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In reply to the discussion: "There were at least 6 weapons to choose from immediately at hand. The fact that he didn't take [View all]Recursion
(56,582 posts)...any of those.
The color and shape of the weapon does not affect rate of fire, muzzle velocity, or magazine capacity.
Aristotle once used an analogy of a ship: suppose bit by bit you replace every plank and rope of a ship, is it still "the same ship"? The things that makes it "the same gun" are the upper receiver and bolt, which are (or at least easily can be) the same for both of those weapons. In fact, you can generally buy all of the parts to turn gun A into gun B at any outdoors store -- the reason they're not regulated is that they have no effect on how the weapon operates, just which positions of firing it are more comfortable.
And, as I keep yelling into the wind here, it's only the parts that don't actually affect how the gun itself fires that are regulated by assault weapons bans.