Civilian semiautomatic assault weapons incorporate all of the functional design features that make assault weapons so deadly. They are arguably more deadly than military versions, because most experts agree that semiautomatic fire is more accurate—and thus more lethal—than automatic fire.
Violence Policy Center
Bullet Hoses
2003
[Who would have thought? They would rather we had fully automatic firearms rather than those deadly semi-auto ones. It would follow they would rather we owned cheap, inaccurate, handguns (aka “Saturday Night Specials”). But that would require they think logically about the issues. People with Mental Problems have difficulty doing that so don’t expect it anytime soon.–Joe]
Taking their argument to its logical conclusion then; a precision single-shot rifle is most deadly of all, as it can be used for deliberate, accurate, long-distance shots using powerful cartridges.
I guess we’ll have to rewrite NFA ’34 to “tax” single shots into oblivion and lift the restrictions on machineguns.
For further study, I wonder if anyone could ever get these antis to spell out in complete detail the exact set of restrictions that would satisfy them to the point where they would declare victory, shut their mouths once and for all, and close up shop. My guess is there’s no such thing for them. What they’re doing is a process. It has no end goals. Once they get what they want, they go for more. If all guns and ammunition carried an instant death penalty for possession, they’d go for something else.
They’re just laying the groundwork for the next class of guns to be banned.