Do we really need the Hi Capacity Magazines?

S

sks

New member
We've whipped the "stopping Power" and "Caliber vs. Caliber" debates pretty thouroughly here over time and I've come to the conclusion that we will never agree. But that's alright because we've got the right to disagree, agree, speak our mind or hold our peace. Thank God for the USA!

What I'm really wondering is, do we NEED the hi capacity magazines for personal defense purposes. Sure I feel more secure with 30 rounds on me than 7 but thus far I've not had to use even one and for that I'm thankful.

Some friends carry a handgun with one hi cap in the weapon and at least two others on them. Nearly 50 rounds of ammo! So I'm thinking, are they planning on getting in a barricade situation or what?

What are the chances of anyone ever really needing 30 rounds for personal protection? Or 20 or 10? I don't ask the question to flame any thoughts or beliefs but am really wanting to know maybe from some personal experience.

Nearly all accounts that I have seen and read about involving police officers and / or civilians defending themselves with a handgun mention 6 shots or less fired from each weapon.

I'm not saying that there haven't been some major shootouts when reloading was necessary. The Miami shootout comes to mind as does the big shootout in California a couple of years ago.

Is this hi cap thing necessary or are we buying into the marketing of the gun manufacturers and ammunition market? Is it a macho thing that makes us feel good?

The argument exists it's better to have and not need than to need and not have. However, if we take that to the extreme then I want some fully auto sub guns with me at all times.

Any thoughts or comments?

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The best weapon for self defense is the one you have when the need arises!
 
You might as well ask if we really need guns at all.

Do we really need hollow points?

Do we really need night sights?

Do we really need guns chambered in milatary calibers?

We don't need them, but we should not give up any advantage we might have in our defense of life and limb.

While building your house, you might feel that straw or wood will provide all the protection you need. But when the wolf comes, you'll be wishing you had picked the house of brick.
 
The best one-liner response I have heard on this (or any similar topic) was from some TFLer:

Its called the 'Bill of Rights' not the 'Bill of Needs.' ;)

Seriously? No. Likely no one here (myself, a LEO included) will ever 'need' a hicap mag.

Of course, by the same token, we don't need insurance, either. Think about it. By taking out an insurace policy you are betting that something bad is gonna happen to you. The insurance company is betting it won't. You can tell who is right by who has the most money, you or Nationwide.

;)

So, drop your insurance policies, throw away all your guns, and heck, while we're at it, get rid of those pesky locks on your doors.

Mike ;)

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"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein
 
I usually just carry the one ten round mag in my Glock 26 - I hope I never have to draw my weapon and I really really hope if I ever do have to draw it I don't need 11 shots!
 
Coronach, all locks taken off, my security system has been dismantled, no more guns in the house, insurance premiums done away with and guess what I've got money. :D

Thanks for the post guys. This is basically what I was thinking. I don't need them but honestly, I do like to have them with me.

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The best weapon for self defense is the one you have when the need arises!
 
Well, I can deal with 7 rounds in my PPK or 5 in my 342ti because of the difference in size. However, there's just something stupid about carrying a full sized gun that can hold 16 rounds with only 11 rounds in it. It's like only filling up with half a tank before a long trip.
 
Hi-cap mags? What are hi-cap mags?

Oh, you mean the "standard" mags designed for the pistols? Be careful here. I was recently reminded that by using "hi-cap," I am playing into the linguistic games used by anti-gunners to help push their agendas. It's true. Once this language takes hold, it alters perceptions. By using the term "hi-cap," we make everyone think that we're greedy for more fire-power. The reality, in most instances, is that we'd just like to carry the amount of ammo our guns were designed to carry. Thank Clinton (and it hurts me to say it...Ruger) for the 1994 law which suddenly turned "standard" magazines into "hi-cap" monstrosities. Don't play their games people. Use the correct terminology and encourage others to do so. Anyone ever read Orwell's 1984? We're entering an age of increasing Newspeak, and Big Brother is watching.

