Reply #21: Actual assault rifles are VERY tightly controlled in the United States...

[benEzra]

I really don't care if people want to own guns, but I draw the line on anyone owning an assault rifle or the like. These are only made to kill a lot of people in a very short time.

Actual assault rifles are VERY tightly controlled in the United States. As in, mere possession of one outside police/military duty is a 10-year Federal felony, unless you have prior Federal authorization (BATFE Form 4). If you do get a Form 4, a civilian-transferable AK-47 or M16 will set you back $15,000 to $75,000, due to the extremely small number of civilian-transferable assault rifles (the supply was frozen in 1986 by the McClure-Volkmer Act).

When the ban-guns lobby talks about "assault weapons," they're not talking about assault rifles. They're talking about NON-automatic civilian guns, e.g. all civilian shotguns holding over 5 shells, all civilian rifles and pistols holding more than 10 rounds, all self-loading rifles with handgrips that stick out, plus banning the most popular civilian target rifles in this country even if they meet all the other asinine criteria.

At least twice as many gun owners own "assault weapons," broadly defined, as hunt. My wife and I own several between us, and we'd like to keep them, thanks.

I don't own a gun, but I'm thinking maybe I should. My only problem with it is I used to have night terrors, and if you've ever had them, you know what they are. Once I bought a can of mace, thinking that should do the trick if someone got in my house. Well, one night I had a nightmare, grabbed the can of mace, and sprayed the entire room. All my animals and I had to sleep on the living room couch that night. For this reason alone, I'm not sure I should get a gun - I might shoot my own foot or one of my animals.

That's scary! How close at hand was the mace when that happened? I'm assuming you grabbed it in your sleep?

You might still be OK if the guns were kept in a safe in a separate room, or were otherwise secured in a manner that required you to be fully awake and in possession of your faculties in order to access them.