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RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS AND THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO ENACT LEGISLATION THAT BANS THE POSSESSION OR SALE OF ANY HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINE THAT HAS THE CAPACITY OF MORE THAN 10 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION; WITH EXCEPTIONS FOR THE POSSESSION OF ANY HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINE THAT WAS LAWFULLY POSSESSED ON OR BEFORE THE DATE OF ENACTMENT AND POSSESSION OF HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED; FURTHER URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS AND THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO ENACT LEGISLATION THAT REQUIRES IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS ON ANY HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES MANUFACTURED AFTER THE DATE OF ENACTMENT

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WHEREAS, from 1994 to 2004, high capacity ammunition magazines were illegal as part of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban; and
WHEREAS, Democrats and Republicans alike—including former President George W. Bush—called for the reinstatement of this sensible law in 2004, yet it was never renewed; and
WHEREAS, since that time, high capacity magazines (carrying more than 10 rounds at a time) have been legal to manufacture and sell; and
WHEREAS, standard pistol magazines hold 6 to 10 rounds, but extended magazines can attach to pistols and make it possible for a shooter to pump off 30, 50 or even 100 rounds before reloading; and
WHEREAS, high-capacity magazines have been used in most mass shootings in the last two decades;
WHEREAS, most of these mass shootings occurred after the ban on high-capacity magazines was lifted; and
WHEREAS, in the 1993 Long Island Railroad massacre, the shooter used a high-capacity magazine to kill 6 people and wound 19 others; and
WHEREAS, on April 20, 1999, two teenage gunmen, armed with several high-capacity magazines, killed 13 people and wounded another 23 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado; and and
WHEREAS, high-capacity magazines were also used in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre where 32 people were killed and another 17 people were injured; and
WHEREAS, on November 5, 2009, the shooter in the Fort Hood tragedy, killed 13 people and wounded 34 others carrying a semi-automatic pistol with high-capacity magazines; and
WHEREAS, on August 3, 2010 in Manchester, Connecticut, a shooter killed 8 people and wounded 2 others with a semi-automatic pistol with a high-capacity magazine; and
WHEREAS, on January 8, 2011, a high-capacity 30-round magazine enabled the Tucson shooter to fire 31 shots in less than 30 seconds, injuring 13 people, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and killing 6 others; and
WHEREAS, on July 20, 2012, a gunman walked in through the front-exit door of Theater 9 at Aurora, Colorado’s Century Cinema carrying an AR-15 assault rifle, among other weapons, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others; and
WHEREAS, on December 11, 2012, at an Oregon mall, a man armed with an AR-15, a high capacity magazine-fed, semi-automatic rifle, opened fire, killing 2 adults and seriously wounding a 15-year-old girl; and
WHEREAS, the most recent tragedy occurred on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, where a shooter killed 20 young children, ages 6-7, and 6 adults using a AR-15 rifle with magazines containing 30 rounds; and
WHEREAS, the weapons used by the gunmen in most of the above listed shootings would have been illegal under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban; and
WHEREAS, this Board would like to express its support for the enactment of legislation at the federal and state levels that bans ammunition magazines that have a capacity of more than 10 rounds of ammunition,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Urges the United States Congress and the Florida Legislature to enact legislation that bans the possession or sale of any high-capacity magazine that has the capacity of more than 10 rounds of ammunition; with exceptions for the possession of any high-capacity magazine that was lawfully possessed on or before the date of enactment and by law enforcement officers, both active and retired.
Section 2. Further urges the United States Congress and the Florida Legislature to enact legislation that requires identification markings on any high-capacity magazines manufactured after the date of enactment.
Section 3. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the members of the Florida Congressional Delegation and the Chair and Members of the Miami-Dade State Legislative Delegation.

Section 4. Directs the County's federal and state lobbyists to advocate for the passage of the legislation set forth in Sections 1 and 2 above, and directs the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to include this item in the 2013 Federal Legislative Package and to amend the 2013 State Legislative Package to include this item.