General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Here is when I bought my first gun [View all]Straw Man
(6,925 posts)"Whatever they can get" hardly indicates preference.
The world is awash in military-grade full-auto AK-47s as a result of Soviet policies during the Cold War. That is why the AK is the backbone of the international black market in small arms. There are some documented cases of individuals purchasing weapons on the US consumer market in order to arm various factions in overseas conflicts -- the Kosovan case cited in your link is one -- but these are a drop in the bucket compared to large-scale criminal enterprises like Bout's, which rely primarily on military stockpiles.
So no, AR-15s are not battlefield weapons, nor are they the preferred stock-in-trade of black marketeers.
I'm curious as to why you consider the "gun show loophole" to be a matter of national security rather than a domestic crime issue. Is it your contention that terrorists are arming themselves from US gun shows?