In the wake of the tragedy in Florida, the fear mongering is rampant once again.
If I can do one thing, I would like to at least help educate those out there before making knee-jerk reactions.
First... The 'super powerful, death dealing AR15' is not a all-powerful round, though it is currently in use by the NATO powers. Part of that reason is due to the fact that soldiers can carry more of it than the old 7.62 round that was used previously. The M14 had a 20 round magazine, and the M16 (or any of the other military variants across the world) used a 30 round magazine (though in Vietnam many 20 rounders were in use as well). Projectile vs Projectile, when comparing weight, it would take 47 rounds of 5.56 (62gr weight) to equal the same weight of 20 rounds of 7.62 (147gr weight). This meant that a soldier could basically throw 3 rounds at the enemy for every one he used to be able to use.
On the civilian side of the house... the .223 round (the lower pressure version of the 5.56 NATO round) uses a .55 grain weight bullet that is .224" diameter.
It is commonly used as a varmint round for groundhogs, coyotes, and the like and in most states it is not deemed a lethal enough round to hunt whitetail deer with. There are a lot of soldiers whom I have known over the years who don't like the 5.56 in combat, because they feel if it isn't adequate to kill a deer, why should they be using it against a two-legged predator???
Why is the AR15 so common? I know for me, the market has become flooded with a number of parts that you can build/assemble them as you desire and none in your collection will look the same. I know folks with 20" target rifles and some who have completed and waited the required time deemed necessary by the ATF to have one with a barrel shorter than 16" that still has a shoulder stock.
My thoughts, and these are purely mine, are that this country needs to sure up their background check process before going any further with more laws that will do nothing but make law abiding citizens outlaws. Fix what is currently broken, before sinking more money into something that is potentially not necessary.
Laws don't work... the drug war has proved that. |
Alcohol laws have never stopped high school kids from getting someone to buy them beer, and then doing stupid things (or just getting blitzed and having fun too!).
What makes you think that a gun law is going to stop those who still want a gun from getting one? Seriously, think about it???