Sen. Frank Lautenberg To Introduce Ban On High-Capacity Gun Magazines

In the wake of yesterday's mass murder in Colorado, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) plans to reintroduce a federal ban on weapons that allow a high number of shots before reloading.

"If reports are correct and a high-capacity gun magazine was used to commit these awful murders, Senator Lautenberg will absolutely renew his effort to limit the availability of this dangerous firearm attachment," Lautenberg's communications director Caley Gray told The Huffington Post. Lautenberg, one of the most vocal gun control advocates in the Senate, introduced a bill to limit high-capacity magazines following the shooting of former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The shooter in that instance fired his gun more than 30 times without having to reload. The bill went nowhere.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), whose husband was murdered in a 1993 mass shooting on the Long Island Railroad, has introduced several similar bills which failed to get out of its GOP-dominated House committee. Her statement regarding yesterday's news:

“The horrific nightmare of a mass shooting on innocent civilians in a crowded public place has, sadly, come true once again,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. “I mourn alongside the people of Aurora for the many killed and injured and the countless family and friends whose lives, as a result of the consequences of this event, will be negatively affected for decades to come. The shooter should be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But we as a nation should also not continue to ignore avenues to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future.”