re: 70% of Young Americans think we should be allowed to own Assualt Rifles

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Dude - seriously - pick up a fricking dictionary. You clearly don't know what the terms "cosmetic" and "functional" mean. A flash suppressor is FUNCTIONAL. Its FUNCTION is to direct the flash away from the shooter. A detachable magazine has a FUNCTION - to enable the shooter to reload quickly. A grenade launcher has a FUNCTION - fire grenades. A telescoping stock has a FUNCTION - to allow the weapon to be stored or carried in a smaller space.

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I stand by my statement. The features were selected based on their cosmetic presentation. I guarantee you they didn't balance whether or not a crowned match barrel, versus a birdcage style (AR-15) versus an AK-style break or a Y-comp was more "lethal" - the idiots pointed to it and asked somebody, presumably who at least sort of understood and said, "What's that thing?" A:"Flash suppressor". "What like a silencer?" A: "Not real..." = "Nevermind, it's ugly, it's got to go."

And then they pointed to the "shoulder thing that goes up" - and said, "What's that?" A:"Stock" "But, why does it look like PVC?" A:"Collapses" "WHAT? So they can conceal it?" A:"Not nec.." "Nevermind, it's ugly, it's got to go."

And so on, and so on.

Now the magazines - you've got me there - ONLY assault weapons use detachable box magazines - oh wait - it is a common feature and constitutes about 90% of semi-automatic firearms, if you include pistols.

So that's functional and gets to the core of their desire - banning all semiautomatic rifles (then pistols, then revolvers, etc.) - but - again, they can't do it all at once, so they demonize a class of weapons based on a common set of features - PRIMARILY based on the cosmetic appearance of those features.

(Happy now? I've walked it back a little, so you can move on to why we shouldn't have guns. I mean, after all you're a scientist. I've picked up a weapon and manned a post. That's all I know about it.)