Outlaw the AR-15 rifle -- poll

[Mountainmanbob]

I have always supported the right to bear arms but, with the recent school shooting -- regarding the AR-15 rifle -- I must say they are only for killing people and should be outlawed -- your thoughts.
M-Bob

 

[Tom 1]

I have to say I used to think it was obvious - less deadly weapons = no mass killings. Having read a lot more about it over the last year or so I now think it’s a lot more complicated than that. That said, I think it would be wise to have psychological tests and thorough background checks for anyone buying any gun - why not after all?
I’m aware quite a lot of hunters do use the AR15 for small game and vermin, or even medium game with heavier rounds.

 

[mark kennedy]

I've always supported banning military style assault weapons

 

[High Fidelity]

From what I understand, they only really have one reasonable hunting application and that's for wild boar given their fortitude and tenacity to the point a bolt-action may put hunters at risk, so something like an AR platform would lend itself to that.

Beyond that, yeah, nothing a bolt rifle can't do.

I personally like the strictness of regulations we have here in the UK and it took an event like this to start that ball rolling, but the cultures are totally different and I imagine even if positive change were to happen in the U.S., it's going to be a long and difficult road with few easy answers.

 

[Mountainmanbob]

I’m aware quite a lot of hunters do use the AR15 for small game and vermin, or even medium game with heavier rounds.

I didn't realize that but, we know there are so many different guns offered they could switch to another make and model.

I do think there have been so many AR 15's sold that we will never get all of them off the streets. The bad guys will always have them. But, there is such a cry at this time that we are ought to go ahead and ban them. Possibly only a feel-good measure?
M-Bob

 

[High Fidelity]

I do think there have been so many AR 15's sold that we will never get all of them off the streets. The bad guys will always have them. But, there is such a cry at this time that we are ought to go ahead and ban them. Possibly only a feel-good measure?

This is a result of lacking registration to individuals to maintain a clear history of ownership. I don't know why it's such a big concern to have such a system, but it's also something worth considering, imo.

I didn't realize that but, we know there are so many different guns offered they could switch to another make and model.

For small game you could easily get a bolt-action rifle in .223, so there are definitely options out there for small and medium game in long rifle formats.

 

[High Fidelity]

Either way, kudos Bob because you're one of the last people I expected to see posting a thread and opinion like this.

The media has polarised and entrenched people in the U.S. for years over topics like this to the point where one group believes they're vehemently right and the other is vehemently wrong. There was little middle ground. Equally as surprising was Trump himself recommending certain further regulations to things like bump-stocks which again is a step in the right direction.

A total ban is wholly unnecessary, but changes really do need to happen. Hopefully both sides slowly begin to approach the table and discuss it properly over the coming years.

 

[mark kennedy]

I have to say I used to think it was obvious - less deadly weapons = no mass killings. Having read a lot more about it over the last year or so I now think it’s a lot more complicated than that. That said, I think it would be wise to have psychological tests and thorough background checks for anyone buying any gun - why not after all?
I’m aware quite a lot of hunters do use the AR15 for small game and vermin, or even medium game with heavier rounds.

The AR15 isn't a hunting rifles, there are better rifles for that. If you want to do something about gun violence, there are some things you can do:

After the massacre at Sandy Hook, Connecticut took the seemingly radical step of "not doing nothing and praying things get better." State lawmakers expanded a ban on selling assault weapons, banned the sale of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, and required owners of of both to register with the state. Per the New York Times:

After Connecticut’s General Assembly passed the package of gun laws, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat, signed it into law, gun-related deaths started to drop. According to the chief medical examiner’s office in Connecticut, the number of deaths resulting from firearms — including homicides, suicides and accidents — fell to 164 in 2016, from 226 in 2012. (Connecticut Shows a Path Forward for Better Gun Laws. CQ)
​

After Sandyhook Connecticut passed stricter gun control laws. The result is a dramatic drop in gun deaths.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

I have owned AR-15s on and off for 25 years and have never partaken in a mass shooting.

 

[TLK Valentine]

I have always supported the right to bear arms but, with the recent school shooting -- regarding the AR-15 rifle -- I must say they are only for killing people and should be outlawed -- your thoughts.
M-Bob

Outlaw it? No. Subject it to the same restrictions (background checks, waiting periods) as the average handgun? Sure.

 

[Tom 1]

I didn't realize that but, we know there are so many different guns offered they could switch to another make and model.

I do think there have been so many AR 15's sold that we will never get all of them off the streets. The bad guys will always have them. But, there is such a cry at this time that we are ought to go ahead and ban them. Possibly only a feel-good measure?
M-Bob

I can’t see how that in itself would prevent another mass shooting.

 

[TLK Valentine]

I have owned AR-15s on and off for 25 years and have never partaken in a mass shooting.

Here's hoping that continues to be the rule, and not the exception.

