You all act like getting a weapon is easy. You act like some random Joe can come home to work, go to a gun store, ask for a gun and then get one. It's simply not the case. The average person does not have the amount of money to buy a gun in this economy. They would rather spend it on groceries and a new TV then a .45 and some ammo.
Not to mention it's not "Hey, can I get the AR-15 right there?" "Sure got the cash? Good, here you go!" You actually have to present I.D., and pass a background check. Well then you say, why can criminals legally buy in some cases? There's background checks! Well the thing is, you don't fail a background test unless you've been caught. I could murder someone, not get caught, then buy a gun. We aren't living in Minority Report. We can't predict who does crime and when they'll do it.
Sure I agree that maybe people with mental illnesses shouldn't get weapons, but you can't prevent that. Many gunman seem socially awkward. It's not until they step over that line that they become the identifiable killer, and by that time ten people are dead. I can bet many people on the Flood are socially awkward, yet I can pretty much guarantee that none of you are going to commit gun crime.
So what makes an AR-15 more deadly than any other gun? Cause it looks scary? Since when did looks kill? By the way the hot blonde neighbor does not count. Anyone who proposes an "Assault Weapons" ban is misinformed. That is the fact. There is nothing that makes this so called 'Assault Weapon' more deadly than your average handgun. In fact in most states you are required to be 21 to purchase a handgun, while only 18 to purchase a rifle.
Let us be honest here. You guys say you want to put mass shootings on the decline, right? If so then keep doing what we have been for the past decade. Mass shootings are on the decline and it's not because of weapon bans or anything like that. It's because of concealed carry gun laws. It's an increase in media. If your so content on infringing on constitutional rights then restrict the media. They do the most damage by sending people into paranoia, causing copy-catters, and bending the truth. It doesn't matter whether it's Conservative, or Liberal. They're both bad.
Ask yourself this. Are you afraid of the responsible gun owner with an AR-15? Or are you afraid of the criminal with a knife? Who would you rather live near? Statistics show that someone on your street owns a gun, are you afraid of them just because they own a gun? There are millions of responsible gun owners in the U.S. alone. Hell probably even in my state, with hundreds of thousand responsible gun owners in my metroplex alone. Out of those millions of people in the country who own guns legally (by legally I mean they went to a shop, went through a background check and purchased the gun, not straw-man gun owning), there are less than a thousand criminals. Of all those gun owners, maybe ten are even remotely likely to go on a mass shooting. Maybe ten.