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  • Subject: Lift of Weapons ban
Subject: Lift of Weapons ban
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If any of you didnt already know, weapons like the ak-47 and other machine guns have been illegal for the general public to own and operate for a long time now (30 yrs in my memory serves correct). But it was on this month (September of 2004) that the ban was lifted and now the general public can go to a gun store and buy their favorite automatic weapon. Today, my history class had a debate on the matter and the main question was, "Why would someone need a weapon so powerful other than with the intent to kill people?" I know many friends who hunt and when asked this same question they said, "There would be no skill left in hunting to just annihilate an animal with automatic weaponry." So, now my question. What do you think about this?

Don't put that in there; I'm wondering whether I should lock this anyway as it is - Maka

[Edited on 9/25/2004 1:51:56 AM by MakaVeli4LIfe1]

  • 09.24.2004 10:49 PM PDT
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  • Exalted Legendary Member

There are no irrelevant quotes of historical figures here. Neither will you find any links, chain posts, memes, clan advertisements, self-promotions, or the tiniest of ASCII pictures.

So go away.

High five...anyone...anyone?

  • 09.24.2004 10:54 PM PDT
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Hmm, lucky sods, its illegal to own any automatic rifles over here. Dammit, if someone comes into my house, I should have the right to put 30 bullets into them in a few seconds flat. Anyway, I should have the right to at least OWN an auto rifle, but nooooooooo, that would be too fair wouldnt it.

  • 09.24.2004 11:55 PM PDT
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GT: Greg Is So Hot

They lifted the ban on assault weapons, but the funny thing is, if you get something like an M16, the rounds aren't powerful enough to even kill a dear or moose or whatever it is people go out shooting at in the woods.

Assault weapons are for self-defense (I guess)... But to defend us from what?

[Edited on 9/25/2004 12:39:03 AM]

  • 09.25.2004 12:37 AM PDT
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When it comes to shooting people, a gun is a gun.

Guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Take the ban away, who cares, honestly? As long as their isn't an outbreak of murders because of it, who gives a flip.

  • 09.25.2004 1:05 AM PDT

We’ve watched while the stars burned
Out, and creation played in reverse.
The Universe freezing in half-light.
Once I thought to escape.
To end a master, step out of the
Path of collapse. Escape would make us God.
Yet I cannot help but remember one enigma,
A hybrid, elusive destroyer.
This is the one mystery I have not solved.
The only element unaccounted for.

Posted by: KiLLyourTV
Guns don't kill people, people kill people.

I hate that quote. Even though the people should be blamed, do you think that half of these murders would occur if the people didn't have guns in the first place?

  • 09.25.2004 1:17 AM PDT
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Who made the guns? I mean seriously, its a person's right to shoot someone as well as own the gun.

Society just has punishments for a persons free will, if you want to be a cynic about it.

  • 09.25.2004 1:26 AM PDT
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Ha, with that gun policy, there soon won't be any americans to buy the weapons.
That is, of course, if americans are as trigger-happy as they are portrayed in movies.

  • 09.25.2004 4:07 AM PDT
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Not really, you just added information most won't even read. The average bungie.net user's IQ tends to hover between 30-40. Nice try though.

  • 09.25.2004 4:44 AM PDT
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Thanks for doing all that hard work for me Recon, now it's my try...

The ban did NOT make AK-47s or AR-15s illegal as many of you think. It was still legal to own and trade "pre-ban" weapons that people already had, but their prices went up because the manufacturers were not allowed to produce any more. Even then, AK-47s and the like were still produced during the time the ban was in effect. It really only banned superficial elements - bayonet lugs, grenade launcher mounts, pistol grips, etc. These weapons made during the ban were simply lacking in a few features that would serve no purpose for anyone intent on killing, they just impeded hobbyists and collectors. For example my friend Gary, among many others, owns an AR-15 and an AK-47, both fully featured because he bought them before the ban came into effect.

Basically, the Clinton ban was a "feel good" law put in place for soccer moms that really didn't ban anything important. I'm glad that it's expired. I mean, bayonet lugs make the entire weapon illegal? When was the last time you heard of a gang war being fought with massed infantry charges?

Finally, I'm willing to bet a very large sum that most crimes involving firearms in the US are committed with 9mm or .45 cal handguns. I'm also willing to bet that almost every one of them is not even registered and was sold illegally through the black market, and I know as a fact that only 2% of crimes invovlving firearms in the US are committed with assault rifles.

**Bonus trivia**
The term "assault rifle" comes from the MP44 that was produced by N**i Germany. It was originally named "Sturmgewehr 44", meaning "Assault Rifle 44"; it was pure propoganda, but the name stuck and that's how we call these armor-penetrating automatics today. Before it entered full-scale production, however, the Stg. 44 was renamed MP44 due to Hitler's unwillingness to produce any weapon that was not a machine pistol.

[Edited on 9/25/2004 8:01:40 AM]

  • 09.25.2004 7:56 AM PDT

Ach! Was ist los?

The StG. 44's designation came about because it was larger than submachine guns such as the MP40 or Thompson M1A1, but smaller than regular automatic rifles such as the M1918A2 BAR. The idea was to give troops a rifle that was light enough to shoot while moving, such as when assaulting a building or trench, or any other situation in which bigger guns couldn't be carried and used quickly enough.

The StG. 44 was hardly a perfect weapon; it was heavy, hard to fire when prone, and the buttstock usually broke when used in hand-to-hand combat. The weapon is most often remembered for inspiring a Soviet tank sergeant named Mikhail Kalashnikov, who based his Automat Kalashnikova Model 1947 on it.

On a related note, the StG. 44 was succeeded by Mauser's StG. 45, which, in the hands of the postwar arms company Heckler and Koch, evolved into the G3 assault rifles and MP5 submachine guns.

--Sgt. Smith would also like to point out that assault rifles really aren't suited for home defense; shotguns are better.

  • 09.25.2004 8:56 AM PDT