Community Corner

Newtown Families: Grandfathering Large Capacity Magazines a Dangerous Loophole

Two dozen family members who lost a loved one in the shooting at Sandy Hook School say a ban on future sales of large magazines is not enough; remove and ban all existing large capacity magazines from Connecticut, they say.


Two dozen family members of the children and women killed at Sandy Hook School are urging the Connecticut legislature to act on what they feel is "the most dangerous feature of an assault weapon" — magazine capacity.

In a letter sent to the General Assembly today, the families note how the shooter carried 10 magazines that held 30 bullets each and, as court documents released last week showed, he left smaller magazine clips at home.

"He fired 154 shots in approximately 4 minutes, killing 20 children and 6 educators," they wrote. "Miraculously, in the time that it took him to reload in one of the classrooms, 11 children were able to escape and are alive today."

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"We are left to wonder, what if the Sandy Hook shooter had been forced to reload not 6 times but 15 times? Would more children, would our children, be alive today?"

The families urge legislators to strengthen proposed gun laws by including a provision that would ban all large capacity magazines — those with more than 10 bullets — not only for future sales, but also existing magazines.

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The letter's timing is key. It comes just days before the General Assembly is expected to vote on proposed gun legislation, which was crafted by a bi-partisan task force that was created in response to the Dec. 14 shooting

In response to the letter, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy released the following statement:

“I have been clear for weeks that a ban on the possession and sale of high capacity magazines is an important part of our effort to prevent gun violence — simply banning their sale moving forward would not be an effective solution.  This morning, we heard from victims’ families on that very point. They’ve asked for an up or down vote on that provision and, whether it’s in the larger bill or as an amendment, the families, and every resident of our state, deserve a vote.

"We know this is an issue that has bipartisan support, including from Senate Minority Leader John McKinney," Malloy said. "We cannot lose sight of our ultimate goal — improving public safety for all of our residents, including our children.”

Editor's note: This article originally was published by Newtown Patch.


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