Posts Tagged ‘Large Capacity Ammunition Magazine’

The Law Center applauds Governor Hickenlooper and the Colorado Legislature on the passage of historic bills to prevent gun violence. While Colorado is leading the way, it is not alone: over 600 bills to prevent gun violence have been introduced this year, a 63% increase over this time last year. The call for change is being heard at the state level nationwide.

Strong gun laws to keep dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands are consistent with the Second Amendment and are necessary to defending our communities from the constant threat of violence.

Colorado is a leader in the nation, as many states across the country are hearing the voice of gun owners and non-gun owners alike – inaction on preventing gun violence is unacceptable.

With the adoption of these measures, Colorado has taken important steps toward preventing mass shootings like the tragedies in Aurora and Columbine, as well as the everyday gun violence that plagues communities nationwide.

After the tragedy in Newtown, the American people are demanding changes to our weak gun laws, including states with strong traditions of firearm ownership, like Colorado. The passage of this historic legislation reaffirms that Americans overwhelmingly support important measures like these to protect our families from gun violence.

Colorado is one of 17 states that introduced bills in 2013 to ban, or strengthen an existing ban, on large capacity ammunition magazines and one of 16 to introduce bills to require background checks for some or all private sales.

We are proud to have worked with activists in Colorado in support of this crucial legislation.

Want more? Check out the other recent success stories.

Since President Obama announced his support for laws requiring universal background checks on all gun buyers, banning military-style assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines, and punishing gun traffickers, there has been significant discussion about the constitutionality of these proposals under the Second Amendment. In order to move forward on real change to our nation’s gun laws, it’s vitally important that legislators understand that the president’s proposed reforms are completely constitutional and are critical to stopping our nation’s gun violence epidemic.

Today, a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Proposals to Reduce Gun Violence: Protecting Our Communities While Respecting the Second Amendment.” In written testimony submitted to the subcommittee, our Legal Director, Juliet Leftwich, discussed how the Second Amendment presents no obstacle to President Obama’s proposals. The testimony explained that although the U.S. Supreme Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects the right of a law-abiding, responsible citizen to possess a handgun in the home for self-defense, the president’s proposals are consistent with the Supreme Court’s decisions and the decisions of courts that have evaluated Second Amendment challenges since Heller.

Additionally, the Center for American Progress today released a memo coauthored by the Law Center’s Executive Director, Robyn Thomas, on the constitutionality of the proposals endorsed by the president. The memo concludes that “many forms of firearm regulation remain constitutional, including laws to prevent firearm possession by criminals and limitations on the possession of dangerous and unusual weapons. The measures endorsed by President Obama and proposed by Congress are safely within these confines and reflect the sort of reasonable regulation that the Supreme Court endorsed in Heller and has accepted in a host of other constitutional contexts.”

Click here to see a larger version of this diagram.

As devastating tragedies like Newtown all too frequently remind us, military-style assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines present serious threats to the safety of communities nationwide. To help communities prevent future violence, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence has developed a new model law to ban these dangerous weapons of war.

The model combines the best elements of assault weapon bans in states across the country, bringing together the strongest and most effective provisions — as well as important findings about the need for these laws — into a single document. It is based on our expert review of existing laws, judicial decisions, policy research, studies, and other gun violence prevention data.

Download our Model Law to Ban Assault Weapons
and Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines

For more information on assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines generally, see the Law Center’s policy discussions on these topics.