IT SEEMS THAT MOST POLITICIANS, on both sides of the aisle and at all government levels, are afraid to ban “assault rifles.” They also shy away from banning silencers (noise suppressors), and many close their eyes to large capacity magazines.
How can true assault rifles and silencers and large capacity magazines benefit either the hunter or the home defender?
Asi9de from police and the military, who needs these weapons of war?
Just what defines an “assault rifle?”
According to Wikipedia1, The U.S. Army defines assault rifles as "short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachine gun and rifle cartridges." In a strict definition, a firearm must have at least the following characteristics to be considered an assault rifle:
Rifles that meet most of these criteria, but not all, are technically not assault rifles, despite frequently being called such.
For example:
- Select-fire M2 Carbines are not assault rifles; their effective range is only 200 yards.
- Select-fire rifles such as the FN FAL battle rifle are not assault rifles; they fire full-powered rifle cartridges.
- Semi-automatic-only rifles like the Colt AR-15 are not assault rifles; they do not have select-fire capabilities.
- Semi-automatic-only rifles with fixed magazines like the SKS are not assault rifles; they do not have detachable box magazines and are not capable of automatic fire.
The National Rifle Association (NRA)2 has a long rant about politicians who would ban assault rifles and high capacity magazines and tries – depending on your personal point of view, successfully or not – to justify both.
- Caveat: This scrivener is a gun owner and has been safely shooting rifles and pistols since he fired a .22 single shot rifle at age 6. I never have shot a person and I am not a hunter. One of my sons is a police detective, the other, a “civilian” a gun owner. Weapons, when not carried, are secured in a gun safe.
The two most popular “assault” weapons – legally semi-automatic weapons; true “assault” weapons as defined on the Wiki page (ibid.) are not legal in the U.S – are the AR 15 and the AK 47. Both can be fitted to fire military and non-military ammunition.
The U.S. military prefers small caliber (5.56 * 45mm, 55 grain bullet); the AK 47 uses a larger cartridge (7.62 * 38mm, 122 grain bullet); however, both rifles can be chambered to fire heavier rounds. Both the 5.56mm and the 7.62mm are primarily designed to kill humans vs. used as a hunting rifle. The lengths of both (AR 15 = 39”; AK 47 = >34”) make the standard weapons awkward for home defense when considering hallways. (A short barrel shotgun is a better choice.)
Why would a hunter need a 15 or 30-round magazine? If the hunter needs that many bullets the hunter ought to (a) put a scope on the rifle and (b) spend considerable time at a firing range, at least enough so that he, or she, can hit the target and kill the animal with a single shot.
Small (military) caliber cartridges with light weight bullets, are suitable for small game (squirrels, rodents), while heavier bullets are better for deer, boars of the four-legged variety, bear, etc.
While there may be an advantage to using a silencer on a hunting rifle, I never have met a man or woman who hunts to eat that used a noise suppressor. Silencers tend to degrade bullet performance.
Semi-automatic vs. single shot vs. automatic
Most modern rifles and handguns are “semi-automatic.” Semi-automatic means that the shooter must pull the weapon’s trigger each time to fire. For revolvers (wheel guns), the cylinder advances every time the gun’s hammer is raised; when the hammer hits the cartridge, the bullet is fired. A semi-automatic handgun is similar in that as it ejects a spent (fired) cartridge, it loads a new cartridge into the weapon’s chamber.
The same process applies to semi-automatic rifles. There are single shot rifles in various calibers. The single-shot means the shooter manually loads a round, fires the round, ejects the round, then loads another round.
Automatics – erroneously applied to SEMI-automatics – are weapons that fire multiple rounds either in short (usually three round) bursts or fire continuously as long as the trigger is held back. Military weapons usually fall into the “automatic” category.
Wikipedia provides a definition for “machine pistol.”4 A machine pistol is typically a handgun-style machine gun, capable of fully automatic or burst fire, and chambered for pistol cartridges.
Once again, the question must be asked: Who needs a machine pistol to defend their manse? A pistol or shotgun AND TRAINING are far better options.
I am against gun laws that will take self-defense and hunting weapons away from law abiding Americans. I’m also not enthusiastic about registering weapons; that makes it easy for a despotic government to disarm the citizenry.
I AM very much in favor of serious background checks, at least for the first weapon. A cursory check is a waste of everyone’s time and money. Background checks should be similar to background checks for a concealed carry license.
An FBI report5 shows that nearly 80 percent of all crimes committed with a firearm are with guns illegally obtained. Less than 5 percent of guns used in crimes were legally acquired at pawn shops (3.8%) or flea market (1%). Less than 1 percent were bought at gun shows (0.7%).
Still, pawn shops, flea markets, and gun shows should be required to meet state laws before handing over a weapon. In Florida, that shortly will mean a three-day waiting period while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) does a cursory check that, to this scrivener's mind, is too little.
HOWEVER, even with serious – CCW level – background checks, one major problem will still exist. COMMUNICATION There were multiple warning signs that the Parkland FL shooter should NOT have had a weapon – of any type – but there apparently was zero communication between law enforcement (FBI, county sheriff’s office, courts) and state services. It seems multiple “red flags” either were missed or ignored because “it’s not my problem.” In the end, 14 students and three faculty were murdered by a former student who somehow managed to bring a RIFLE “undetected” into the school. (How long is an AR 15. Almost 40 inches from butt plate to the end of the barrel . . . 40 inches !)
At one time I was an enterprise risk management practitioner. Part of my job was to design means to prevent incidents such as occurred in Parkland FL.
While there may – should – be multiple exits from a building, there should only be one secure entrance.
It wouldn’t cost a fortune to implement and no teachers would need to be armed (although that is an option).
The only problem is with the building’s population.
Exits must remain locked and alarmed (push bars can unlock the doors). If a person opens an exit door for a “friend” or to be a “good person,” the alarm needs to sound throughout the building.
All people coming into the building would funnel through two entrances.
One entrance would be for people with current IDs (swipe cards, bar codes, etc.) and one entrance for others. There would be a severe penalty for “tailgating” – allowing someone to enter on another’s ID. (At one place where I worked, the penalty was dismissal – being fired on the spot.)
The other entrance would be for people sans building ID. These people would queue in front of a bulletproof partition and show personal ID, explain their purpose, and then pass through a metal detector. Ideally, the visitor would enter a pass-through chamber with locked doors at both ends similar to those in use at Israeli embassies and consulates. All visitors, including vendors, would enter via this path.
It’s less expensive than arming and training hundreds of teachers who may or may not react appropriately in time of crisis; the materials can be relocated if the facility is abandoned.
Will it happen? Of course not.
It’s too simple and too (comparatively) inexpensive.
Sources
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_rifle
2. https://www.nraila.org/get-the-facts/assault-weapons-large-magazines/#_edn32
3. http://tinyurl.com/ybokwa9d
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_pistol
5. http://tinyurl.com/c9dkrx6
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
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