03-25-2018, 02:57 PM
Montana is right, removing high-power, semi-auto's from a population will not change the mindset of homicidal maniacs. In Florida it might have been a truck mowing down kids congregating outside the school. Or in Las Vegas the nutter owned two light aircraft. He could have loaded one with extra drums of fuel and flown it into the packed concert. Would have likely killed more than he did.
With estimates of 15-million AR15's in the USA a portion of those would be kept by owners in defiance of a compulsory surrender/reimbursement situation. That portion would then be the black market for years to come. The ammunition would still be available because 223 bolt guns and lever actions will never be outlawed in our lifetime (unless you also outlaw popular military calibres like 223 and 308 like in some European countries).
My thoughts are that there are other ways to mitigate mass murders than a blanket ban on a popular type of rifle. That rifle is the quintessential icon of a country's constitutionally-enshrined right to own it. Unfortunately this means that occasionally there will be mass murders using assault rifles as the primary means and this is the cost of individual freedom. The freedom to own one and use it to defend yourself, your family and your local school.
Or you can live in a place like Paris where ownership of assault rifles is heavily restricted to the authorities, but still murderers entered the country with AK's and created chaos at the Bataclan Concert before the Police stopped them. Later, another murderer drove a truck through a crowd in Nice. In London they used hire vans and knives. In Boston it was a pressure cooker filled with powder (3lbs of black powder and 288*M88 fire crackers). Where there's a will there's a way and while removing all assault rifles from the continental USA might make it difficult for those acting on impulse or looking for convenience, it won't stop the pre-meditators. And it will come at a cost to your individual freedom and cultural identity.
With estimates of 15-million AR15's in the USA a portion of those would be kept by owners in defiance of a compulsory surrender/reimbursement situation. That portion would then be the black market for years to come. The ammunition would still be available because 223 bolt guns and lever actions will never be outlawed in our lifetime (unless you also outlaw popular military calibres like 223 and 308 like in some European countries).
My thoughts are that there are other ways to mitigate mass murders than a blanket ban on a popular type of rifle. That rifle is the quintessential icon of a country's constitutionally-enshrined right to own it. Unfortunately this means that occasionally there will be mass murders using assault rifles as the primary means and this is the cost of individual freedom. The freedom to own one and use it to defend yourself, your family and your local school.
Or you can live in a place like Paris where ownership of assault rifles is heavily restricted to the authorities, but still murderers entered the country with AK's and created chaos at the Bataclan Concert before the Police stopped them. Later, another murderer drove a truck through a crowd in Nice. In London they used hire vans and knives. In Boston it was a pressure cooker filled with powder (3lbs of black powder and 288*M88 fire crackers). Where there's a will there's a way and while removing all assault rifles from the continental USA might make it difficult for those acting on impulse or looking for convenience, it won't stop the pre-meditators. And it will come at a cost to your individual freedom and cultural identity.