Ralph Jimenez of Concord is a lifetime hunter, gun owner and is a member of the Monitor editorial board.
The 18-year-old shooter who killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers last month in Uvalde, Texas, reportedly used a military-style 5.56 caliber assault rifle to carry out the massacre. The high-velocity round, used by NATO forces in war, was designed to do massive damage to the human body. The rifle he purchased apparently comes with a 30-round magazine and its maker offers buyers a deal on a 12-magazine package. Authorities say the teen shooter had 1,657 rounds with him.
High-capacity magazines, generally defined as those holding more than ten rounds, increase the death-toll in many, if not most, mass shootings. According to a report in the Texas Tribune, “Whether a state has a large capacity ammunition magazine ban is the single best predictor of the mass shooting rates in that state,” Dr. Michael Siegel, a researcher at Boston University, told CNN after conducting a 2017 analysis.
Nine states, including Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, limit firearm magazine capacity, usually to 10 plus one round in the chamber. New Hampshire has no limit.
Since 1935, to protect a valuable resource, it has been illegal under federal law to use a firearm capable of firing more than three shots without reloading to hunt migratory birds. So it’s a three-shot max if you’re killing ducks. If . . .