Reply #122: Well, let's try this:

[SteveM]

A so-called "assault weapon" is really a semi-automatic carbine of moderate power which looks a lot like a military weapon (as have most all hunting rifles in their earlier existence). Do I wish to ban this class of weapon which the GOP-Brady Center & others seem bent on? No. Why? Because the semi-auto technology has been with us for over a hundred years, is the preferred technology for civilian gun owners, and because it does not constitute in an of itself a social problem requiring political policy action, especially at the national level.

There are too many semi-auto hunting rifles of greater power, match-grade AR 15s, and hunting rifles based on the AR (and other) platforms to rationally defend the proposition of banning semi-auto guns.

I really don't understand what is so difficult about this.

If I had come to deer hunting earlier in my life, I would choose an AR-15 platform with the "upper" chambered in a heavier round. When compared with my excellent Rem 700 bolt-action in .270, the AR-15 is ergonomically superior, almost as accurate, able to better endure dings and scratches, and it kicks less.

And manufacturers are producing more and more of these configurations.