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by throwaway21816 3752 days ago
> but who in the world needs an assault rifle?

Ignoring the "assault rifle" part of this. Semi-automatic carbines are great fun to shoot, they have a lower recoil impulse than traditional larger rifles and military surplus ammunition and parts generally creates a cheap and easy way to enjoy firearms. You can get an AR-15 for $600 or so and spend an afternoon enjoying it without a hurt shoulder or a bloody nose.

1 comments

The question is then should society enable that enjoyment at the risk of mass-shootings. Could people maybe get their kicks a different way.

I've only shot air-rifles and shotguns IRL, I can appreciate the addictive qualities.

Everything can be used in a destructive fashion, if a society is mature enough then it can enjoy them. Alcohol, private planes, cars, knives, food,etc all carry the same risk of abuse as guns.

More americans die of eating too much food each year than in all gun deaths ,let alone mass shootings.