Parents of two children killed in the Sandy Hook school massacre say it's possible their sons may be alive if the shooter had been forced to reload more often. They were on hand as an Illinois Senate committee Monday approved a ban on the sale of high capacity ammunition magazines. IPR’S Amanda Vinicky reports.
The shootings in Newtown, Connecticut were rapid.
"All of those lives were taken in less than four minutes by a single gunman, armed with an assault weapon and ten, 30-round, high capacity magazines.”
That's Mark Barden, whose son Daniel was one of the 20 children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary.
"How many more kids might be alive today if he’d had to reload three more times, or three times as often. Maybe my little Daniel would be alive.”
Barden told Illinois Senators by limiting ammunition to 10 rounds, they were taking action to prevent their own Newtown. Jay Keller, who represents the state's firearms manufactures, says as a father - he sympathizes with Barden. But he disagrees.
“This bill before you doesn’t fix anything.”
Keller says if it becomes law, the measure's main effect will be chasing manufacturers out of Illinois. He says if lawmakers want to address the tragedies, they need to do more to about mental health issues.
Magazines people already own would remain legal under this plan.