[mindcrime]

It's purely coincidental that it is a weapon enamoured and used by so many spree killers.

May be. Spree killings are actually fairly uncommon, so trying to draw any inferences from such a small data set is fraught with risk.

Totally the same as a hunting rifle.

Nobody said it was. But I, and many others, refute any assertion that an AR-15 is especially deadly compared to many (most) other commonly available civilian semiautomatic rifles.

And then you point out a MASSIVE bullet used by almost no one but in bolt action rifles. A bullet that is essentially never used in the commission of murders.

The point is that .223 is not an especially lethal round. Bringing up something like a 120mm mortar round is silly... 30-06 is a commonly used, generic-as-can-be round, which sits in boxes and boxes in stores and houses all around the USA. And it is a more "lethal" round than .223, but the anti-gun fringe jump all over .223 and the AR-15 to evoke an emotional reaction. It's pure fear-mongering and appeal to emotion.

After all, it's not just a "gun" it's "a high power, fast-action, semi-automatic assault weapon"! Which one sounds scarier and is more likely to get people all riled up? FSM forbid that the thing might even have one of those evil pistol grips or a bayonet lug, or even gasp be black...

[corresation]

The .223/5.56/variations is the round of choice for military units around the world. For killing/maiming people.

It's powerful (dramatically more powerful than a .22), relatively light, and can be loaded in high capacity magazines.

When the military chooses it as the round of choice for killing people, it's pretty nonsensical to try to hold it as some sort of weakling.

[mindcrime]

The .223/5.56/variations is the round of choice for military units around the world. For killing/maiming people.

It's powerful (dramatically more powerful than a .22), relatively light, and can be loaded in high capacity magazines.

Just to be clear... I'm not saying that you can't kill somebody with a firearm chambered for .223. Of course it's potentially lethal. Pretty much all firearm rounds are potentially lethal, even something like .22 Short rounds.

What I'm saying, is that the .223 is not particularly more dangerous than other common rounds, to the point that there's any reason to single it out for special attention. And the fact that military forces choose it doesn't dispute that. There are a LOT of reasons why military forces make the choices they do, and they're as likely to be economic forces as purely strategic ones.

When the military chooses it as the round of choice for killing people, it's pretty nonsensical to try to hold it as some sort of weakling.

If sheer lethal effectiveness were the only criteria used to select a round, .223 would not be the first choice for killing a human being.

Of course you can make any point with relative comparisons. Compared to a bb and a slingshot, .223 is deadly-as-fuck. But compared to many other rounds that you can commonly find firearms chambered for, it's average at best.