I’ve read a number of the arguments for the legality of “assault weapons”.  What are those exactly?  As with anything polarizing, there’s even an argument over what they should be called & what weapons are indeed assault weapons, much less their necessity, but the majority consensus is that an assault weapon is a rifle, not a pistol, although Federal guidelines include them also, and it’s semi-automatic & can fire multiple rounds quickly via magazine.  It can also be modified to be fully automatic or essentially/virtually fully-automatic.  So I will use the term “assault rifle”, and if I refer to “these/those weapons” or “assault weapons”, I’m speaking of assault rifles.  I do not consider a typical semi-automatic pistol like a 9mm or its cousins as an assault weapon and neither should you, but I agree than a MAC-10 and its related pistol submachine cousins like the Uzi, all of which fire pistol ammo are indeed assault weapons.  I’m going to include them in the term “assault rifle”, and I know those latter items can be fired with 1 hand & function like a large semi-automatic pistol.

I haven’t seen any valid arguments for using these weapons in hunting or any other sporting endeavor.  I agree that I’d like to have one if encountering a pair of grizzlies or a pack of mountain lions, but they can also be stopped effectively with a large-caliber, semi-automatic pistol.  I also see no necessity to guard your property with an assault weapon, as revolvers, shotguns, bolt-action rifles & semi-automatic pistols do a fine job of that.

The main argument I tend to see is the alleged necessity for citizens to be able to protect themselves against an invasion by a foreign government or terrorists, civil insurrections & riots, or to fight our own government should it become tyrannical.

Although it would be nice to have a fully-automatic weapon or semi-automatic assault rifle or sub-machine pistol under these circumstances above, I don’t buy into any of these scenarios as making them a necessity, and certainly not enough to continue to overload our landscape with these weapons, making it easier for a lunatic to get & use one.  We will not be able to defend ourselves any better as we’ll be going up against a foe with more firepower & manpower in all likelihood, and as far as small terrorist cells, we can fight back with standard semi-automatic pistols that fit in your pocket, or shotguns & standard rifles.  This is simply paranoid penis-waiving macho bravado.

I believe all owners of assault weapons should have to turn them in for their market value before the banning is implemented, and make owning them as big a crime as owning fully-automatic weapons.  The 2nd Amendment was enacted to stock a militia, not every gun owner in America, and one day SCOTUS will rule that way once enough states get on board with similar legislation.  We’ll still be able to get “standard” firearms, but the assault weapons will eventually become a dark chapter of American history.