In the news we keep hearing about assault rifles with the only definition as being an AR 15 or an AK 47. The cry is to get rid of those two models of firearms and then.....like magic we are safe. Not so.
The picture to the left is an AK 47. It is a civilian version is a semi-automatic carbine similar to that used in the military forces around the world. It's claim to fame is that it is cheap, reasonably accurate, easy to learn to operate and maintain, and you can drag it through the dirt, water, snow, whatever and it will still shoot. It was originally a Russian weapon and still made in Eastern Europe, China, Russia, and other countries.
A better name for this version of the AK, is a sporting rifle. It looks like the military version but it is not. Most folks purchase them for target shooting and competitive shooting. It's distant U.S. cousin is the AR-15 which is made here and also a sporting firearm.
Depending on the type of magazine, it can hold 30 rounds of ammunition. Take away the large capacity magazine, you have a rifle with a pistol-grip. ANY firearm can be use in a mass murder.
Large capacity magazines can be purchased for many types of firearms. If you ban the AK and AR, then you just find another firearm and purchase a large capacity magazine.
The only accomplishment of banning certain "assault" rifles is that it makes people feel good. Like the problem is over. Let me give you an example. We have a border wall protecting us from Mexico. Right? Makes you feel safe doesn't it? Some conservative groups would like you to believe that it is so. Well, don't. We don't have a border wall protecting us from Mexico. We have bits and pieces of border fence. It takes 10 to 15 seconds to scale. You can even try to drive your truck over it.
The video shows it going for miles but it doesn't. It goes for awhile, stops, starts again a couple miles down the road, meanders a bit more, has openings for trains, cows and property owners to go through. If a completed wall is ever built, it would put hundreds of thousands of acres of US land on the "Mexican" side of the fence; including the Rio Grande River the main source of agricultural and people water on the Mexican side.
When I go up north, people talk about the border wall like there is one. They have a false feeling of security. Everyone is happy. Including the Mexicans who are daily walking around it or do what they normally do to avoid the swim, walk over the bridge through the border patrol stations.
Banning AK's or AR's is a feel-good gesture, just like the border wall. This band aid will not prevent mass shootings.
We are not going to solve this problem with one swift emotion-driven, move. Like most challenges, it requires mature and knowledgeable adults talking, not public relations folks calling the shots.
Drinkability! A beer has drinkability. Silly term but it sells the beer. I haven't a clue why. The term "assault rifle" sells AR and AK's to sports people and collectors, and causes misconceptions among the press, politicians and non-gun owners about the firearms and where the solutions really are to prevent mass shootings. The word assault weapon only generates claims that focus people's fears and make it seem that eliminating these firearms will stop mass shootings, and that is an illusion. I'm going to go get a beer - a Samual Adams that has no drinkability.
Watch the following video on competitive hobby shooting.
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