Gun Control & RKBA
Related: About this forumAssault Weapons Bans Have No Impact On Crime
Two opinion pieces that explain why assault weapons bans are fairly pointless. The first, a piece from a week ago from a liberal proponent of gun control and titled "Why banning assault rifles won't reduce gun violence," explains that an assault weapons ban will have no impact on gun crime. The second, from a Second Amendment proponent and titled "Why are gun rights supporters worried about bans on so-called assault weapons?," agrees and goes on to explain why those who oppose such bans are suspicious of them. I thought these were both very interesting reads. Thought about posting in GD but wasn't sure this discussion was appropriate there.
From the LA Times:
Yet we already know that banning assault weapons won't reduce gun crime or deaths. Worse, the bans may make it harder to enact more effective gun control laws.
The problem starts with the term itself. The “assault weapons” for sale in the U.S. now aren't really weapons of war. Many people mistake these firearms for machine guns capable of shooting multiple rounds of ammunition with a single pull of the trigger. The federal government banned the sale of machine guns to civilians in 1986. (The National Rifle Assn. likes to claim that gun laws never work, but the machine gun ban has worked just fine. Such guns are almost never used in criminal activity, and none of the recent mass shootings in the U.S. involved a machine gun. The San Bernardino terrorists tried to modify one of their guns to turn it into a machine gun.)
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-winkler-folly-of-assault-weapon-ban-20151211-story.html
From the Washington Post:
Assault weapons aren’t fully automatic; they are semiautomatics, like many tens of millions of other guns out there. They aren’t unusually powerful — “assault rifles” are generally more powerful than handguns, because generally rifles are more powerful than handguns, but many ordinary hunting rifles (such as a .30-06) are more powerful than many assault weapons (such as the .223s that were used in the San Bernardino, Calif., shooting). The features that are often used to distinguish them, such as bayonet lugs, barrel shrouds, and pistol grips, don’t actually make them materially deadlier. (Magazine size may be relevant to deadliness, though it’s not clear that magazine size limits are a good idea; but in any event, magazine capacity is a separate matter from assault weapons bans as such, since large magazines can fit all sorts of guns.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/12/16/why-are-gun-rights-supporters-worried-about-bans-on-so-called-assault-weapons-bans/
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Human101948
(3,457 posts)Assault weapon bans based on the scary appearance of the weapons are not productive while the gun industry is marketing and selling hundreds of thousands of other guns. The problem is the incredible number of guns and the ease of procuring a gun.
DonP
(6,185 posts)That's kind of vague. What makes it easy in your opinion?
Have you ever tried to actually buy a firearm? Not google the process, but actually went into a gun store and bought one or at least tried to. I ask because a lot of people that say that it's easy, have no idea what's involved in buying one.
In fact, one of the several absentee hosts in Castle Bansalot told me; "that it's just another NRA talking point and gun shops will sell to anyone with cash", when I asked if he ever filled out or even seen a 4473 or passed a NICS background check.
Human101948
(3,457 posts)One of the most restrictive states. I thought it was slow but I wasn't in dire need of a gun. The worst thing now is the privatized fingerprint process.
DonP
(6,185 posts)4473, NICS check, fingerprints, permits, waiting periods, et. al.
Easier than buying a car? Easier than buying a house? Easier than buying a vacuum cleaner?
Tell me some legal products that are harder to buy at retail. That require FBI approval, waiting periods and permits first.
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,479 posts)If we accept that there's about 300,000,000 guns in the US, then this year only 1 out of every 3,000 guns is used in a crime. How can we know which one of those 3,000 guns to take away?
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)because he thought it would be easy to outlaw a scary black gun, thereby conditioning the American public for an eventual total ban and confiscation.
Human101948
(3,457 posts)But other parts of the country, just go to a gun show or talk to a neighbor. You can arm up pretty quick.
Waldorf
(654 posts)no difference in crime rates because nothing changed. And the latest FBI data shows rifles account for murders in the 500 range (that's all rifles, including the scary black one). Even shotguns were used more than rifles. And what really bothers me are the folks who listen to media trying to tell them these are fully automatic weapons that SWAT and the military uses.
virginia mountainman
(5,046 posts)Is the number of Democrats in congress....
...Just a statement of fact.....
gejohnston
(17,502 posts)that it is almost impossible to find a decently crafted lever action because everyone is too busy stamping out ARs.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)lever action rifle
virginia mountainman
(5,046 posts)Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)Is probably in my future
pablo_marmol
(2,375 posts)sir pball
(4,742 posts)And just plain pretty, too...my 1895 is one of my favorite rifles.
http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/bigbore/1895G.asp
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,479 posts)Imagine the success of prohibition had they decided that some alcoholic beverages were okay but others not and having no agreement on how to precisely know which beverages qualify LEGALLY as "alcoholic beverages". Not that prohibition affected anything beyond pricing and enriching a lot of gangsters. That was such a turd of an idea!