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Guyon
NRA & GOA Member
Vote for your rights!!!

[This message has been edited by Guyon (edited September 06, 2000).]
 
Situations like the L.A. riots WILL happen again in this country. The innocent people caught up in the middle of those riots were left to defend themselves without any hope of police assistance. In a situation like that I would certainly want as many rounds in my firearms as I could have.

Are you going to need more than 10 rounds in the "typical" defensive situation. Probably not. But exceptions do, and always will, exist. As another poster has already stated, it's better to have and not need than need and not have.
 
Yes ... and, as noted above, they're full capacity mag's. 'High capacity' mag's is simply the demonized, anti-self defense term for them.

If my pistol is made to carry 15 rounds, I see no reason to carry only 10.

This rather reminds me of that old flying quote ... better to be down here, wishing you were up there, than to be up there, wishing you were down here.

I'll probably live my entire life without needing a firearm at all. But if I need one, I've made sure I have a full capacity mag, and one spare.

And, one other point. Whenever I take a long gun in my car, even if I'm simply transporting it from one place to another, I always make sure I have ammo and mag's for it. I'd feel like a fool if I needed it and didn't have ammunition.

I hope to live a long life, but when I die, I sure hope they don't talk about how stupidity caused my death. ;)

Regards from AZ
 
I like the one liner above about needs and rights. No, we don't really need shelter either, do we? We don't need cars, we don't need sunlight, we don't need to ever stand up. We dont' need to vote. I'll say that needs, wants, and rights are three different things. Don't tread on me or mine and I'll respect yours.
 
First, I use 10 round magazines during range sessions. Why? I use them as they are cheaper, I can save my 15 round magazines for purely social occassions, and it is easier to count rounds fired. I only have 10 digits on my two hands. In the words of Rene Descarte: "They don't want me to have them. Therefore, I want them!" Regards, Richard.
 
Quite frankly, I don't carry a full size pistol, so the "need" for standard-cap mags doesn't come into play. I recently purchased my first full-size nine, a vintage CZ-75. It came with one 15rd mag, and I bought two others. I bought it now, rather than when I could better afford it because I can still get reasonably priced CZ mags. I only have it for target shooting, and I like the fact that I don't have to reload nearly as often. I don't need the mags for personal defense, I need them because they are what is supposed to go with the gun.

Screw 10rd mags and the law they rode in on.
 
How about "standard" magazines and "gelded" magazines.

They antis want to erase our rights in increments. First magazine capacity, "assault" rifles and "Saturday night specials" (whatever those are) and then handguns, rifles, shotguns, etc.

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"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence upon those who would do us harm."...George Orwell
 
I agree, let us now refer to them as "large capacity", "standard capacity", or "full capacity" magazines, rather than high-capacity. If nothing else, we'll be setting the terms. The media will not be pleased when the terms are not theirs to invent.

Perhaps even better yet, lets just call them "suitable capacity" magazines...

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The Alcove

I twist the facts until they tell the truth. -Some intellectual sadist

The Bill of Rights is a document of brilliance, a document of wisdom, and it is the ultimate law, spoken or not, for the very concept of a society that holds liberty above the desire for ever greater power. -Me
 
When the wagons are circled I rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them nuf said........
 
I would rather have three hi-caps and only have to fire one shot, than have a five-shot pistol and need six shots. The hi-cap ban is a stupid, useless law passed only so a bunch of politicians could claim they did something about crime (yeah, right). IMHO a pistol ought to hold as many rounds as will fit comfortably in the grip design. For a full size pistol that's maybe 15 rounds of 9mm/.40 or 13 .45s (as in a Glock 21). If you're designing a smaller CCW gun, you give up rounds for concealability, not for politics.

Magazine capacity ought to be strictly an engineering issue. Since the hi-cap ban it seems some new guns are being designed around the 10-shot "standard". Design efficiency is constrained by abritrary politics.
 
Heck yes I need them! My fingers get sore from reloading all those dang 10 rounders at the range :D
 
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