Oh wow.

[luzribeiro]

If you think that mansplaining about "not assault weapons" and "assault weapons" in light of today's events in Las Vegas is going to be helpful in discussing the huge gun violence problem the USA has, you are the problem.

50+ dead, 400+ taken to hospitals.

Save us all the wisdom you need to share about the bullshit you believe.

This is how these guys handle everything - by dragging us out into the weeds of the mansplains rather than actually addressing the issues.

Don't be a dick.

Comments

[fridi]

"The possession of modern automatic weapons has been illegal in the US since the 1960's"

What a power grab!!! How did you freedom-loving folks allow this to happen?!!1!

[policraticus]

Eh. For my money, the difference between an automatic and semi-automatic is moot. Truly automatic fire is only effective at keeping an enemy's head down. They are very hard to aim. Effective fire is almost always semi-automatic. That is why the US Army uses a three round burst, rather than full auto, for their rifles. Of course, when your target is 20,000 closely packed unsuspecting civilians, that equation changes.

Registration of firearms was introduced on the Federal level in the 1930's after the St Valentine's Day Massacre and the general lawlessness of the Prohibition era. In 1968 there was an important Supreme Court case, Haynes v. US, that declared much of the Fire Arms Act unconstitutional. Congress quickly rewrote the law and included a total ban on the sale or possession of any fully automatic weapon manufactured after 1963(I think). To own an antique, operable, automatic weapon is a feat of herculean effort costing tens of thousands of dollars and requiring years of paperwork and background checks. Until Mandalay Bay I don't think an automatic weapon has been used during a crime since the 60's. Their use is so uncommon I'm not sure you can draw any statistics from it.