Sponsors (14)
The bill protects possession and manufacture of higher-capacity magazines and limits federal enforcement—preserving rights and reducing federal reach—while weakening state and local regulatory tools and raising public-safety risks associated with wider magazine availability.
Residents in states and localities that allow higher-capacity magazines (and their state/local governments) retain the ability to possess, manufacture, and sell those magazines because federal agencies and employees are barred from enforcing capacity-based magazine restrictions.
Federal non-enforcement of capacity-based magazine rules reduces the risk of federal overreach into magazine regulation and clarifies the federal role versus state/local authority.
Clarifying federal legal definitions of 'firearm magazine' and 'capacity' reduces ambiguity for persons and entities subject to 18 U.S.C. § 921(a), which can lower litigation risk and improve consistency in enforcement where federal law applies.
People in jurisdictions that restrict high-capacity magazines (and those local governments) may see those state or local safety regulations effectively nullified, reducing local policy tools to limit magazine availability.
Communities, victims, and law enforcement may face higher risks of mass-shooting casualties if higher-capacity magazines become more widely available, potentially worsening public-safety outcomes.
Shifting regulatory authority away from local control reduces local governments' ability to tailor public-safety responses and complicates efforts to address local firearm risks.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars federal officials from enforcing capacity‑based magazine rules and invalidates state and local magazine capacity limits, defining magazine and capacity.
Official title: Amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit capacity-based restrictions on firearm magazines, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 16, 2025 by James Risch · Last progress September 16, 2025
Prohibits federal officers and employees from creating or enforcing rules that limit firearm magazine capacity, and invalidates any state or local laws that ban or penalize magazines based on how many rounds they hold. Defines "firearm magazine" and "capacity," and makes the ban on capacity‑based restrictions effective 30 days after enactment.