Magazines are a removable component, and many interchange between different types of gun, so what you really want to restrict is magazines, not guns. You'd do better to argue for that and leave "assault weapons" out of it lest you be put in the position of defending restrictions on barrel shrouds and bayonet lugs.
By the way, "magazine" and "clip" aren't the same thing. A clip is a device used to load an empty magazine with ammunition quickly. Some people will assume you are ignorant about guns in general if you use them interchangeably.
* I think that limiting magazine capacity would have a large impact on mass killings, but perhaps not crime.*
I think you're right about crime and wrong about mass killings. The VT shooter set a new record for the number of people killed, and he fired an average of ten shots per magazine, though some of his held 15. A person shooting unarmed victims can generally time his reloads so that it would be difficult for victims to rush him. A person using a gun in self defense likely has less opportunity to do so given that they're generally dealing with determined, armed opponents.
Magazines are a removable component, and many interchange between different types of gun, so what you really want to restrict is magazines, not guns. You'd do better to argue for that and leave "assault weapons" out of it lest you be put in the position of defending restrictions on barrel shrouds and bayonet lugs.
By the way, "magazine" and "clip" aren't the same thing. A clip is a device used to load an empty magazine with ammunition quickly. Some people will assume you are ignorant about guns in general if you use them interchangeably.
* I think that limiting magazine capacity would have a large impact on mass killings, but perhaps not crime.*
I think you're right about crime and wrong about mass killings. The VT shooter set a new record for the number of people killed, and he fired an average of ten shots per magazine, though some of his held 15. A person shooting unarmed victims can generally time his reloads so that it would be difficult for victims to rush him. A person using a gun in self defense likely has less opportunity to do so given that they're generally dealing with determined, armed opponents.