In a Boulder, Colorado grocery store a gunman equipped with an AR-15 type assault rifle systematically gunned down 10 innocent people including a policeman who attempted to stop him. As horrible as it was, it could have been worse. The slaughter was limited only by the number of people in the store and their ability to get out of the line of fire because the killer was virtually unlimited by the number of shots he could fire with quick reloads.
There is a reason why so many of those who try to kill as many people as possible chose assault rifles such as the AR-15 and its many copies for their horrendous acts. These rifles were designed for the military with one purpose and one purpose only – to kill people as efficiently as possible. The only important difference between the AR-15 and its military equivalents, the M-16 and M4, is the ability for the military weapons to be switched to three-round bursts or continuous fire. However, that is not a real limitation for a mass shooter who can fire an AR-15 as quickly as he can pull the trigger – 45 to 60 times a minute.
The allure of the weapon is the accuracy of the weapon, the ability to fire many shots without having to reload, and its devastating killing power. The most common magazines for the AR-15 and its equivalents allow a shooter to fire 30 rounds without reloading, but larger magazines including 100 round models are also available. Reloading with another magazine takes only seconds.
However, the real difference between the AR-15 type weapon and a semi-automatic pistol is the damage its bullets can do to the human body. While a projectile shot from a pistol will generally travel straight through a human, when the typical 5.56 mm (.223 caliber) bullet enters the body at speeds much higher than a pistol bullet, it is designed to tumble and disintegrate, obliterating muscle tissue and blood vessels before leaving a huge exit hole. Even if the damage to the body is not initially fatal, the chances that the victim will bleed out before receiving help is significantly increased. Even if the victim survives, the damage is often life-changing.
Practically the only legitimate use for a weapon that can cause that kind of destruction is killing varmints and perhaps feral pigs. However, there are many other rifles that are equally good for that kind of hunting. A legitimate hunter does not need an AR-15 or other assault rifle for that purpose unless he simply wants to pump up his low self-esteem.
Up until now, Republicans in Congress have been able to shut down any attempts to institute sensible gun control measures including attempts to reinstate the ban against civilian possession of assault weapons. Even today with 50-50 Senate it would be extremely difficult, but damn, isn’t it worth another try?
Cajun (Rick Guilbeau) 3/23/2021
Doubledee,
With all my heart, I hope you are right and I am wrong.
But, IMO, waiting for the GOP to self-destruct is misguided.
The Dems need to deliver (i.e. $$$) for the working class and vanishing middle class of America.
If their policies are compromised too much, many in those groups may feel disillusioned, and refrain from voting.
Most folks are not political wonks who post on sites like this, and if they feel ignored by the party, may respond with apathy in return.
Combine that with MASSIVE GOP vote-suppression in many states, and the GOP could come back bigtime in 2024.
GOP does not negotiate in good faith, and wants to limit the Dems’ Keynesian spending (which everybody knows, WORKS), because it will shore-up Dem support.
Unless Manchin softens his hard stance, he can indeed wreck the party’s chances in 2022/24.
I also disagree with those who call Manchin a “centrist”.
No. Pelosi/Schumer are centrist.
Manchin is a conservative.
If Joe Manchin stays hard-line in pursuit of some mythical “bi-partisanship” (which the GOP NEVER pursues when IT is in power), we could be looking at a disaster in 2024.
NEVER have I wished more to be wrong about something.
Nowhere in my comments did I suggest doing nothing and waiting for the republicans to self destruct. I did imply that I believe they were going to do so however.
Have you already forgotten the blockbuster legislation Biden has sent to the Legislature for approval? Biden has proposed far reaching changes that will positively affect all middle and working class folks. This puts the GOP on the horns of a dilemma. They simply cannot approve the two pieces of legislation, nor accept the raise in taxes to the wealthy and the corporate that pay for them.
Instead they will try to cut them to ribbons, delay both the hearings and the vote on the floor of the Senate, and, eventually , vote them both down. Great talking points for democrats , guaranteed to appeal to all working and middle class families.
I believe the various attempts by republican controlled states to make voting while black, brown or yellow, if not impossible, then very difficult must be challenged and much will be overturned.
Remember, if you will, the huge turnout that sponsored this reprehensible attempt to deny people their basic right to vote. Biden crushed Trump and ,if anything, the Trump loyal Republican Party has lost even more ground with voters since then.
I think Manchin and Sinema, both dependent upon support from the party to run successful reelection campaigns , will be persuaded to vote with the party on essential issues.
Remember, the Democrats were not called the ‘big tent party’ for nothing. They have always had both conservatives and progressives, even radical leftists within its ranks and managed to function very well until McConnell an Trump made a mockery of our system.
Nice chatting with you by the way.
“I think Manchin and Sinema, both dependent upon support from the party to run successful reelection campaigns , will be persuaded to vote with the party on essential issues.”
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From your lips to God’s ears!
I pray —- Let it be so!!!!
If that happens without too much compromise,
then we are good to go.
