Standard Hunting Shotguns have a higher capacity then so called “hi-capacity” magazines.
Manasquan, NJ –-(Ammoland.com)- Much has been made over the last several years of the evilness and lack of “need” for any person to have a so called “hi-capacity” magazine.
The overblown and dishonest rhetoric has only reached a fever pitch in the aftermath of the Aurora Colorado and Newtown Connecticut “glory“shootings.
Before I get into the meat of the issue, lets explode another myth fabricated by various Second Amendment hating groups and politicians, one more in a litany of outright lies like Josh Sugarrman’s made up term “assault weapon” that is perpetuated by the same people.
Myth: “Hi-Capacity Magazines” were banned by the now expired 1994 to 2004 Federal Assault Weapons Ban.
Fact: The only effect of the ’94 to ’04 law was a prohibition on the new manufacture of magazines with a capacity higher then 15 rounds. Any and all magazines manufactured before the date the law took effect were grandfathered in, and perfectly legal to sell, buy, possess and own.
Myth: 20 or 30 round magazines are “Hi-Capacity”
Fact: 20 and or 30 round magazines are nearly ubiquitous as standard equipment or accessories with the vast majority of semi-automatic rifles. The capacity amount is a design feature that is incorporated from the very first concept, to the engineering diagrams and through to production.
For analogy purposes. If you buy a performance car from a dealer, and it was originally designed, built and equipped with a 400 horsepower engine, then that is its “standard” and anything over and above that would be considered “hi” under any normal use of the English Language.
Interesting side note. After the Aurora Colorado Mass Shooting last Summer, there were widespread reports that the shooter had a “hi-capacity drum magazine” in the AR-15 rifle, it was this report, without a shred of corroboration from anyone outside official law enforcement sources that really jump-started the current push against magazine capacity.
There’s one big problem though. There has, to my knowledge, only a single photograph of the rifle in question released. It clearly shows what is in fact an AR style rifle, laying on the sidewalk directly outside the emergency exit door of the theater, the door that the shooter rigged from inside, so he could enter it from outside to execute his evil plan. The rifle is surrounded by crime scene “markers” and other related typical paraphernalia of an active crime scene investigation. But what is clearly visible in the photo is there is a standard capacity 30 round box magazine inserted into the magazine well. No drum magazine is visible in the frame, and in fact, there has yet to be any evidence what-so-ever, at least none that has been made public, that proves the shooter did in fact have a “drum magazine” or used it in commission of his horrific attack
So I called the Public Information Officer for the Aurora PD to inquire about this seeming discrepancy. The only answer they would provide as way of explanation was that the Chief of Police had shown a photo of one at one of the daily press conferences. Note: I said “showed a photo of one (a drum magazine)”, not the drum magazine allegedly used in the attack.
Now, onto the meat of this article.
So lets look at that shall we?
Your standard, non scary looking hunting or “sporting” shotgun generally has a magazine capacity of 3 to 5 shells, plus one in the chamber. Since 12 gauge shotguns are far and away the most popular shotgun, we will use that example.
A double aught buckshot shell holds 9, roughly .32 caliber projectiles, while other less powerful shells, such as “bird shot” can hold as many as 30, albeit smaller individual projectiles. That being said, while bird shot is clearly no where near as devastating as OO buckshot, if its powerful enough to bring down a goose, duck, pheasant, grouse or other game bird at ranges of 50 ft, I still wouldn’t want to be shot with it !
Each time the trigger is pulled, 9 to as many as 30 individual pellets, or for our argument “rounds” are fired out the barrel at one time, with little if any control over where they go beyond general point of aim and whether or not the shotgun is equipped with a choke to control the spread.
Now a little basic grade school level math, while considering the projectiles contained in each shotgun shell as individual rounds, which is what they are after all, as any one of them can be lethal. The fact that multiple projectiles are packaged together in one shell doesn’t negate that.
Taking the numbers above, we find the result is, your standard 12 gauge shotgun has a capacity of anywhere from 36 to as many as 120 individual “rounds” contained in its internal magazine and chamber and depending on shell selection, orders of magnitude more then ANY 20 or 30 round, standard capacity magazine for any semi automatic rifle available to the general public, it also means a standard shotgun rapidly eclipses the “rate of fire“, meaning how many rounds can be sent down range, of any so called “assault weapon“.
But Bumblin Biden and his acolytes insist this is somehow “safer” then single, well aimed shots, fired one at a time, from an “assault weapon“.
So as you wrap your mind around that one, my Grandpa would just be shaking his head at the insanity of the debates we are having over a simple god given right to keep and bear arms. Can you say “Shall Not Be Infringed”.
More articles, commentary and information by D. Roberts available at That Every Man Be Armed.com