General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm all for a total ban on semi-automatic guns [View all]NeedleCast
(8,827 posts)It does, however, assume a limited amount of time - e.g. that rate of fire/clip size will ultimately have an effect on the number of people killed. In the case of Newtown, I don't think it would have. From what I've seen, Lanza pretty much cornered a bunch of people, mostly kids, in a confined area and started shooting them. At that point only two things really play a factor - either the shooter stops shooting for some reason, or someone stops the shooter from shooting. In the majority of these killings, the former has been the reason the shooting stops, not the later.
If I'm a shooter and I have a bunch of people cowered in a confined area (school room, movie theater, etc) my rate of fire isn't that important because I can keep shooting and reloading until I decide to stop or someone stops me.