Reply #23

Fully automatic weapons should be banned.

They aren't. Virtually anyone can own one today. You simply have to buy a $200 tax stamp and have a background check and you can buy one. The only real problem is scarcity. The machine gun registry was closed in 1984. So only machine guns manufactured prior to this date are transferable. Consequently an M16 that would have cost you $1000 or less in 1984 costs $17,000 today.

I don't have a problem with the restrictions on fully automatic weapons, as I believe the people can fulfill the intent of the second amendment with semi-automatic weapons. Fully automatic weapons are suppression weapons, and there is no point in trying to suppress a technologically superior force as they will simply stand off and call in artillery or air support.

And I tend to agree with the Swiss policy on owning firearms: You only get a license to own a weapon if you can demonstrate an actual need.

See, I'm more for freedom. I don't have to define a "need" for something, as long as I'm a law-abiding citizen, if I want it and can pay for it, I can have it.

Besides, your "need" metric is a waste of time. Here in Alabama, you can't buy sex toys unless you have a medical "need". So when my wife and I went to the adult store to buy one, we filled out a check box on a little piece of paper that said we had a medical need for it.

What kind of "needs" are going to be valid for owning a firearm? Home defense? Concealed Carry? Hunting? Target shooting?

And "I want to have a penis substitute" is not an actual need.

This is offensive to millions of women who engage in shooting sports, including our US Olympic team.

There are simply too many weapons in the US. And gun-nut groups such as the NRA are only exacerbating the problem.

Did you know that in spite of the AR-15 being the most popular center-fire target rifle in America, only about 300 people are murdered every year with rifles of all kinds, let alone assault rifles?

Incidentally, you will notice that I have the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon in my posts. That's because I was there in 1968-69 (1/502, 173d Airborne Bde).

Thank you for your service.