Do Mass Shooters Prefer Large-Capacity Magazines?

Abstract

There are over 58.9 million firearms magazines holding over ten rounds in private possession in the U.S. and at least 14.8 percent of private guns are equipped with magazines this large, while no more than 15.8 percent of U.S. mass shootings (4+ dead) in 2012-2019 involved a shooter using such a magazine. Thus, mass shooters use LCMs with a frequency not significantly greater than one would expect based on the share of U.S. guns equipped with LCMs. This accords with previous research showing that LCM use is neither necessary nor helpful to offenders trying to shoot large numbers of victims in mass shooting incidents (Kleck 2016).