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During the Clinton Assault Weapons Ban which ended in 2004 was a section which prohibited the manufacture and import of high capacity magazines. High Capacity was determined to be anything over 10 rounds. The reasoning offered behind this ridiculous ideology was criminals would have access to "Never Ending" supplies of ammunition which would make them much more dangerous since they would have to reload less. High Capacity magazines were demonized as "ammo dumps" or "massive feed devices". However, everything surrounding this was false as was the premise of increasing safety by limiting these "dangerous weapons".

Myth #1: The Clinton Assault Weapons Ban outlawed the ownership of High Capacity Magazines thus creating a Safer Nation as criminal would no longer have access to large ammo supplies.

Answer: This is inherently false. The Clinton Assault weapons ban only prohibited the manufacture and importation of high capacity magazines. Private ownership of high capacity magazines was not affected. Magazines present in the US before the ban were allowed to be bought, owned, and sold like any other commodity albeit at a much higher price now that supply was "limited". Criminals could still access them easily in any sporting goods stores.

Myth #2: The Ban on High Cap magazines made streets safer because criminals could only fire 10 rounds before reloading.

Answer: I already covered magazines were still available for everyone so I won't rehash with another explanation. Here is something I always told people who were proponents of the law. Stand out in field while I shoot at you with a 10 round magazine and 30 round magazine. Can you tell the difference? What makes the bottom 10 or 20 rounds of a high capacity magazine so much more deadly than the top 10? It is true, with the 10 round mag, reloading does take a little more time, but with a little practice, a gun can go from empty to full in under a second. It takes someone more time to realize the gun is unloaded than it takes a practiced person to reload it. The fact is, it is just a bunch of bull.

Unfortunately, after the Ban expired, the ideology lived in liberal states such as Hawaii, California, and Massachusetts as each state passed laws prohibiting the OWNERSHIP of such magazines. That is right, you cannot own one of these magazines in California. How has the crime rate gone in Los Angeles since its inception? Even liberal organizations like Ebay and Google will not allow the sale or advertising of firearms or high capacity magazines based on the very unscientific and highly dis-proven belief they are the cause of evil in hearts of criminals everywhere.

About the Author

Kelsey Hilderbrand is an avid shooter, hunter, collector, outdoor writer, and founder of High Mountain Hunting Supply