Why might you need a standard capacity magazine

The American Thinker offered up another take on Why Does Anyone Need a High Capacity Magazine yesterday by Mark Almonte. Mr. Almonte goes through analysis of hit rates, stopping power, and the fact that the criminal always chooses the moment of attack to favor himself, and put the victim at a disadvantage. All of that is interesting, and I encourage you to read it. In reference to stopping power, I have made the point in the past that handgun rounds are not particularly powerful, because a powerful round creates recoil that can not be controlled. Therefore, a sidearm is a necessary compromise between size, weight, concealability, and power.  But the real reason is, as Almonte states:

We've seen that it's not uncommon for suspects to still be a threat after being shot half a dozen times. Factor in that trained police officers operating under the stress of gunfire are landing roughly only one in ten shots. Statistically, low-light shootings at night or indoors with poor lighting bring down the hit percentages. Compound that with the possibility of multiple attackers and any reasonable person would conclude that limiting a civilian to ten rounds is not nearly enough for self-protection. The NYPD, LAPD, and the LASD don't limit their officers to ten-round magazines. They all issue 15-round magazines, except for the LASD, which now issues 17-round magazines.

Interestingly, the civilian needs the same round capacity for the same reasons, namely self defense. Police typically issue a 15 round magazine in the gun, with 1 in the chamber, and two spare 15 round magazines. Why so many? Because if your gun jams, the most likely cause is a defective magazine. The best method of clearing it is to eject the magazine, cycle out the jammed round, and put another magazine in the weapon.  A trained individual can perform a clearance drill faster than I can type out how to do it.

The current debates on gun control have nothing to do with gun control, in reality.  Instead, they are designed to eventually disarm the American people.  Using Alinski-ite tactics, they have isolated an enemy, focused on it, demonized it, and are preparing to ban it.  But assault weapons, universal background checks, and so called high capacity mags will not be the last..  It never is.  When yet another tragedy occurs, and it will, they will be back, dancing in the blood, and screaming for more.  We must stand firm and say not one more inch.  Then, when the current battles have blown out, we must begin the push back to repeal as many laws as we can.