The development of the pistol grip on rifles and shotguns is really an offshoot of improved ergonomics. It is just more comfortable to carry a rifle or shotgun with a pistol grip. When carrying a rifle with a pistol grip, your wrist is allowed to stay straight and inline with your lower arm. If one tries to carry a rifle with a conventional stock, one has to “cock” the wrist at about a 45-degree angle in order to hold on to it. This can cause cramping and fatigue.

According to The Brady Campaign “A pistol grip on a rifle or shotgun facilitates firing from the hip, allowing the shooter to spray-fire the weapon. The pistol grip also helps the shooter stabilize the firearm during rapid fire and make it easier to shoot assault rifles one-handed.”

Any rifle or shotgun can be “fired from the hip” if one is not concerned with accuracy. There is nothing about a pistol grip that makes this easier. If a shooter wants to hit an object, he or she must use some type of sighting device, otherwise it is pure luck. Unless you are a movie star.

There are a number of different ways that cartridges can be carried in a weapon. Revolvers use a round cylinder which rotates each time the weapon is fired. Some rifles and shotguns use a tubular magazine, which uses a spring to feed a new cartridge into place. Some rifles have an internal, non-detachable magazine. The capacity of these various types range from 3 to more than 20 cartridges.

A detachable magazine is a component that individual cartridges are loaded into, but it differs from those previously noted because it can be removed from the firearm. One can carry multiple magazines and re-load the firearm quickly and efficiently. There are a variety of pistols and rifles that use a detachable magazine. The capacity of a magazine varies by the physical size of the cartridge, and the type of firearm it is used in. Most military style weapons can accept magazines that typically carry 10 to 30 cartridges at a time.

The AWB has made it illegal for a citizen to own or purchase magazines with capacities larger than 10 cartridges that have been manufactured or imported after the ban was made law.

The intent of having a smaller magazine capacity is that a criminal could not fire as many shots as rapidly, therefore reducing the ability to kill of wound more people. However, the statistical evidence reported in the previously mentioned National Institute of Justice report shows:

“The ban has failed to reduce the average number of victims per gun murder incident or multiple gunshot wound victims.”

Because “assault weapons” are rarely used in gun crimes, a significant change in numbers of victims would not be expected.