Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, Everytown Statement on NRA High-Capacity Magazine Giveaway

Mass Shootings Involving High-Capacity Magazines Result in Nearly Five Times as Many People Shot on Average

RICHMOND, VA – Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Students Demand Action, both a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statements after  the NRA announced that it would be handing out 1,000 30-round magazines at the Virginia statehouse today.

“In an attempt to intimidate lawmakers and subvert the will of voters, the NRA gave away dangerous high-capacity magazines – similar to those used in the country’s deadliest mass shootings – to random civilians at the Virginia statehouse today,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “The NRA’s outrageous behavior underscores precisely why its agenda has been rejected at the ballot box in Virginia and across the country.”

“Indiscriminately handing out high-capacity magazines at the statehouse is a shameless advertisement for the gun industry that puts lives at risk,” said Jed Baul, a Virginia Commonwealth University student and volunteer with Students Demand Action. “Gun safety is a top priority for Virginians and we proved that on election night by voting in gun sense champions up and down the ballot. The NRA’s actions today are a dangerous knee-jerk reaction that does nothing to protect our community from senseless shootings.”

A recent analysis of 10 years of mass shootings in the US shows that at least 40 mass shootings involved high-capacity magazines, which resulted in nearly 400 people killed and nearly 700 people wounded. Of those 40 mass shootings that involved high-capacity magazines, nearly three-fourths occurred in public places. As a whole, the mass shootings that involved the use of high-capacity magazines resulted in nearly five times as many people shot on average as those that did not.

Earlier today, the Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee advanced several common-sense gun safety bills, including legislation to close dangerous gaps in Virginia’s background check laws and empower those who recognize dangerous warning signs to seek extreme risk protection orders.