For Release: Tuesday, July 21, 1998
Senate to Vote Wednesday on Feinstein Amendment to Block Sale of “Killer Clips”
The Violence Policy Center today released a package of gun industry advertisements showing how high-capacity magazines – which were outlawed under the 1994 assault weapons ban – are still being sold legally because of a loophole in the law. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has announced that she will offer an amendment on the Senate floor Wednesday to close the loophole.
The ads expose 10 of the numerous companies that still sell high-capacity “killer clips” by taking advantage of the 1994 law’s “grandfather clause,” which allows the sale of millions of magazines made before the ban took effect. These magazines are compatible with many semiautomatic firearms designed both before and after 1994, allowing them to fire more than 10 rounds without reloading.
“This grandfather clause is a high-capacity loophole,” said VPC Director of Federal Policy Kristen Rand. “Just put an old magazine on a new gun and-voila!-you beat the ban. You can have an assault weapon that is very lethal, but perfectly legal.”
One company has even taken the sale of killer clips a step further, the VPC ads demonstrate. Intratec, which once made the banned TEC-9 assault pistol, now sells a very similar weapon called the AB-10. The new gun is constructed with grandfathered TEC-9 magazines that can fire 32 shots without reloading. The “AB” in AB-10 stands for “After Ban.”
Feinstein’s amendment, which she plans to offer to the Commerce/Justice/State Appropriations bill, would close the killer clip loophole by amending the assault weapons ban to prohibit the transfer or sale of grandfathered magazines.
About the Violence Policy Center
The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
