On Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:15:53 -0500, Tom Gardner
wrote:

On 3/3/2013 3:02 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:

They're for killing people. That's who gets them -- people who are
going to kill, or threaten to kill, other people. That's what they're
for, that's what they're all about, and that's why they're out there.


Except for the millions and millions that are used for organized sports
and other very responsible uses.

Sure. But as for the "millions and millions," figures projected from
the NRA-researched number from a few years ago up to Dec. 2012 says
there are around 3,750,000 of them in the US. That's around 1.2% of
guns.

Here's the best work at estimating that I've seen:

http://tinyurl.com/bwgyhg6

But again, the entire design and concept is guns for killing people. I
know that the same is true of my .45 ACP 1911 Colt, but because of its
age and limited magazine capacity, the original purpose of the gun
doesn't hit people in the face like the hit they get when they see an
AR-15, and think about where it comes from.

You should realize, and I'm sure you do, that the entire political
issue is a matter of perceptions. And the results of the Fox News
poll, and virtually every other recent poll, tell you where that
perception lies.

The indisputable fact is that, since the early '90s, when I was a DCM
range officer and was defending them in Trenton, even providing
testimony in favor ot them, the marketing ("Renew Your Man Card," says
the bare-chested dude holding a Bushmaster in a menacing pose) and the
role these guns fulfill in the commando-wannabe world have made them
the gun of choice by the mass-murdering loons. Not for ordinary crime,
but for the horror shows that have made people stop and ask what kind
of a gun culture they want for this country.


And, they are far less lethal than originally designed, the Army's
changes ****ed that all up.

Gee, what a shame. That's going to make it harder for loony gun owners
to shoot up classrooms. They may have to used big magazines and shoot
toddlers multiple times to be sure they're dead.

Oh, that's just what Adam Lanza did, isn't it.....

--
Ed Huntress