The high-capacity magazine

In light of a few discussions regarding firearms, I've found another bit of contentious information in the "news."  This post has some opinion but is mostly fact- I'll try to note when I am making a judgement rather than stating a fact.

Several stories and Feinstein's newly proposed bill both call out high capacity magazines (HCMs from here on) as a threat to address in our struggle with gun violence.

The idea that the lawmakers and anti-gun folks have is that if we put an arbitrary 10-round limit on the size of a magazine, we will somehow make mass murders like Colorado and Sandy Hook less possible.  The idea is that if the evildoer has to change mags, they lose shooting time, get distracted, stop shooting... either way they are firing fewer bullets.  So why is this solution nothing more than hot air intended to look as though they are doing their jobs without actually doing anything?

1- Reloads are FAST.

Swapping the magazine out of a pistol is a snap.  The entire reason the modern magazine was invented was to make reloading fast. Older firearms were a single shot- pour some powder down the barrel, tamp with a rod, add the shot and wad, tamp with the rod again, then you could fire.  We made the cartridge (What most of you think of as a bullet is a cartridge- casing, powder, primer and bullet in one) to make that faster to use but you still fired a round, pulled back the bolt, loaded a new round and so on. Next we made the clip and stripper clip for guns with built-in magazines. Then we evolved to chain, belt, and magazine-fed weapon systems. All of this evolution has led has to the point where an experienced/trained marksman can be ready to fire before the magazine hits the ground from a reload.  A normal person with minimal training can have the next shot fired in less than 7 seconds.  This is not enough time to make a noticeable difference.

2- HCMs are more prone to jamming.

A magazine is a frame or carrier with a spring inside it to press the cartridges into the chamber when you reload the weapon. The longer that spring is, the less force it can apply at the top relative to when it is fully compressed.  In order to balance these needs, HCMs end up with weak, unreliable springs that are more likely to jam your weapon. When you are out of ammunition, a magazine change is nearly reflexive and VERY fast.  When it jams unexpectedly, it is disorienting and often requires a concerted effort to fix. Frankly, HCMs are better for the victims as it increases the likelihood of the shooter's weapon being disabled.

3- HCMs are harder to use.

The larger the magazine, the harder it is to conceal and handle.  It is heavier, it is bulkier, it is harder to disguise.  If an evildoer is trying to be discreet, HCMs are detrimental to this goal. In the case of handguns, the HCMs can impact aiming and handling the gun as they are carefully designed with specific ergonomics.  Changing away from their design can have major negative impact.


In short, high-capacity magazines aren't a notable threat.  Yes, they make a tiny difference in how fast you can fire off large numbers of rounds if they work correctly. No, they do not make any genuine difference in the level of danger from an evildoer- they may even reduce that danger by increasing the likelihood of a catastrophic weapon failure or a difficult jam.