WASHINGTON - A longtime Senate gun control advocate announced plans Monday to introduce legislation banning high-capacity ammunition clips like the one linked to a weekend shooting that left six dead and an Arizona congresswoman gravely wounded.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said he would introduce the measure to re-establish a prohibition that lapsed in 2004 on clips that feed more than 10 rounds at a time.
"The only reason to have 33 bullets loaded in a handgun is to kill a lot of people very quickly. These high-capacity clips simply should not be on the market," Lautenberg said in a written statement announcing his plans. He said he would file the bill when the Senate returns to session later this month.
Officials have said that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head over the weekend by an assailant armed with a semi-automatic pistol and a 33-round clip. Six people were killed in the attack, and the congresswoman is one of 13 others who were shot. She remains hospitalized in Tucson, Ariz., after surgery for a wound to the head.
Lautenberg said in his statement that the clips like the one alleged assailant Jared Loughner is said to have used were banned from 1994-2004. The legislation, which applies to several types of automatic and semi-automatic weapons, expired and was not renewed.
The New Jersey senator issued his statement as the Violence Policy Center said the same model weapon that Loughner carried was used in the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. "Similar semi-automatic firearms with high-capacity magazines have been used in most major mass shootings in the United States in the past 30 years,"' said the group, which supports gun control legislation.
Attempts to limit the manufacture and sale of guns are almost always controversial in Congress, in part because the influential National Rifle Association generally opposes them. Democrats have been the principal supporters of such legislation, but given the complicated political terrain, their attempts have waned in recent years. Republicans, who now control the House, have generally opposed such measures.
Poorman posted at 4:38 am on Tue, Jan 11, 2011.
Clips? gee i thought they were magazines,or so someone said.Here we go again,ban this, ban that,etc.etc.Not going to do a thing to stop this type of attack.Its strange that the media types always have to race to see who is first with their opinions,etc. Like they interview people who say they knew this guy earlier,and he was a little goofy then etc.And now they say he is really a nutso. Yet when they try him in court for his crimes,all will say he is sane and was sane at time etc. Can't have it both ways, i guess you can though when they want to get a death sentence etc, can't do that if he is adjuged to be insane or icompetent. Also i was wondering why the media seems to be so concerned with where he bought the weapon, and the ammo. What difference does that make? I guess the media has to have more to talk about. Lets see if he had 30 round magazines,did he buy two boxes etc. Was the gun new or used? I don't think i have ever heard of a Glock that jammed up,thats why law enforcement uses them. Oh well the point is we can go on and on about this tragedy I'm sad for the familys involved and i pray that Gabby makes it.. After all we have to ban something now don't we?
Will_Travel posted at 7:23 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. taking cues from the Rahm Emanuel playbook: “Never Allow a Crisis to Go to Waste.”
By all means; bans high capacity ammo clips. Don't know many modern firearms that use clips.
rrjenn posted at 6:58 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
azfrog, you might as well be asking why anyone needs a gun at all. Does a gun need only one bullet? What are bullets for? Isn't just having the empty gun enough? How many bullets could a bulletchuck chuck if a bulletchuck could chuck bullets. This and many more retarded questions posed by gun grabbers and those too ignorant to understand what guns are for can be found on any gungrabber forum nationwide. So, why did Barney Fife only carry an empty with the one bullet he had in his front shirt pocket? Probably for the same reason we are all glad azfrog doesn't carry a gun at all.
DrunkenMonkey posted at 3:46 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
so I can shoot more bullets... duh...
way I see it, if I have more bullets than the other guy, I might just have an advantage he doesn't have.
EmperorSmith posted at 3:37 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
Froggy you make me laugh. There are 90 rnd drum mags for a ak and if you have the coin can get a belt fed full auto. Guns do not kill people, people do.
azfrog posted at 3:12 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
And I see the NRA-fed right is already here...why do you need a 30+ ammo clip?
Slabside posted at 2:37 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
Here comes the hysterical left right on time.