General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Revenge of the Gun Nerds [View all]Tommy_Carcetti
(43,182 posts)Last edited Fri Mar 9, 2018, 05:28 PM - Edit history (1)
B) regardless of its marketing (which you somehow felt the need to display) it's use goes far beyond what is intended or necessary for hunting or self-defense purposes.
Last I checked, hunting is described as being a "sport". While I don't know if I truly agree with that characterization or not (I'm not a hunter myself), if it is indeed a sport, one would assume there are times one wins and other times where one loses. Inasmuch as you "win" at hunting, that naturally would be where you bag your game. "Losing" would mean your targeted game gets away.
But to keep it fair and competitive, I would think you would give your "opponent" at least a sporting chance to "win." There's no sense for a weapon that holds 30 bullet magazines and allows for quick firing without having to take the time to manually reload and re-aim being used on something that poses no inherent danger to you. It's not like the deer are going to be shooting back. If you miss the first shot, you should be forced to manually re-chamber and re-aim your weapon before getting off the second shot. It's the least you can do to keep your hunting "competitive."
As for self-defense, if you're--say--trying to defend against a home invasion, I don't understand how using a rifle in such close quarters is more practical than a small handgun. And you're probably not going to need more than a few shots before either your intruder is hit or high-tails it out of there, so again, what good is the 30 capacity magazine?
And those are the only two legitimate uses for guns in this country: hunting and self-defense (other than target shooting, which is basically just practice for the real thing).
What a weapon like the AR-15 is designed for is not for hunting or self-defense, but the quick offensive neutralization of a target. In other words, an assault. And that might work in military or police settings, but no civilians need to ever mount an assault.
So yes, AR-15s are indeed an "assault rifle."