[wyager]

It is not illegal to hunt small game with an AR-15. Many people on Texas ranchland use ARs and similar rifles for pest management.

ARs are a very reasonable general purpose rifle. Medium size rounds, cheap parts, lots of flexibility, highly standardized, easy to maintain.

It's also disingenuous to ignore recreational shooting. Hunting and home defense are not the only uses for firearms.

In the case of militiamen, it's also a perfectly good combat rifle. The US military has been using it since Vietnam with mostly success (excepting a few early issues).