Semantics for progressives (how to avoid getting side tracked)

[zipplewrath]

7. Not really

The "high capacity" I believe is where there is progress to be made. It is the argument of the absurd, but strangely, I suspect you'll even get some gun enthusiasts to admit that a 30 round clip is a bit on the "bizarre" side. Somewhere between 9 and 15 is where there is probably an opportunity for "compromise".

But "rapid fire" pretty much describes all weapons these days. Short of "full auto", the reloading process of a "semi-automatic" is so fast that for all intents and purposes, it can fire as fast as you can pull the trigger.

Actually, another "ban" that might actually have some legs (because there is an odd ball precedent for it) would be to remove "pistol grips" from long barreled guns (they are already "banned" on short barreled shot guns. The infamous "sawed off" shot gun). Again, I suspect in the end it won't have any more real impact than the assault weapons ban did. It just makes it hard to use a long barrel gun for these kinds of mass murders.

(by the by, using the expression "banned" is always problematic. Almost anyone can own almost any weapon if they jump through enough hoops. And weapons can often be modified if one jumps through more hoops. Plus, restrictions CAN vary by state. It'd probably streamline the debate if control advocates would drop the word "ban" altogether and just say "controlled". Even gun control advocates only care so much what various SWAT teams use.)