Blumenthal, Murphy push for high-capacity magazine ban

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy said  that they would introduce an amendment to the gun violence prevention bill being debated in the Senate that would ban high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The amendment mirrors the provision of Connecticut’s recently passed gun reform law that bans the sale of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 bullets.

“A ban on military-style high-capacity magazines, like the one we are proposing today, will save lives in episodes of mass violence,” Murphy said in an April 17 statement.

The amendment will also call for a ban on the importation of high-capacity magazines and would provide funding for a buy-back program for owners of existing high-capacity magazines. Owners of high-capacity magazines would not be required to participate in the buy-back program, but would have the option of doing so.

Democrats Blumenthal and Murphy, as well as Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, will introduce the amendment on behalf of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, an 89-year-old New Jersey Democrat who has been absent from Washington for much of 2013 due to health reasons. Lautenberg had introduced legislation to ban high-capacity magazines following the fatal January 2011 shooting in Tuscon that took six lives and nearly killed then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.