Reply #16: I think you may have been misled on this point: [View All]

[benEzra]

Probably the part I differ from the right on is I wouldn't be bothered if assault weapons were banned or if class 3 weapons were made completely unattainable. The reason why is most often people who buy them for legit reasons, buy them as collectibles. Both are examples of impractical weapons that you can't really use to hunt with or self-defense and too often they end up in the in the hands of inner-city gangs.

I think you may have been misled on this point. "Assault weapon" is scare-speak for civilian guns with modern styling, and relatively few people buy them as collectibles. We buy them because they are practical, versatile, and fun to shoot. The AR-15 platform, in particular, dominates the centerfire target shooting scene in the United States, and is far and away the most common defensive carbine in U.S. homes.

More on the way "assault weapons" are really used can be found here.

As to rifles "in the hands of inner-city gangs", consider that Illinois, home to all the gang violence in Chicago, had 530 reported murders in 2008; rifles, including "assault weapons", accounted for only 3 of them. Rifles of any type are not widely used by criminals in this country.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/data/table_20.html

Look at the Rifles column in that table. Rifles aren't a crime problem.