[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by PaulS

To the proponents, is it absoult or are you worried about a slippery slope (auto, semi auto, rifle, etc.) and how about anciliary products (cop killer bullets, mag. that can hold 100 bullets, etc.)

Thanks

To answer your question, it is an absolute.

Now, to further my point that this thread is filled with misunderstandings: what exactly is a "cop killer bullet"?

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

"alcohol kills 6x as many people in this country as guns"

So do cars. But cars and beer are not as inherently dangerous as firearms.

So we're not concerned with actions that actually save the most lives, we're concerned with arbitrarily outlawing what appears most dangerous and is scariest? My point is, if we're going to start banning things on the premise of "that's dangerous and no reasonable person needs access to that" then we should ban guns, alcohol, cars that travel faster than 30 MPH, skydiving, ice skating on ponds, tobacco products, refined sugars and any number of other items and activities that cause harm.

"There are 70-80 million adults in this country of 300 million people that own a firearm"

Yes. And I'm sure that a huge majority of those are handguns and hunting rifles. Not assault rifles. I include an AR-15 with a 60(?) round magazine as an 'assault rifle'.

So now we're doing exactly as the politicians do and slapping whatever definition we want on the terms? So what's the magazine size-limit that will decrease the number of deaths and make a semi-auto AR-15 *not* an assault rifle? It takes all of 2 seconds to change out a magazine. He's a guy that changes out six 10-round magazines in under 20 seconds:


Let's also keep in mind that AR-15's are becoming a standard for modern-day hunting rifles. Their modular design allows for the flexibility of a person to buy one receiver and switch out the upper for the game being hunted. So in your "I'm sure that a huge majority of those are handguns and hunting rifles", you're right and semi-auto AR-15s should be grouped in the "hunting rifle" category. I own a mil-surplus 1943 Swiss K31. Was standard issue to all Swiss citizens during WWII. It *is* (or was rather) a military weapon. Later this year or next, I plan on using it down in FL to boar hunt with. It is bolt-action, has a 7 round magazine and an effective range of over 800 meters. Is it an assault rifle or a hunting rifle?

Some people today think that every rifle with a black synthetic stock is an "assault weapon".