Bill would ban high-capacity ammo used in Arizona massacre

A member of Congress has promised to introduce legislation as soon as this week that would ban the sort of high-capacity ammunition clip magazine that turned Saturday's attempted political assassination in Arizona into a bloodbath that left six dead, 14 wounded and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) fighting for her life.

The man arrested in the shooting, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner of Tucscon, reportedly used a legally purchased Glock 9mm pistol -- a gun commonly carried by police.

However, police typically use an ammunition clip magazine with 15 rounds. Loughner reportedly had in his possession two high-capacity magazines with 33 rounds each.

Magazines with a capacity of more than 10 bullets were covered under a 1994 assault weapon ban, but that ban expired in 2004.

"It gave him a tactical advantage," a federal law enforcement official told NBC. "There's absolutely no doubt the magazines increased the lethality and body count of this attack."

Some states have taken it upon themselves to ban high-capacity ammo clips magazines, but none of them are in the South.

Those states that have enacted such bans are California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. A number of local governments have also made extended magazines illegal, including Denver, Chicago and other cities in Illinois -- but again, none in the South. (Click here [pdf] for more details on jurisdictions with such bans.)

The lawmaker who has pledged to introduce a bill banning the extended magazines is Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.). As Politico reports, McCarthy ran for Congress after her husband was killed and her son seriously injured in a 1993 massacre on a New York commuter train.

(Image of an extended ammunition magazine compatible with the kind of Glock used in the Tucson shooting from GlockWorld.com.)