Do Mass Shooters Prefer Large-Capacity Magazines?

16 Pages Posted: 5 Apr 2020

See all articles by Gary Kleck

Gary Kleck

Florida State University - College of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Date Written: March 10, 2020

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).

Keywords: mass shootings, laarge-capacity magazines

Suggested Citation

Kleck, Gary, Do Mass Shooters Prefer Large-Capacity Magazines? (March 10, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3552203 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3552203

Gary Kleck (Contact Author)

Florida State University - College of Criminology and Criminal Justice ( email )

Eppes Hall
112 S. Copeland Street
Tallahasse, FL 32306-1206
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
165
Abstract Views
802
Rank
325,734
PlumX Metrics