I sell magazines every week here at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas, and I build ARs for a living, so magazine capacity law is not an abstract debate for me. It decides what I can ship and to whom. Texas has no capacity limit, but plenty of my online customers live in states that do, and the map keeps changing. Here’s the short history and the legal picture as of this writing.
Where the 10-round number came from
Modern capacity limits started in New Jersey in the early 1990s. The big one was the 1994 federal assault weapons ban, which set 10 rounds as the national ceiling for new magazines. That number wasn’t ballistic science. It was a political compromise that stuck, and when other states wrote their own laws later, they mostly copied it.
The federal ban sunset in 2004, and a lot of people figured the issue was dead. It wasn’t. After a string of high-profile incidents, states started passing their own versions, and the list has grown since.
Which states restrict capacity
New York, Connecticut, Colorado, Maryland, California, Washington, and Illinois have all enacted magazine restrictions, on top of New Jersey’s. The details differ. Some cap at 10 rounds, some at 15, some ban sales but grandfather what you own, some restrict manufacture too. If you live in or near one of these states, the specifics matter a lot, and they change. Check your current state law before you buy, and when in doubt, ask a local attorney who handles firearms cases.
From behind the counter, the practical effect is real. When an order comes in from a restricted state, we either ship a compliant version or we don’t ship at all. It’s a paperwork headache for dealers and an honest trap for gun owners who move between states without realizing their standard magazines just became contraband.
The common-use argument
The 2022 Bruen decision changed how courts judge these laws. The government now has to show a regulation is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation, not just that it sounds reasonable.
Here’s the problem for capacity bans: magazines holding more than 10 rounds are standard equipment. A Glock 19 ships with 15-round magazines. Nearly every AR-15 ships with 30s. Millions of law-abiding owners have them, which puts them squarely in “common use” under the Supreme Court’s own test. Several challenges to state magazine bans are working through the federal courts on exactly that theory. As of this writing, results have been mixed at the circuit level and the Supreme Court hasn’t settled it, so don’t assume any particular ban is dead or safe. Check where the litigation stands before you act on it.
My advice
Know your own state’s law cold, and if you travel with firearms, know the laws of every state you pass through. If you live somewhere free of these limits, don’t get complacent; these bills show up in legislatures that people swore would never pass them.
And buy quality while you’re at it. A cheap magazine causes more malfunctions than any other single part. I wrote up my honest take in Magpul vs. Lancer magazines if you’re stocking up, and if you’re setting up a rifle for the house, my home defense AR-15 setup guide covers what actually matters. We stock magazines and compliant versions in the store, and I’m happy to talk through what’s legal to ship to your state. Call 817-393-4000 or email [email protected].
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
