Are attributes of different "assault weapons" merely cosmetic?

[Ghost in the Machine]

121. No rage at all, dude, I just don't like people, especially strangers, making assumptions about me...

as you have done again in this post. There are too many fucking idiots out there with guns, who have no business owning one. They give decent gun owners a bad name, just like (what I call) "slob hunters", who go out and leave their trash in the woods, don't clean up their camp sites if on a weekend hunt at a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and make it look bad for everyone else. I don't even want to get started on poachers, but will say I DO NOT consider them "hunters" in any way, shape or form. I have turned a few in before, and will do it again in a heartbeat.

As for gun violence in general, a lot of it comes from punk kids as initiation into a gang, some is due to kids not being taught gun safety/education at young ages, so they don't know better than to pick up a gun they find laying around, pointing at someone, and pulling the trigger. They need to be taught that if they find a gun, DO NOT TOUCH IT!! GO FIND AN ADULT!! Another cause is drugs, and with that, gang turf wars. They need to end this failed "war on drugs", legalize drugs, and use the money for education and rehabilitation. This takes the profit motive out of drug-running, takes the money out of te hands of the gangs, and the cartels, and will end a lot of violence. Regulate and tax the drugs, just like they do alcohol and tobacco, and use the taxes to help with the deficit.

We have many "functional addicts", ones who go to work every day, pay taxes, contributr to society, etc., but they are afraid to seek help because of #1. the stigma involved, #2. afraid of losing their jobs and, #3. afraid of losing their families. Yes, meth, crack, powdered coke, and heroin can destroy families, but so does getting busted for having a little bit of marijuana. I've never seen a stoner go on a rampage, or rob & kill someone for their next "fix". The stigma of being arrested is what destroys the family of a pot smoker. Can't get a god job due to having an arrest record for a harmless green plant.

This would also free the police up to follow up on more serious crimes, and enforce the laws we already have. Hardened career criminals don't follow the law anyways, and the revolving doors of the "justice system" just allows them to keep on doing what they do.

Case in point: A friend of mine was sitting in a parking lot in his truck, minding his own business, waiting for his girlfriend to get off work. Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone jerked his drivers door open and 3 gangbangers pulled him out of his truck and started beating on him, trying to steal his wallet, then his truck. He was able to reach under his seat and grab his pistol.. and shot 2 of them point blank in the head. They dropped at his feet. The 3rd one started running toward a car, and my friend shot him in the back and killed him, too. The DA ruled the first two as justifiable homicide, but charged him with voluntary manslaugter for the 3rd one. They said he was retreating. My friend argued that he didn't know if perp #3 was going to the car for a gun or what. The PA said he should have waited to find out. He got 5 years for voluntary manslaugter, even though he took out 3 career criminals, all with rap sheets 2 miles long. He gets out next month. This whole event has been hell on him and his mind. Like 98% of the people who get a concealed carry permit, he hoped he never had to use it that way, but when it came down to a kill or be killed situation, he chose to not be a victim.

A lot of anti gunners think people who carry are just itching to play out some wild west fantasy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Taking another persons life can haunt some people until the day they die. Others can get past it. I speak from experience. Me and my whole family are only alive today because I used deadly force to stop a home invasion. It was ruled justifiable... and that's all I'm going to say on the matter now, and forever. Don't ask questions about it, because I won't answer them, and I won't mention it again.

I don't know what all the answers are to curbing gun violence, but banning because of cosmetic features that scare other people who don't know better, and already display an irrational fear of guns, ISN'T one of the answers...

Peace,

Ghost