 

[tampasteve]

From what I understand, they only really have one reasonable hunting application and that's for wild boar given their fortitude and tenacity to the point a bolt-action may put hunters at risk, so something like an AR platform would lend itself to that.

Meh, as someone that has participated in hog hunting, one is better off with a 12 gauge shotgun using a load of slug - 00 shot - slug - 00 shot or similar. AR15's just are not necessary for hunting, as cool as they look.

 

[High Fidelity]

Meh, as someone that has participated in hog hunting, one is better off with a 12 gauge shotgun using a load of slug - 00 shot - slug - 00 shot or similar. AR15's just are not necessary for hunting, as cool as they look.

That also sounds reasonable. Point being with an animal like that, sometimes a single shot isn't enough.

It does make me laugh, though. I think some folks expect to be ambushed by dozens of deer.

 

[Kenny'sID]

It seems a good idea to me as well but as long as government has an equivalent, or one can be obtained by illegal means, If I had one, I'd just a soon hold on to it.

The government really does worry me. we all know what they are and what they are capable of, and that their weaponry far exceeds most of what we can get our hands on legally, so probably best to keep what little advantage we have.

Load and lock one one under the desk of all competent teachers with their own personalized fingerprint key, and see how the selfish little cowards that want to go out in a blaze of glory at the expense of our childs lives, reacts to that.

 

[DogmaHunter]

I have owned AR-15s on and off for 25 years and have never partaken in a mass shooting.

The vast majority of countries that have nuclear weapons, never used them either.

 

[DogmaHunter]

It seems a good idea to me as well but as long as government has an equivalent, or one can be obtained by illegal means, If I had one, I'd just a soon hold on to it.

The government really does worry me. we all know what they are and what they are capable of, and that their weaponry far exceeds most of what we can get our hands on legally, so probably best to keep what little advantage we have.

Load and lock one one under the desk of all competent teachers with their own personalized fingerprint key, and see how the selfish little cowards that want to go out in a blaze of glory at the expense of our childs lives, reacts to that.

"the government" also has F16s, cruise missiles, apache helicopters, nuclear bombs, ICBM's, nuclear submarines, ...

So, do you want an equivalent to those as well?

 

[jardiniere]

It's a terrible idea. Just gosh darn stupid. The day AR-15 is banned, the next day we will be selling the AR-16s, virtually identical to the now-banned AR-15.

Don't ban specific guns. Ban types of guns. If you have to ban guns to begin with.

 

[dgiharris]

The government really does worry me. we all know what they are and what they are capable of, and that their weaponry far exceeds most of what we can get our hands on legally, so probably best to keep what little advantage we have.

I do not mean to troll you by any means and I'm being completely sincere.

The argument that we need to be an armed populace in order to keep our government in check is the biggest logical fallacy ever perpetrated by an argument.

As former military, please let me assure you that the US having the 2nd amendment in no way shape or form is a deterrent from State tyranny against the people. The military can easily take over the US and enslave every single person within days if it so chose, and this includes the police being part of the populace as well.

The military has fighter jets, bombers, helicopters, destroyers, missiles, satellites and PERSONNEL who do nothing but train 24/7 on how to kill people and break things.

It is a Red Dawn fanboy fiction that you having an AR-15 is what is keeping the government in check.

The US military rolled over Iraq in days and their populace has AK-47s the way we have television sets. Seriously, this argument that " I need mah guns to protect mah freedoms" is just absurd.

Load and lock one one under the desk of all competent teachers with their own personalized fingerprint key, and see how the selfish little cowards that want to go out in a blaze of glory at the expense of our childs lives, reacts to that.

This is another fanboy fictitious argument that needs to be killed in the crib. The vast majority of people do not have the intestinal fortitude to grab a gun, rush into a hailstorm of gun play, and kill the bad guy. Similarly, having a plethora of loaded guns stored in desks at schools around the country is a bad idea on so many levels I just don't even know where to begin with that.

Requiring that teachers now also be Punisher style super heroes is a bad solution. It is fanboy idealistic mushroom inspired dreaming that doesn't DIRECTLY ADDRESS THE PROBLEM. It is addressing a symptom and requiring a third party to solve that problem vs the parties directly involved in the problem.

The problem is simple. Mentally and emotionally unstable people have easy access to guns and currently Law Enforcement has no streamlined way of proactively identifying and preventing these people from obtaining guns and/or going on massacre killing sprees.

Solutions need to DIRECTLY address these problems not indirectly treat the symptoms.

 

[mark kennedy]

It's a terrible idea. Just gosh darn stupid. The day AR-15 is banned, the next day we will be selling the AR-16s, virtually identical to the now-banned AR-15.

Don't ban specific guns. Ban types of guns. If you have to ban guns to begin with.

The ban is on sales, no one tried to take anyone's guns after the Brady Bill was passed. It's also a good idea to have universal licensing.