Why do civilians own "assault weapons"?

A pencil can be an "assault weapon" if you assault someone with it

Because they are fun to shoot and many options for using as home protection and for hunting. Lots of accessories available and it is our right to own one.

I own a black rifle/assult weapon/gun

It is not Automatic.

It is semi automatic.

I own hunting rifles that are greatly more powerful that are also semi automatic.

I have what a non gun enthuiest would call a huge arsenal. But I hunt and collect.

None of my guns have ever been used to shoot or kill people.

Ignore the immature, defensive, idiotic responses.

I do not own an "assualt" type rifle but could see the appeal of owning one. Some get them for recreational shooting, some have them for self/home defense, some like the power trip it gives them. They are very popular and there are more out there than you would think. You won't find one law abiding citizen using them for illegal activity. That's the greatest part.

Controling these weapons is punishing the good majority for actions of a small percentage of the bad.

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IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security...

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That is why, and it is the sole reason for the second amendment.

If you truely didn't know that then you have a serious problem. You should read and understand the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

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Why do civilians own "assault weapons"?

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Because Bill Clinton and a Democratic Congress told me I couldn't. So now I own 6 Ar's 2 M1A's and 2 AK's.


Why don't you blame the assclown that pulled the trigger?

The point of the 2nd amendment was so that we, as civilians, can protect ourselves from a tyrannical government. We should be allowed the same weapons as the cops, if not the military.

Try defending yourself against the cops with a 6 shooter.

Because I can and they are fun to shoot.

I think most civilians own assault rifles because simply they are a blast to shoot. I also like that in the back of my mind I have a reasonable means of defending myself should something crazy happen. I don't hunt with mine simply because I have rifles better suited to what ever I am hunting.

What I hate most about the media portrayal of assault rifles is how they grossly overestimate the danger of the weapons. They are designed to ASSAULT, they put a lot of suppression firepower downrange and are a great wounding round. They aren't the best round for taking a life. Using the T-town shooting as an example, if that psycho had opened up on a bar with shotgun with 8 rounds of buckshot, the damage and potential loss of life would have been much greater.

This thread has convinced me that a want to do an AR build. Might do a tactical 12 as well. I have a 9 shot 22 revolver that has always kept me comfortable for home defense. But now I'm aggravated.