General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am sincerely perplexed by the "it's not an assault rifle" meme... [View all]nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)And what they're fixated on...potential rate of fire. Functionally the only difference between a battle riffle, which the M-16A2 is, and it's civilian cousin, is the selector switch. The Military weapon can select for full auto, 800 rounds per minute potential rate of fire. The AR-15 only goes to semi auto, you need to pull the trigger every time.
Yes, it is the most popular hunting riffle, and for me the solution is simple. Only have one mode of fire on this, regardless of the cosmetics...single shot, period. You would have to manually get the next round into the firing chamber. Since both the battle riffle and the AR have that firing mode, it's not imposible to do.
And given how effective the AR has been in Mexico. (And some are converted into full auto, regardless gun bunnies say) making the argument that it functionally does not effectively function like it's military cousin, is at this point silly.
Same can be said about the AK.
And yes, I get the attraction of a semi auto, yes they are fun to shoot...(and once actually fired a full auto weapon). But really, for target shooting, plinking things, hunting, getting rid of coyotes around the chicken coop, all legit uses, you really do not need a weapon with that potential high rate of fire, and a check on a tyrannical government...all red dawn fantasies aside, head to head...good luck.