Timex
4487
Well, the AR-15 is extremely popular these days… although, upon reflection, I’m honestly not sure why folks need them. It’s basically a civilian version of the M-16. I know folks who have them.
I understand folks want to be able to guy an AR-15, but I’m not totally certain WHY they feel they need this rifle. There are other rifles which would be equally useful for hunting, but less useful for killing people… and a rifle isn’t really an ideal home defense weapon. So I’m not sure what the main argument for this weapon is, other than fear of some slippery slope. But if someone here owns one, I’d be interested in hearing their rationale for it.
The people who eagerly fantasize gunfights with bad guys will say that in a fight between a bad guy with pistol and a good guy with an AR-15, the good guy will win due to higher rate of fire (even semiautomatic it’s pretty fast), greater accuracy, and increased stopping power. Presumably the bad guy will arm up with a 7.62 battle rifle and the good guy will be forced by the law of nature to equip a .50 cal and to mine the perimeter of his property, but that’s for the future.
Others will point out that AR-15s have much the same capabilities as many other semi-automatic hunting guns that are less offensive to journalists because they look more like traditional rifles. I must confess this argument has more teeth if one is proposing solely to ban AR-15s. So I suppose we should let the next mass murderer who uses a conventional shotgun or sedate-looking hunting rifle pose the obvious argument that all such weapons should be controlled more tightly.
Ask yourself why a man “needs” (good lord, Timex) a hot rod and you’ll have your answer.
No, not penis enlargement, you gobbler.
Fun, easy to use, endless opportunities to tinker and accessorize.
The only reason you’d “need” one is if you took the Second Amendment to be an obligation and you were looking for the standard military arm of the day (minus the automatic part, at least for less than $15k).
I feel dumber for having to answer this question.
Timex
4490
This is actually kind of what i thought, but i was wondering if there was some other reason beyond, “it’s cool”.
Tman
4491
Tim hit the nail on the head.
I’d add it’s fun as hell. But with the ammo increasing in price, it’s getting damn expensive to have that kind of fun.
Lining up 10 milk bottles filled with water and blowing them up really is something else if you’ve never done it.
I don’t get the accessory piece, but I can attest that it’s a huge pull and all my friends spend 2x the price of the original gun to “improve” it with all these accessories. Also, tannerite. Oh boy tannerite. See tannerite was made for high velocity 223 rounds and only explodes if you hit with with sufficient velocity. It’s your own little private TNT show.
Again, if you look at the video I posted above, there really is no difference between a traditional semi-automatic hunting rifle and your AR-15 other than cosmetics. Yes, a 223 round is faster than a 30-06/30-30 or 308, but the mechanics are all the same.
Tman
4492
One of the hallmarks of this speech is he leads off saying “we are not asking to ban weapons…we just need to study it more” and now today he comes out saying he wants to re institute the assault weapons ban.
Sigh.
ShivaX
4493
Not really. I mean they’re nice looking guns that are innately customizable. Almost every serious shooter that I’ve known, including my father, ended up not really liking them in the end. Once you get past the “man this looks badass” stage there really isn’t anything all that special about them. I could’ve gotten my dad’s AR-15, it was all pimped out and cool looking. He won it in some NRA contest at some point, but I didn’t really want the thing. I took his M1 Garand, which was infinitely more cool and badass to me, though admittedly a lot more expensive to go out and shoot and more of a pain the maintain.
Scuzz
4494
The problem isn’t the guns so much as the mental stability of people who are able to get their hands on guns. Short of a complete ban, which will never happen, we need to look at education and mental health services. Gangs will get guns regardless, as will your run of the mill bad guy. It is the mass killer who is the boogie man now, and he is unstable as hell. And as far as terrorists being stopped by gun control, good luck with that.
You’d have to approach the problem from another angle, you’d have to create and pursue a likely terrorist profile.
Throw in that millions of young Americans learned how to shoot with that rifle in the military. Light, relatively cheap, light recoil and fun to shoot.
olaf
4498
Well you know, except for murder. So, laws were definitely broken. A lot of people that are pro-gun rights, myself included, feel like one of the biggest reasons why we don’t need more laws is because there are already laws on the books that cover everything. And criminals don’t care. It’s why gun free zones are stupid and contribute to these mass casualty shootings. They don’t stop criminals from committing crimes. They prevent law abiding people from defending themselves.
