Hugh,
Because there is no such thing as an assault rifle.
You are back to trying to mince words. You can claim there is no such thing as an Assault Rifle, but there really is a class of weapons called Assault Rifles and the people in Washington and the NRA knows exactly what those weapons are. The military M16 has a civilian counterpart called the AR15...the AR is the abbreviation for "Assault Rifle". The Russian AK-47 is an Assault Rifle..the A stands for Assault, and the K stands for the designer: Koleshnikoff (sp?)
You may prefer to call them: Sporting Rifles, but what sport are they used for that would be ruined if they were limited to 6 round magazines?
Have you ever been hog hunting? Have you ever been squirrel hunting? Have you ever been target shooting? Or are you just spouting off an opinion on something you know nothing about?
As a matter of fact, I have done all of them, including hunting wild boar(Javaline) in Texas and Okinawa... with a bow. I also carried a 357 Magnum pistol as backup, just in case.
I have been squirrel hunting in Louisiana with an old pump action, 10 shot 22 rifle, and I either hit the squirrel or missed him. If I hit him he fell to the ground. If I missed him he took off and hid on the other side of the tree where I could not get another shot. I never felt threatened that the squirrel would shoot back at me and never felt compelled to blaze away all ten rounds on a squirrel.
I also do a lot of Target practice to maintain my shooting proficiency for my Concealed Carry License here in Texas. While in the Army, I was on the 3rd Infantry Div's Championship M16 Rifle team where I had the highest individual score by tying the range record....So yes, I have and still do target shooting and I do know a little bit about what I am talking about.
The rest of your, post comparing cars to assault rifles is pointless and does not address the issue of nuts committing mass murders with Military weapons of war capable of extreme fire power. I have not heard of anyone deliberately killing 10, 20 or 30 people with an automobile so that comparison is totally irrational and makes me question your mental state?
And in the end, you still have not given me a single rational reason why any American citizen needs to own an Assault Weapons. They typically use high velocity ammo, high magazine capacity and quick magazine changes....that is the formula for war, and there is no legal purpose or logical reason that any civilian needs that kind of fire power.
To everyone responding to this thread:
I am not anti-gun. I own guns and strongly believe in our Constitutional right to bear arms, but I do not think that gives us, as civilians the right to own every kind of conceivable armament that we want. Does anyone feel that civilians should be allowed to buy and own nuclear weapons? or Military grade explosives?
You can be arrested and jailed for possessing bomb making materials, much of these materials you can legally purchase at your local hardware store. While the individual components are not illegal to own, it is the collecting of these items in larger quantities in relationship to the legal and reasonable need for these items that makes the difference.
Because there are people with evil intentions to do harm, the government has the right to protect the citizens by banning larger quantities of materials like Nitrate fertilizers, etc. if you are not a farmer or have no legal or reasonable need for that much material.
I feel that assault weapons fall into a similar category where the combination of caliber, muzzle velocity, large capacity magazines, with quick reloading features defines a weapon that has no legal or reasonable need to be in the possession of civilians.
While it is not everyday that we have a mass shooting, the frequency is increasing at an alarming rate as is the escalating body count in each new incident. In the vast majority of these incidents weapons with large magazine capacities were used, and the shooter had many extra magazines, loaded and ready when he spent all the rounds in the previous magazine.
All I am suggesting is that by lowering the firing rate of most weapons they become a more reasonable and practical weapon for civilian ownership. To slow the fireing rate, you have to reduce the number of rounds in the magazine, and perhaps require more manual steps to changing magazines to delay the reloading time...None of these ideas should interfere with the legal and peaceful use of firearms in Hunting, target shooting, or even home protection. The only issue is a little bit of inconvenience, delay and more frequent reloading,...and for hunting, or target shooting that is not a life or death situation. If you use your weapon for home protection, and you know how to shoot, six shots should be more than enough to stop an intruder or scare him off.
If you are anticipating that you will be in a raging gun battle, then 6 shots might not be enough, but then your odds of being in a raging gun battle is a pretty slim. That would be an unreasonable expectation that borders on paranoia...which is a mental condition that should not allow you to own any weapon. That's why I say that the fact that anyone who feels they have a need to own an Assault Weapon and cannot give a valid, rational reason whu, might already have mental issues.
That's why I continue to ask what legal reason or scenario do you feel justifies a civilian owning an Assault weapon or any weapon that can hold more than about 6 rounds?
With all the postings and comparison to autombiles and speed limits, Nobody has even attempted to even answer that basic question... I suspect that they all know it cannot be justified.
Redfish did reply and stated why he owns an assault weapon, but I think we will all agree that it more for humor than reality..:grin: But I must admit, I like Redfish's sense of humor..:haveabeer:
...Rich