“I need weapons because the other side has weapons” is how you get mutually assured destruction, not a stable society.
Well, we don’t have a stable society here, and we might never have one. That’s not a situation that I have any control over.
Sure it does. 2x a negligible risk is still a negligible risk. Trudeau’s response to Nova Scotia was not the result of rational risk assessment.
I get very tired of Murricans saying that the AR-15 is not an assault rifle. It is a detuned version of the military weapon, but by changing a few parts it can be made the same. There is also (or was) the restriction on magazine size.
Maybe Trudeau saw this study in JAMA:
May I suggest you take a long look at The Box o’ Truth’s shotgun pages before you repeat this nonsense again?
When it comes to weapons, I want the best. I want the best designs, best quality, and best performance. And rifles such as the AR-15, AR-10, FAL, etc. are the best I can get my hands on right now.
Being it’s a free country, it’s not the government’s business why I have these weapons. I don’t need to justify it to anyone. But FTR, they will definitely come in handy in a true SHTF scenario, where the Federal Constitution is suspended and lawless & mayhem are rampant.
This is pure fantasy, and I’ll note we didn’t see any gun owners stand against tyranny when a mob descended on the capitol.
AR-15 is posssibly the best rifle in the world and has ton of accessories.
.223 is a low-recoil round.
Changing a semiauto to fullauto is illegal.
It’s ok to have an opinion without being a gun nerd, but you need to know more.
An assault rifle is, by definition, select-fire. An AR-15 isn’t.
Assault weapon is a completely made-up politican-word.
Assault weapon and Assault rifle are no synonyms.
No. By taking one year of deaths and dividing by available weapons, you are distorting the statistics. Yes, a small percent were used that year, but how many over the lifetime of the weapon? IT’S STILL A $%&#ING SMALL NUMBER, SO WHY DISTORT THE STATS?
“AR-15 is posssibly the best rifle in the world and has ton of accessories.”
A value judgement.
“Changing a semiauto to fullauto is illegal.”
Of course. But technically not difficult. It can be done if you want to.
“Assault weapon is a completely made-up politican-word.”
Well, sort of. It is a translation of the German term Sturmgehwehr.
Why is this detuned assault rifle so popular among the civilian populace? Why were so many of the {term of your choice for the armed fellas that stormed the capitol on January 6th} carrying AR-15s or close equivalents thereof?
I have nothing against people buying and using such weapons for target practice. I just wonder why many make such a fetish of them. To me they look like military wannabees who want what they perceive as the glamor without the hard work and the being shouted at…
Farmers everywhere have guns, also in the UK. But on farms most of your needs are met by a shotgun, and maybe a deer rifle. (My uncle had one, to cull the deer. His farm was near Stratford on Avon.))
“This is pure fantasy, and I’ll note we didn’t see any gun owners stand against tyranny when a mob descended on the capitol.”
A great answer!
But you are wrong here.
Can we accept hunting is a good reason?
Handguns are the best weapon for carrying and sometimes for home defense. Very easy to lock them in a special safe, easy to open for YOU, but not the kids.
Well, yes, but what is done is done. In many areas coyotes are suffering horrible from manage and shooting them is both humane and prevents the spread. And coyotes will certainly kill chickens. Not to mention, in some areas there are simply too many coyotes and they are starving and becoming a danger to pets.
I’m not writing that we shouldn’t cull coyotes because it is mean; I am arguing that shooting coyotes is not an effective means of culling them.
That is not true.
So yes, we can assume hunting is a legit reason.
So, I want to tell you about a very real case, a hunting couple I know and also about my experience working the gun counter at a major sporting good store.
Large burly guy, small petite wife. Wife liked to go hunting with husband, it was their vacation. So it was elk season, and you shouldn’t use a 30/30 on elk. She tried her husbands 300 magnum bolt action, and it hurt her, left a huge bruise.
We suggested the same caliber in a semi-auto, a Browning (and not in any way a “assault weapon”, five shot magazine). The much reduced recoil meant she could handle it and shoot accurately also. We had done the same with sons of hunters etc. So yeah, a semi-auto rifle can be necessary for hunting, and this is well known among gun people.
In any case, we are talking 400 murders- for all sorts of rifles. We have no idea how many are semi-autos, and how many of those the perp would simple turn to another weapon instead. Rifles are crappy as a weapon for crime.
Ban semi-auto rifles and we ban hunting for many hunters, and we dont reduce crime by any significant %, if at all.
Well, most handguns are semi-autos, and for the purpose of capping someone or holding up a liquor store a revolver will do just fine.
They also dont have the kind of firepower that mass shooters have.
You could ban all handguns, and assuming that magic wand, violent crime would decrease by some amount. However, SCOTUS has said that would violate the Bill of rights, so banning handguns is out.
Some states have banned handguns with a magazine capacity more that 10, and so far, it seems that if that ban is limited to new sales, it might float. However, those states havent seen any reduction in violent crime, nor would any such reduction be forecasted.
Again, “need” is not the operable word here. I dont give a crap about “need”. There are lots of deadly things Americans own they dont need- cigarettes, booze, fast cars, oversized pickup trucks, bost, etc- but that they want, and makes them happy. “Pursuit of happiness” you know.
Now since cigs kill so damn many Americans and there is certainly no constitutional protection for them, some extremely mild limits are being put on them.
Bear, wild boars, rattlesnakes and rabid animals are the kinds of things you may need protection from. Not to mention two legged predators.
That’s kind of my point. How many owners of high-capacity clips in the United States actually hunt hogs and coyotes? As a percentage, very very few. I’ll stand by the word “rarely”.
Unfortunately, that’s the exact scenario that Wayne LaPierre and his ilk have convinced their members will happen.
That’s fair. I don’t own a gun for that stuff since I do it rarely myself, it’s easier to borrow one. the closest to a high capacity magazine for me is I’m looking at buying a M&P 15-22. But it is purely for shooting with my family or friends though, since that’s its purpose, I’ll be getting a silencer with it too which will make it extra scare for some people.