firearm except sport handguns and award weapon are limited to no more than 10 rounds. == United Kingdom ==

There are no capacity restrictions on detachable magazines in the United Kingdom. However, since January 1989, any shotgun with a detachable magazine, or a non-detachable magazine capable of holding more than two cartridges is classed as a Section 1 firearm and must be held on a firearm certificate, which is subject to more stringent requirements than "normal" section 2 shotguns held on a shotgun certificate. Section 2 shotguns include break-barrel guns with no magazine, as well as repeating and semi-automatic guns with fixed two-round magazines. When the 1988 Act was introduced, many guns with larger (often tubular magazines) were brought into compliance by crimping the magazine. ==United States==

Federal law Between 1994 and 2004, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which included a ban on high-capacity magazines, was in effect. It prohibited new magazines over 10 rounds in the United States. 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 in September 2019. State laws A number of U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C. have high-capacity magazine restrictions or bans. • California (on in-state sales of magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds) • Colorado (on in-state sales of magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds) • Connecticut • Delaware (more than 17 rounds) • Hawaii (on handguns only) • Illinois (more than 10 rounds for rifles or shotguns, more than 15 rounds for handguns) • Maryland (on in-state sales of magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds) • Massachusetts • New Jersey • New York • Oregon • Rhode Island • Vermont (more than 10 rounds for rifles or shotguns, more than 15 rounds for handguns) • Washington (on sale, manufacture, and importation of magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, but possession is legal) The types of acts prohibited vary among the 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. • Aurora, Illinois • Chicago, Illinois • Oak Park, Illinois • Albany, New York • Buffalo, New York • New York, New York • Rochester, New York Legal status The constitutionality of high-capacity magazine bans has been repeatedly upheld by United States courts of appeal courts, including the courts of appeals for the First Circuit, Second Circuit, Third Circuit, Fourth Circuit, Seventh Circuit, Ninth Circuit, and D.C. Circuit. The Supreme Court of the United States 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. The D.C. Court of Appeals in its Benson v. United States decision struck down magazine bans on constitutional grounds, in March 2026. ==Impact==

On gun homicide rates and lethality A 2004 study examining the effects of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in effect from 1994 to 2004 which included a prohibition on sales of magazines with over ten rounds. The study found that the ban was effective at reducing crimes committed with assault weapons, though less than 2% of gun murders in the U.S. are committed with assault weapons. The ban was not associated with a reduction in firearm homicides or the lethality of gun crimes in general. The authors suggest this may be due to the concurrent rise in use of non-banned semiautomatic weapons with large capacity magazines. The authors note that high-capacity magazines have a greater potential for affecting gun crime as compared to assault weapons due to the fact that high-capacity magazines are used in firearms not classified as assault weapons. The authors further note, "However, it is not clear how often the ability to fire more than 10 shots without reloading (the current magazine capacity limit) affects the outcomes of gun attacks." 95% of gun murders involve three or fewer shots fired. Overall the authors reported that "there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence, based on indicators like the percentage of gun crimes resulting in death or the share of gunfire incidents resulting in injury, as we might have expected had the ban reduced crimes with both AWs and LCMs." A 2019 study found no statistically significant association between state-level LCM bans and homicide rates. A 2020 RAND Corporation review indicated that there were few methodologically rigorous studies on the impact of LCM bans on violent crime rates, and concluded that "High-capacity magazine bans have uncertain effects on firearm homicides. Evidence for the effect of high-capacity magazine bans on firearm homicides is also inconclusive." On mass shooting rates and lethality A 2019 study examined the effect of large-capacity magazine (LCM) bans on the frequency and lethality of "high-lethality mass shootings" (defined as those resulting in six or more fatalities) in the United States from 1990 to 2017. Of the 69 high-fatality mass shootings in the U.S. over that period, at least 44 (64%) involved LCMs. Attacks involving LCMs "resulted in a 62% higher mean average death toll" than mass shootings in which high-capacity magazines were not used. States which had banned high-capacity magazines had a substantially lower incidence of mass shootings, as well as far fewer fatalities in mass shootings: "The incidence of high-fatality mass shootings in non–LCM ban states was more than double the rate in LCM ban states; the annual number of deaths was more than 3 times higher." ==See also==