Actually there are very strong arguments as to why rifles are excellent home defense weapons, especially short barreled rifles (NFA item that requires a tax stamp and some legal hurdles to jump through) and bullpup rifles (many not subject to NFA restrictions but way more expensive than standard semi-auto rifles with the same chambering).
Also, they are just fun to shoot, as other people have said. An AR-15 or AK variant with a red dot optic is a great platform and very newbie friendly. .223/5.56 ammo is going to start spiking in price again but it had come way down to 25-30 cents a round in bulk. I love the AK-74 because 5.45x39 is around 21 cents a round in bulk.
Timex
4499
Actually there are very strong arguments as to why rifles are excellent home defense weapons, especially short barreled rifles (NFA item that requires a tax stamp and some legal hurdles to jump through) and bullpup rifles (many not subject to NFA restrictions but way more expensive than standard semi-auto rifles with the same chambering).
So you believe an AR15 makes a good self defense tool?
He’s not alone:
http://www.gundigest.com/tactical-gear/ar-15-ideal-home-defense-guns
That’s just from the front page of Google.
ShivaX
4501
Eh, a shotgun is better in almost every way.
I call BS on a .223 being ballistically more powerful than a shotgun. Shotguns at close ranges are pretty much exclusively lethal. Then he talks about how past 25 yards shot starts to become ineffective. How fucking big is this guy’s house? Is he having trouble shooting intruders across his Olympic-size pool?
I mean an AR-15 is perfectly viable, but a lot of these “scenarios” are just silly. They expect some sort of extended firefight with people in body armor at long ranges or some shit. Oh, while they’ve lost the use of an arm and are physically too weak to handle any sort of recoil.
Holy shit. I thought you were kidding but the one-armed firing ability was actually cited. Fucking ridiculous.
If you can accurately shoot a carbine using only one hand, you’re a better soldier than I ever was.
My recommendation for home defense if you’re going the firearm route is to use what you’re most comfortable using. Barring that a decent semi-auto pistol is a good all-around choice.
Me? Cell phone on the nightstand.
Timex
4503
Yeah, some of those descriptions from the pro AR15 crowd seem silly… Saying you may need to engage targets at 300 yards is kind of weird.
I mean, it’s a rifle. It’ll definitely kill people, and if you’re some dude who carried one in combat for years then sure, why not use it. I just said that I didn’t think it was the ideal choice.
ANd yeah, the idea of firing a rifle one handed is kind of funny. I mean, most of that guy’s scenarios are kind of over the top, “IF you have to engage insurgent forces at mixed ranges, and your long gun’s sights have been destroyed, and you’re fighting one handed because your arm’s been blown off by shrapnel…”
I mean, ok dude, but most folks don’t live in Mogadishu.
The mental health card is played every time. Gun rights advocates have no real interest in mental health and just use it to deflect attention. Go on a forum and ask if they’d pay a one cent per year tax to provide improved mental health services. The answer, i.e. “are you f-ing KIDDING me?!?!” is telling.
The “criminals will use illegal guns” argument is played every time. It may be partly true but it’s not universal. There a blatantly easy-to-access legal gun market in the USA, but because the legal market is generating such a strong supply, the illegal sub-market is also enormous and easy to access. Reducing the supply of legal will make its way into the illegal.
Gun owners on internet forums aren’t the problem, and we have no interest in taking your guns. Are the members posting above (Tman, yourself?) going to shoot up a club? Of course not. But a 19-year old with a grudge, buying a pistol out of a trunk, that was purchased legally with cash a couple days earlier and a couple states over? Who knows on a case-by-case basis but it’s clear we could do a bit better.
Interesting fact that most Canadians, probably even most Canadian gun owners, are not aware of.
When you fill in your gun license application form, there is a question as to whether you are married. If you are married, the form requires your wife’s name and signature.
Thoughts?
It should require your Mum’s signature.
