Gun control is the one area where I decidedly separate myself from the rest of the liberal population, primarily because I have a certain fondness for them, and secondarily because of the logical fallacies and incorrect information given out by those who support gun control. In reality, the main problem I have with gun control is their definition of an assault rifle, and the effect of the assault rifles thereof.
Encyclopedia Britannica, while being infamous for their rate of serious errors, has improved substantially over the past few decades, and defines the assault rifle for what it actually is, by stating the following:
assault rifle, military firearm that is chambered for ammunition of reduced size or propellant charge and that has the capacity to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. Because they are light and portable yet still able to deliver a high volume of fire with reasonable accuracy at modern combat ranges of 300–500 m (1,000–1,600 feet), assault rifles have replaced the high-powered bolt-action and semiautomatic rifles of the World War II era as the standard infantry weapon of modern armies. Their ease of handling makes them ideal for mobile assault troops crowded into personnel carriers or helicopters, as well as for guerrilla fighters engaged in jungle or urban warfare. Widely used assault rifles are the United States’ M16, the Soviet Kalashnikov (the AK-47 and modernized versions), the Belgian FAL and FNC, and the German G3.[1]Compare this against the media definition and identification of the assault rifle:
Obviously this is quite incorrect, and meant to be humorous. Instead, here's what the Assault Weapons Ban of 1993 defined as an assault rifle:
So, according to the AWB, an "assault rifle" could be a .22LR bolt action Savage with a pistol grip and a flash suppressor. This certainly does not fit the definition of an assault rifle. In fact, under the National Firearms Act, citizens cannot own fully automatic rifles (classified as "machine guns" under the act) without a Class III Federal Firearms License, which is typically only given to museums, movie armorers, and specialized firing ranges. So, in essences, banning assault rifles is no big deal since they were banned to begin with. Today's definition of an assault rifle is basically anything that looks scary, be it a bolt action .303 British Lee-Enfield No. 5 "Jungle Carbine" with its cone-shaped flash suppressor put there to prevent you from searing whatever happens to be near the muzzle, or a nice little semi-automatic AR-15 in .223 Remington, useful for plunking larger varmints and the odd deer. Basically, the assault rifle mentality is wrong, both in definition and deadliness, as proved by both the examples above and this nice little pie chart I put together based on the FBI Crime Statistics for 2011 (the most recent year I could retrieve):
While firearms do make up most of the homicides, an issue which I will address next paragraph, rifles make up a very small portion of the firearm deaths, and caused less deaths than plain old hands and feet. Even if we were to evenly distribute the unknown total among the firearm category, rifles still would be the smallest category within firearms.
Here's where I start agreeing with my fellow liberals: not everyone should have firearms, and background checks should be mandatory along with a clean bill of mental health. However, just because of this doesn't mean we need to ban firearms because they look scary. Even if we did, we all know how well criminals follow the law.
They follow it like, well, criminals.
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