The problem with DMan's argument about
responsible use is that the only
responsible uses for an
assault weapon are those that are not germane to a
stable society when performed by
citizens. If I use an
MP5 to raid my local
crack house, I may be doing the
right thing (and putting the gun to the
urban combat application for which it was designed), but I'm still going to be arrested for being a
vigilante. As I stated in
another node, the issue is how much
killing power we as a group are willing to grant to
individuals not answerable to the community.
Additionally, arguments about the ease of procurement of assault weapons are generally meaningless, no matter who uses them. Gun control advocates gloss over the fact that stricter gun control laws usually punish people who are already abiding the law. Gun control opponents who say that assault weapons are already difficult to procure are glossing over the fact that the weapons are usually procured by criminals anyway. The M-16, for example, has become a favorite among drug smugglers, not that American gun laws can control this.