A bill to restrict the sale of high-capacity firearm magazines in Washington was approved by the Washington State Senate on a 28-20 vote Wednesday.
Senate Bill 5078, sponsored by 21st District State Sen. Marko Liias, prohibits the manufacture, sale, import or transfer of large-capacity magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The approved legislation does not ban the current possession of a high-capacity magazine.
The 21st District includes portions of Edmonds and Lynnwood.
“My community has seen firsthand the devastating impact that gun violence can have on families,” said Liias. “We need to act now to protect residents across the state from unnecessary harm, and limiting the capacity of mass shooters to inflict more damage on innocent lives is an important measure for our public safety.”
The legislation was introduced at the request of the Washington State Attorney General.
Nine states already restrict magazine capacity, and six of those states have a lower rate of gun violence than Washington, according to the state Attorney General’s office. Data shows that allowing the sale of high-capacity magazines is the single best predictor of mass shooting rates in that state.
SB 5078 will now head to the House of Representatives for consideration. The 2022 session is scheduled to adjourn on March 10.
Sounds like a good time to go get a extra dozen. Maybe a few new guns and a few cases of ammo too. I tell you they are sure making it hard on legal gun owners. In my opinion legal gun owners should have access to buy the same guns and function the military issues to soldiers. You can outlaw the 50-100 round mags if you like you can keep the fully automatic illegal also. But I would like the 3 round burst. Anyway the best salesman for guns in recent memory has been the Democratic party. Just saying.
Yeah, you never know when a posse of bad guys will storm your house and you really need those 30-round magazines to defend your family. Oh, the horror to have only 10-round magazines! You’ll all be dead!
And BTW, those guns the military issues to soldiers, they are kept safely secured in an armory, not in the hall closet of individual soldiers. Maybe they are onto something there.
Roger, MOST standard capacity gun magazines have a capacity larger than 10 rounds. This would make most standard magazines illegal. Usually only small pistols have a 10 round magazine. Also, speaking as a veteran, you once again are patently false. Soldiers usually have their duty rifle in an armory. Soldiers live in houses just like you do, and they have guns at home. You’re not making a good analogy. A cop doesn’t drive his squad car around running arrands. They use their POV. People who work for me have their own oscilloscopes, but I provide the tools while on the job and they stay here for business use.
I think it would serve our legislators right now – no matter what side of the isle they are on – to focus on the rapid increase of violent crime in our state rather than on legislation that really only affects legal gun owners. The amount of crimes committed with these types of magazines is miniscule if you look at the data. This is just another example of how out of touch those in charge of making laws are with the actual realties that citizens are facing. These types of laws are designed to make folks feel better about their record on gun control, versus actually researching the root cause of gun violence. Many states do not regulate these magazine or types of weapons at all and have far smaller per capita gun violence. Maybe we should be looking elsewhere for the solution.
Long overdue and much needed. Hope it passes the House as well.
Thank you Marko!
This is one small piece of the puzzle but definitely necessary to address this out of control issue. The more pieces of the puzzle we can put together the better chance we can make a difference. Thank you again for doing your part!
Thomas You Made some very good points and I agree with you about what the State is doing is nothing but feel good stuff. We need to try working on the real problems.
Drug cartels running the urban centers, drug addled street zombies making parks and green areas and , indeed, neighborhoods dystopian nightmares. But, that is OK while the progressives keep bent on disarming the law abiding public and patting themselves on the back for their efforts. There is also a bill in the congress that would set mass murderers ( like Gary Ridgeway ) free from prison after 25 years, so you can see the brain trust occupying the majority in Olympia.
This is a sneaky, underhanded way to ban almost all modern handguns, except revolvers. I’m not an expert, but I know that most semi-automatic handguns are manufactured with a capacity of 10 to 13 rounds. I’m sure that Sen. Llias and the AG are well aware of this fact.
Just so you know.
I wish that sometimes this debate could be carried out in the spirit of “what can be done,” rather than partisan name-calling and all-or-nothing positions.
We have a problem in this country with gun violence. Any ideas how to address this? We are awash in guns; how do we deal with this without unduly affecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners?
Is there any route to compromise between “time to stock up” and “ban the guns”? Any “solution” requires give-and-take from both sides, and a recognition that there is no One Big Solution, but rather an array of mutually-agreed small steps. Democracy and community both require principled compromise.
You are exactly right Thomas. Thank you. Legal gun owners are not the problem.
Sounds like, if you have a nice stash of +10 round magazines on hand, you will never lack for a source of quick cash
from the “bad guy black market.” Of course you won’t have those much needed extra rounds available when you need them to bring down that pesky buck deer that is full of adrenaline after that first bullet to the heart just wasn’t quite enough. This conversation is totally silly from both of extremes of our politics. I think the real answer is in economics. Tax each bullet and shell sold at about $100 each and problem largely solved. You will really have to want to shoot some one or some animal with those tax rates and think of all the revenue to be had for schools, ferries, rapid transit and fighting homelessness. A miracle cure at our finger tips so to speak.
We’ve managed to get a lot of perspectives in here so I’m closing this thread before we keep repeating our collective selves.