I'm being honest here. What's the thing with

[Lurks Often]

56. Like others have said

it is a reliable, accurate, easy to shoot gun. Ammo, until recently, was relatively cheap and you can modify the gun, usually on your own, with aftermarket parts to suit your purpose: hunting of small game, target shooting and competition. As it is not an especially powerful cartridge*, hunting is usually restricted to small game and pest removal such a prairie dogs.

The horrifying tragedy in Sandy Hook could be have been accomplished with any number of guns, including some that are pre-1900 technology such as a pump shotgun or double action revolver.


The .223/5.56 is the least powerful primary rifle cartridge the US Military has issued:
45-70 Government, in service from 1873-1897 fires a 405gr (7000 grains to the pound) bullet at 1400 feet per second (FPS) which gives a muzzle energy of 1750 foot pounds.
30-40 Krag, in service from 1892-1903, fires a 200gr bullet at 1975 FPS, which gives a muzzle energy of 1730 foot pounds
30-03, in service from 1903-1906, fires a 220 gr bullet at 2300 FPS, which gives a muzzle energy of 2585 foot pounds.
30-06, in service from 1906-1970, fires a 150 gr bullet at 2700 FPS, which gives a muzzle energy of 2482 foot pounds.
308/7.62x51, in service from 1954-present, fires a 150 gr bullet at 2800 FPS, which gives a muzzle energy of 2585 foot pounds
.223/5.56, in service from 1963-present, fires a 62 gr bullet at 3070 FPS, which gives a muzzle energy of 1300 foot pounds.