In defense of military assault rifles

[left-of-center2012]

Rep Rob Wittman (R-VA) was on C-SPAN this morning.
In defense of assault rifles, he said there are times when people are threatened by groups of large, dangerous animals.
And if you just have a shotgun, you might kill one animal, but this big group of large dangerous animals are still a threat.
So you need something like an AK-47 assault rifle to protect yourself, your wife, and your children from the big group of large, dangerous animals.

I’ll be 70 years old in four weeks, and I haven’t heard of this big group of large, dangerous animals which threatens Americans.

[DawgHouse]

1. He probably means something like a buffalo stampede.

[left-of-center2012]

3. You can't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

[DawgHouse]

4. LOL, I forgot about that song.

[jmg257]

2. Maybe he thought Jurassic World was a documentary ??? nt

[underpants]

5. Marketing of the "Tommy gun"

The Tommy gun was marketed to ranchers to defend against coyotes and bands of thieves. Many Chicago gangsters had vacation homes in these areas. They discovered the Tommy guns (often in general stores) and brought them back into the city.

[appal_jack]

14. And coyotes are still a threat to sheep where I live. nt

[gratuitous]

6. And this is the best argument?

Unless, of course, Rep. Wittman didn't really mean "animals" but something else?

[Nitram]

11. Good point, gratuitous.

Sounds like a dog whistle to me.

[HereSince1628]

7. To much Walking Dead for that man, get him away from the television.

[Adrahil]

8. OKay, I have guns. I like guns. But c'mon......

That's a pretty dishonest argument.

FWIW, I am in the camp of looking at this from an ammo feed mechanism view point. Limit mags to 10 rounds. That's enough for any large dangerous animal.

[MynameisBlarney]

9. Look out!

[tonyt53]

10. In most states, you can't have a shotgun that holds more than 3 shells at a time.

Unless something has changed recently, a shotgun pattern covers a pretty nice area. So, unless those squirrels, rabbits, or quail have started wearing armor and are moving in larger pattern, I think a shotgun would do very well. Now those dangerous attacking deer are another story.

[Igel]

12. That was in the context of hunting.

You go hunt birds, you have a capacity limit for the shotgun that's imposed by agreement: You apply for the license, and if you get it you agree to limit your shotgun.

I don't think there's a limit other than that.

Shot can have a wide spread. You prefer a tighter grouping because a wide spread means a critter will be hit by one or two pellets, and most hits don't kill. So you wind up with a lot of wounded animals that can get far enough away to not be found but who die in the next few hours. Most hunters don't want that.

Texas has had a few warnings for hunters. We have feral pigs. Not everywhere, but they're big and hard to bring down. There are also areas with packs of wild dogs. A couple of shot won't do it for stopping them.

Not everything that's absurd in most situations is absurd in all situations. What you see is not necessarily all there is.

One beginning graduate seminar had a weird assignment. "Here's the claim. Don't argue against it. Don't dig up facts to try to support it or undermine it. Assume that what your told is all that is currently known. The assignment: What would other reasonable facts to undermine this claim look like, in what kinds of sources would you find them, what kinds of experiments could you do?"

It was a pain. But as a result, if I read "there's a 3-shot limit if you're hunting birds" I immediately think, "Not hunting birds? And if you're hunting deer? Does it vary by state? By target?"

"You may need a large mag for self-defense against wild animals"? Okay, I doubt this. I think of my brother with his AR-15 living in a ritzy gated community in the suburbs; 8-foot walls around every yard, you get to your car through the garage. And I could imagine him standing in the street gunning down dogs. Meh. But might it be true? If so, what kinds of animals? Where?

[sinkingfeeling]

13. There is no defense of private ownership of military

assault rifles.

[Dem2]

15. Did that moron really just repeat that NRA talking point without thinking if it made sense?

Do idiots not realize that guns for specialized applications will always be available?

Doesn't mean any fruitloop off the street who has a clean record should be able to just buy one when they decide to go on a killing spree.