Earlier this week, a man named Ian David Long walked into California’s Borderline Bar & Grill where he shot and killed 12 people, and later himself. He used a legally-obtained handgun as well as a high-capacity magazine.
That same high-capacity magazine—which increases the number of rounds a gun can use before being reloaded—was supposed to be banned in California. Back in 2000, the state made magazines that hold more than 10 rounds illegal, with the caveat that people who already own them could keep them. However, after a mass shooting 2015, 63% of voters in the state voted to make them illegal to own, closing the legal loop. It was called Proposition 63.
#California Prop 63 is bad for gun owners and is bad for all of California #2A https://t.co/esHIrQS5vP pic.twitter.com/0WrSYFL9Qd
— NRA (@NRA) September 2, 2016
At the time, officials in the state specifically cited high-capacity magazines’ ability to “significantly increase a shooter’s ability to kill a lot of people in a short amount of time.” The law was scheduled to go into effect in the summer of 2017, but it was opposed by the state’s official NRA association, and the state was sued in an effort to stop it. A pretrial hearing related to the lawsuit isn’t even scheduled until next spring, meaning the law can’t be enforced.
Officials have confirmed that the #ThousandOaks shooter used a high-capacity magazine that Californians voted to ban in 2016. The @NRA filed a lawsuit to block the law. It's time for California to uphold the will of the voters, enforce the law, and for the country to follow suit.
— Rep. Brad Sherman (@BradSherman) November 8, 2018
At the time, officials in the state specifically cited high-capacity magazines’ ability to “significantly increase a shooter’s ability to kill a lot of people in a short amount of time.”
