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Assault weapon owners cite diverse reasons for owning the guns
Rapid City Journal ^ | 22 dec 2012 | Aaron Orlowski

Posted on 12/22/2012 11:32:10 AM PST by rellimpank

In the wake of the deadly Connecticut school shooting last week, one question has repeatedly surfaced in the Black Hills and across much of the country: Why would anyone want to own an assault weapon?

One thing is clear — the high-powered rifles capable of shooting multiple rounds in a hurry are in high demand. After President Barack Obama said this week he would push to renew a ban on purchasing the rifles, local gun-shop owners said the weapons have been flying off their shelves.

Meanwhile, gun owners in Rapid City cite diverse reasons for purchasing the weapons. Some say they are durable and accurate; a few see them as a financial investment or a way to exercise their constitutional rights; while others point to their value in self-protection or in the fun of target shooting.

Whatever the reason, assault-rifle owners are committed to the weapon.

"There is something kind of zen-like in setting up a bench and trying to put

(Excerpt) Read more at rapidcityjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: South Dakota
KEYWORDS: banglist; guncontrol; rkba; secondamendment
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To: buwaya

Would high cap mags really make a substantial difference in these mass-shooting scenarios? Unless the people you’re shooting at are able to shoot back, taking an extra few seconds to change mags doesn’t seem like it’s going to change the outcome much.


41 posted on 12/22/2012 12:51:32 PM PST by tacticalogic ("Oh, bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: Joe 6-pack

2-legged or 4-legged feral hogs?


42 posted on 12/22/2012 12:52:50 PM PST by bt_dooftlook (Democrats - the party of Amnesty, Abortion, and Adolescence)
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To: rellimpank

Let me give you all some food The FBI defines mass murder as being an event where there are 4 or more fatal victims. Out of a population of 313 million, some of which committed a little over 9,000 murders with firearms in 2012. 6-8 of those incidents were mass murders.

What this means is that if you exclude 6-8 mass murders, almost all of the 9,000+ other murders killed less than 3 people per event. No doubt the majority of events produce one victim.

My point is that neither so-called assault weapons or hi-cap mags played any role in our crime rate.

We could magically snap our fingers and remove all the assault weapons with hi-cap mags and that 9,000+ number would remain the same. I don’t know how many were used, but they gave no advatage to their shooters who were only killing 1,2 or 3 people at a time. This could be done with a 5 shot revolver.

I have an old jeep and it has a 500 hp engine. I clearly don’t need this, but I don’t want to give it up just because I don’t need it.


43 posted on 12/22/2012 12:54:40 PM PST by umgud (No Rats, No Rino's)
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To: rellimpank

I own all of my guns simply because I can - any more questions?


44 posted on 12/22/2012 12:54:46 PM PST by WorkerbeeCitizen (reasonable gun control is hitting what you aim for)
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To: Darksheare
>>> Pretty much anything that makes libs pee themselves is liable to be classed as an assault weapon.

You got that right. Even a clenched fist is scary to libs.

Except the New BP types wielding billy clubs (or worse) and gubmint/union thugs. ‘Cause they are there to ‘help us’.

We are no longer a free society. Pretty soon even thinking un-pure thoughts will be outed.

45 posted on 12/22/2012 12:55:13 PM PST by Sir Napsalot (Pravda + Useful Idiots = CCCP; JournOList + Useful Idiots = DopeyChangey!)
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To: JW1949
To the MSM and liberals, any weapon that “looks” like a military weapon is an “assault” weapon....

If you describe it as a "22 rifle", you get a completely different response.

46 posted on 12/22/2012 1:04:08 PM PST by okie01
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To: mnehring

I use a .223 to hunt aircraft carriers.


47 posted on 12/22/2012 1:04:49 PM PST by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it)
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To: Travis McGee; All
An assault ANYTHING

I mean .. a pencil is an assault weapon .. a bobby pin .. a friggin' fist, fer cryin' out load.

America is SO done.

48 posted on 12/22/2012 1:12:03 PM PST by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: rellimpank

What I want to know is why anyone would call my nice, peaceful firearms “Assault Weapons”? They haven’t assaulted anyone under my watch.


49 posted on 12/22/2012 1:13:06 PM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: rellimpank

I bet the Tutsi population of Rwanda wished they had had some assault weapons. A lot of them were hacked to death with machetes because soldiers did not want to waste their bullets on them.


50 posted on 12/22/2012 1:15:19 PM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: ctdonath2

Anybody asks me this question I refer them to the movie “Panic Room” with Jodie Foster and Dwight Yoakum. Most have seen it, and I simply say “if I’m attacked by three men in my house I could easily need 20 rounds to hold them off until help arrives.” People just don’t want to believe something like Sandy Hook or Panic Room could happen to them, so they shut it out. Face reality people.


51 posted on 12/22/2012 1:16:32 PM PST by ez (When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.)
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To: IncPen

Exactly! And that’s why I am so concerned about people even suggesting that there is something to discuss or negotiate because if you believe there is something to negotiate then you put yourself in a position to justify it’s very existence.


52 posted on 12/22/2012 1:18:57 PM PST by Obadiah
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To: buwaya
The burst or automatic mode in military rifles is pretty much irrelevant as to the deadliness of these rifles.

I agree with everything you wrote. However it does not invalidate anything in my post.

An AR15 is not a functional assault weapon because it is not capable of full auto or burst fire.

The reporting is deficient because reporter refers to the rifle using an incorrect adjective.

It is similar to calling fire truck a tow truck because it has a similar engine and chasse and it is capable of pulling a car out of the mud.

53 posted on 12/22/2012 1:20:17 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: rellimpank

The way our government is going.........we need all the firepower we can get our hands on.


54 posted on 12/22/2012 1:21:09 PM PST by MachIV
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To: mnehring

Did you know that those bullets can pierce organs, sever arteries, and shred tissue and bones? It’s true. I read it in the New York Daily News.


55 posted on 12/22/2012 1:21:48 PM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: umgud
Let me give you all some food

Libtards are too ignorant, irrational and emotional to comprehend simple facts and statistics.

56 posted on 12/22/2012 1:24:25 PM PST by Alaska Wolf (Carry a Gun, It's a Lighter Burden Than Regret)
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To: Travis McGee
"Can anybody promise me that the govt will never turn tyrannical in the next fifty four or so years?

There, fixed it. I've only been paying attention since Ruby Ridge and Waco but I'm more concerned now than ever.

Those atrocities showed me that the federal government could slaughter American men, women and children whose only crime was exercising their God given Constitutioal rights and a majority of the population would just shrug their shoulders and look away.

57 posted on 12/22/2012 1:24:50 PM PST by Eagles6 (Valley Forge Redux)
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To: tacticalogic

People like Dianne Feinstein don’t understand that or won’t face the facts. I think they would like to ban any weapon that has magazine, which would be almost every semi-auto that there is.


58 posted on 12/22/2012 1:29:46 PM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: tacticalogic

It seems like it should, to some degree.
If for instance magazines are limited to 10 rounds that should reduce the rate of aimed fire by maybe 50%. It is easy to shoot at least 5 rounds in the time it takes to change a magazine.


59 posted on 12/22/2012 1:29:52 PM PST by buwaya
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To: Scoutmaster

This is not actually a stupid statement.
Aircraft carriers exist because there is a state and a society capable of putting sufficient resources to making and operating them.
.223 rifles, in sufficient numbers and in the right hands, are a way to make that society incapable of operating aircraft carriers.


60 posted on 12/22/2012 1:35:02 PM PST by buwaya
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