Getting that minimum wage up to $15 would be a biggie, if it can be done. Millions of families would be reminded WITH EVERY PAYCHECK , just which party is
looking out for them.
It’s nice chatting with you as well.
I sense I am probably a bit farther left than you may be.
I think of myself as a proud social-democrat; I was raised by a mother who grew up during the New Deal years and was a big fan of the ND and FDR.
Down through the decades, I have seen nothing to convince me that social democracy isn’t far better than the economics that have developed in the USA, especially since the Reagan years (some call it neoliberalism).
To be honest, my vote last November was AGAINST TRUMP more than it was FOR Biden.
But since, Biden has been a pleasant surprise for me, as I never thought a centrist would want to swing farther left.
Good for him! He’s doing great so far.
I am so glad I was wrong.
I hope I can be just as wrong about GOP failure
in the future.
I really fear them coming to power again (in WH. Senate & House). If they do, we are screwed.
We gotta’ stop ’em — They must be crushed!
Good campaigning is very important, but good polices (that really help people) are the best weapon of all, IMO.
I live in SoCal, BTW.
The CA GOP “recall” is a sick joke, complete BS,
and we are fighting it.
I have confidence it will be utterly demolished at the polls.
CA is (mostly) a sensible state; That’s why I live here.
I think my political bent might surprise you frankly. My goals are at least as far to the left as are yours I suspect.
Having been a political activist for quite a few years now, my first ever action was attending a Ban The Bomb demonstration in DC in my freshman year at Michigan, back in 1961. Admittedly I went more to meet the upper class women attending than for purely political reasons. But I was bitten by the activist bug when, after a sparse turnout on Friday, I found thousands attending on Saturday.
My High School Valedictorian, Robert Mario Savio ( you may have heard of him) and close friend, pushed me to attend, with him, the second Selma to Montgomery march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge and there was no turning back after that.
Enough biography, which I related only to note that, in my decades of activism, slowly evolving into more and more local and community endeavors. The result of which showed my the value of incremental change while keeping the ultimate goal in mind.
As a Green Party member, and socialist , I think we may have more in common than you believe, but may differ on what are the truly effective ways to progress.
I am pointing towards the 2022 mid term election to swing the balance of power towards the democrats as the GOP slowly but inexorably self destructs. I did vote for Biden as I thought Trump had to be defeated
at all costs.
I had a hunch that “Uncle Joe” might surprise a lot of folks , especially with his centrist and corporate leaning background seemed off putting to a lot of voters, as well as his penchant for compromise , which was the way things got done before the GOP went nuts.
Thus far I have been happy with Biden’;s goals and methods.
Good for you!
I just fear the GOP has rigged the system so much, that they can’t be stopped.
IMO, even the last census (benefitting, who else, the GOP) is suspect.
I wish I could be as confident as you are that the GOP will self-destruct.
In a normal country, they would.
I’m just not so sure how “normal” America is
any more, with huge numbers fervently believing garbage like “stop the steal”, QAnon, etc.
Hell, there’s possibly upwards of 150-million who still are certain that tax cuts pay for themselves, and that Reagan was a wonderful president.
Doesn’t give me confidence at all.
(OT)
Things are getting serious with Joe Manchin.
It looks like he may be the guy who destroys the Biden Presidency and opens the way for huge GOP electoral wins
in 2022 and 2024.
The Trump-GOP can just sit back and laugh, as Joe does their toxic work FOR them, and does it well.
Joe’s blockage of Dem policies makes the current GOP weakness irrelevant.
Can this be what the mainstream party wants?
Are they just going to sit there and let Manchin destroy their polices from within the party? Really?
I am uncertain as to why you went off topic with an opinion you are certainly entitled to hold but others equally entitled to reject.
Both Manchen and Sinesma have a penchant for opposing several items in Biden’s agenda certainly , but to think they will wreck this administration and lead to a GOP victory in 2022 may be a bit much.
I believe the coming election will see an increase in democrats hold in both Houses frankly as the republicans have gone completely over the edge . Every poll ever taken shows the majority of voters are progressive on the issues.
Granted there are many who yet support the would be dictator Donald Trump for reasons beyond my ken. But Biden’s showing proves that far more folks are fed up with republican extremism and I think that will manifest itself in the coming mid term election.
A well researched and accurate treatise on one particular type of firearm.
But these instances of madness within our nation, or , more accurately, within us as a species, remain the ultimate problem.
Sure, we can make it harder to kill so many so quickly, but , please think if this is not a sort of stopgap.
We can kill with nuclear weapons pretty darn quickly and damn more efficient that any AR-15. Heck, we can continue to pour carbon and methane into our atmosphere and maybe kill everyone over a certain time frame?
I think that this nation is a far , far ways from banning weapons, maybe limiting magazine size, making waiting periods and background checks mandatory , mandatory gun safety classes are a bit closer , but not very.
Just needed to note that I think being stuck on villifying ( however rightly so) a particular type of firearm aint getting us nowhere. Trying to find out why our species is increasingly insane ( or at least a darn large number of us) may very well be of more value (??)