Several major gun-control organizations, mayors, and police chiefs are asking Congress to ban large capacity ammunition magazines like the one used in the Jan. 8 Tucson shooting that left 6 dead and 13 wounded, says the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City. “It is important for us to take steps toward removing large capacity ammunition magazines from the hands of criminals,” said Arlington, Tx., Police Chief Theron Bowman. “There is no need for the offenders to have more fire power than law enforcement.”
Large capacity ammunition magazines were prohibited in the federal 1994 anticrime law, but Congress failed to renew the ban when it expired in 2004. Among those supporting the renewal of the ban are New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The large capacity magazine allowed the Tucson gunman to fire more than 30 bullets in 15 seconds.