WASHINGTON - Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette is plunging into the gun control debate with new legislation to ban high-capacity magazines.

DeGette introduced the proposal Thursday. The Democratic Congresswoman's district includes the site of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. It is also adjacent to last year's Aurora movie theater shooting site. In both of those attacks, the shooters' rifles were modified with high-capacity magazines. Those devices allow attackers to fire dozens of bullets without pausing to reload.

DeGette co-authored the bill with New York Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed in a 1993 mass shooting on the Long Island Railroad.

Gun control backers hope last month's Newtown massacre may lead to more action on firearms. But odds are against the magazine legislation passing the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.