*Combining two replies in to one post)
Very much true, Tim. The War of 1812 was the last time they were used
Very much not true. As you point out in your other reply, they can be used in guerrilla warfare.
Also milita includes more organized forces (which might be more effective in non-guerrilla warfare, OTOH they have close ties to the national government, including their funding, so they might also potentially be used by it to enforce repression).
And when handguns are used, it is with high capacity magazines.
Which has nothing to do with banning semi-auto rifles. And is only true to the extent that ordinary magazines are going to be called "high capacity". Not that it makes a huge difference if the capacity is 12 or 10 or 8, or whatever you want to call "high capacity", as they can be reloaded quickly, and also one shooter can carry several of them.
Yes, I know that semi-automatics won't be banned any time soon. But a strong argument can be made that they should
Perhaps, but you haven't made it, nor have I seen any strong arguments anywhere else.
and no good argument can be made for them.
Absent a strong argument for banning,Someone saying "I want one" is a good enough argument against banning.
The ability to engage in mass killings is not a protected right.
True but irrelevant. Abilities are not protected rights in general, and with or without semi-auto rifles, any shooter with half-decent skills, and sufficiently crazy and/or evil motivations has such ability.
The arument that other things can be used ignores the fact that those things aren't used where such guns aren't available.
Other things are used.
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“According to the FBI’s website, during the time period between 2007 until 2011, there were 8,967 people that were murdered with knives or cutting instruments; during that same time period, there were 3,918 people that were murdered with either rifles or shotguns,” Hunter told TheBlaze.
And, of course, murderers aren’t restricted to just sharp objects and guns. Some have used explosives:
- April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City, Okla.: Timothy McVay murdered 168 people and injured 680 when he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building using, among other components, fertilizer.
- May 18, 1927, Bath, Mich.: A man murdered 44 people, 38 of which were elementary school children. Another 58 were wounded when he blew up the Bath Consolidated School. To date, this is still the worst school massacre in US history.
- November 1, 1955: John “Jack” Gilbert Graham murdered 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in his mother’s suitcase that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629. The bomb detonated shortly after takeoff.
Others transportation:
- September 11, 2001: Nineteen terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 people on American soil by intentionally flying passenger planes into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. A fourth plane was also hijacked and was intended to be crashed into the U.S. Capitol, but passengers overcame the hijackers and the plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa.
- June 8, 2008, Tokyo, Japan: A man drove his truck into a crowd of people, killing three. He then exited the vehicle and stabbed 12 people. In all, seven people were killed as a result.
- April 30, 2009, Apeldoorn, Netherlands: A man intentionally drove his car into a group of people amassed for a parade. He killed six and seriously injured another 12 before dying from the crash himself.
Others blunt objects:
- August 6, 2004, Deltona, Fla.: Four men decided to bludgeon 6 people using baseball bats because they wanted to steal an Xbox belonging to one of the victims. All of the attackers were old enough to buy firearms.
- July 20, 2009, Sydney, Australia: A family of 5 was bludgeoned to death as they slept. Most likely baseball bats were used in the attack.
“According to the FBI’s website, during the time period between 2007 until 2011, there were 2,918 people that were murdered with blunt objects (baseball bats, hammers, etc.),” Hunter reminds us. “During that same time period, there were 1,874 people that were murdered with rifles.”
theblaze.com
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Charles Whitman apparently used a bolt action Remington 700 for most of his killings from the tower in Texas. He also had an M-1 Carbine, semi-auto but its less of a sniper's weapon. He had a shotgun, a pump action rifle (uncommon but capable of rapid fire), and a couple of pistols.
The Dublane massacre was committed with pistols, as was the mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, the 9 shot (7 killed, neither figure including the shooter's suicide) in Grand Rapids in 2011, the 2011 Tucson AZ shooting, the 8 killed in Manchester CT in 2010, the Fort Hood shooting, the 2009 Binghamton, NY shooting etc.
That's far from an exhaustive list.
Also banned or not semi-auto rifles (or even specifically those with a military appearance) are generally available. |
