I guess I read in the early Sandy Hook coverage that the shooter had used 2 small handguns. I then put aside my usual morbid curiosity about school shootings and stopped reading any news about it because I have a daughter the same age as many of the victims. I thought the current assault weapons ban debate was silly; I’ve since learned that an AR was the primary weapon used.
Which now makes me sick knowing that AR-15 prices have shot way up. I have friends gloating on Facebook about how much their weapons are worth now. Ugh. Yay, something you own was used to murder a bunch of kids and now it’s worth a lot. Fuck.
Good for them. Because the price didn’t go up because of the death of children. It went up because of the rush to report regardless of the reliability of the information. Only handguns were recovered from the school. No AR-15 was used to kill at Sandy Hook.
Really? Initially I thought the same thing as the OP. I had read that he had a couple handguns and an AR-15, which he allegedly left in the car and that he had used the handguns in his diabolical massacre. But then later I read that he did in fact use the AR-15. Not that it matters much as dead is dead and all three weapons are semi-auto being used at point blank range. But out of curiosity, what is the truth here? Did he use the AR-15 or not?
That’s a pretty drastic corporate response if a Bushmaster wasn’t used. And Wikipedia has a half dozen cites showing that a Bushmaster was recovered from the school.
And I recall, although I can’t find a specific cite, that the ME said specifically that all of the victims were shot multiple times with the (a) rifle. Those claiming the contrary sound pretty conspiracy-theory to me, including insinuations that the ME out and out lied (to whip up more hysteria? Really?)
THAT’S RIGHT! Guns are good! Guns don’t kill people, people kill people WITH GUNS! But GUNS ARE GOOD! Yeah guns! I’m masturbating like a mother fuck over my guns! GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!
Except that you’re completely wrong. A Bushmaster AR-15 was used to commit most, if not all, of the murders at Sandy Hook. And the price isn’t going up because of that, it’s because people think this time, the Dems might actually shut down sales of the fucking things. Even perceived scarcity creates demand.
That’s it right there. People are afraid that their last chance to buy one is now. So they’ll buy it, discover they just blew 1500 bucks on a rifle that’s really not suited for a sportsman, and thereafter wish like hell it was legal to resell it. (assuming the ban passes)
I agree that perceived scarcity is driving the market for these weapons, as it does for any other product, but I completely disagree that it is not a sportsman-suitable rifle. The thing looks like a military weapon as its based on one, yet isn’t the same, but it is no more dangerous than other magazine-fed semi-automatic rifles of similar or greater caliber that are avidly used by hunters…just as this weapon is.
If the ban stands any chance of passing I’ll get one for myself with no regrets. Right now my only regret is that I didn’t get already before the price premium went up.
Of course, I can get one after the ban also, just without the banned features. I may get one of them, too. I can only guess how much it’ll suck knowing that I can’t attach a bayonet, though. What a letdown that’ll be.
I suggest you take a sedative or something. I happen to be for good common sense gun control that is equal country wide. But the last I heard on the subject was from Pete Williams who I generally trust as a news source. If there is a definitive named source that says different I will admit to no knowing all the facts. But of course the final investigative report has not been released yet.
Do you know any hunters who carry the AR-15 and if so, what are they hunting? Because I don’t (deer mostly, some boar hunters - everything else down here is birds).
Edited to add: That’s a serious question. I am really curious about your epxeriences. I’ve have always heard that the AR makes a lousy game weapon. From guys I trust to know their game weapons.
Dude, that report was day of or day after. It’s been a little while now. If you seriously haven’t heard anything since the day after the attack, then you must live in a cave.
It’s not common, but they are used for hunting. .223 Remington is not ideal, but a well-placed shot will get the job done. For all the hullabaloo over “high-powered” rifles, the .223 is actually an intermediate-powered cartridge.
And yes, I do personally know people who go hunting with them.
I don’t know how long someone should respectfully wait before bemoaning the price increase of a weapon that was just used to murder a bunch of kids, but it’s longer than 2 weeks. This is exactly the kind of disgusting attitude that I’m pitting.
This. No doubt people stocked up on wine and hard spirits in the weeks preceding the passing of Prohibition. Hell, people were stocking up on Twinkies in the wake of the Hostess bankruptcy announcement. And I have no doubt that if there was a rumor of an impending toilet paper ban, Charmin would be flying off the shelves.
I never understand the idea of bragging about how much something you own and have zero interest in selling has increased in value.
It’s like the people whining that the value of their house went down during the last decade and when I ask if they’re looking to sell, they say “oh no, we’ll live here forever”. Really? Then why the fuck are you worried about a short term drop in the valuation of your house? Likewise if the price of it goes up. So what? Are you going to sell because the value of your house went up 10% this year? No?
So likewise if you have a gun you intend to own forever, why the fuck do you care what the market price of that gun is? You’re not going to sell it, therefore the price means fuck-all nothing.
Do whatever you want. My guns, the guns that I own, have never killed anybody. Or, for that matter, anything. A piece of plastic and metal that looks just like the one used by a psycho to kill a bunch of people? Not my problem. I assume no guilt for the actions of others.