Why do people want/need AR-15s?

[excalibur]

Well, that didn't stop Iraq from using them or how ISIS has gotten their hands on that shit.

Both Canada and Australia aren't the United States because they don't have a constitution that guarantee the right to bear arms. To have weapons. The very basis of why America has so many guns started with its founding. It fought against the crown to become a country and that act of defiance has defined what America is. That's why the US had to draft a constitution that recognizes the rights of the people. You tell me does Canada or Australia have a government that actually guarantee the rights of its citizens.

[Karha of Honor]

I am a firm believer in the 2nd amendment, but i also do not object to gun regulations. The constitution gives you the right to protect your life, family and property; but you don't need a heavy machine gun to keep a burglar out of your house and you don't need an auto-cannon to keep varmints out of your garden.

There is a certain thrill at handling semi-auto or full-auto weapons. I remember the first time i fired my dad's AK-47(not an original it's a civilian replica) and it was amazing just capping off round after round. Granted, out of 20 rounds i hit the target twice, but it was fun, like shooting bottle rockets or riding a roller coaster.

The riots are an example of how such weapons can be necessary, but unless you are expecting to face a riot every do you really need that kind of fire power?

There is still the government turning really bad...

If the government turns really bad, an AK47 isn't going to help matters much. Hard to aim when you're choking on tear gas or passing out from radiation poisoning. Also very unlikely to help you against a tank.

In the long-ass history of firearms and bad governments, I have not seen much to suggest that the ownership of the former is enough to stop the latter.

Tear gas mostly works against non gun wielding protesters and footbal huligans.

Permanently radiating areas is a bad idea for the side who has those weapons.

Tanks can be avoided, they are not that many of them.

How many countries had as wide spread gun ownership as the US has today?

Have you seen it tried against people with guns? The reason tear gas isn't used in wars is that, as a chemical weapon, it's considered a war crime.

Canada has lots of guns because they live with Moose. Australia has lots of guns because it's fucking Australia.

Is that useful in the woods for example? How much is it in government hands anyways considering i rarely see it used.

[Beastro]

I'll freely admit that I don't have any desire to own or shoot a gun. Perhaps because of this, I don't understand why anyone needs/wants a rifle that can fire as fast as an AR-15 (A quick google indicates it's something like 45 rounds a minute). Given that there are pro-gun people on this board, maybe they can explain why regular people want these kind of weapons?

Because they want one and enjoy possessing and firing one due to their interest in firearms.

I don't understand why anyone would want to own a sports car as my main interests in a vehicle are fuel efficiency, easy, cheap maintenance and good carrying capacity, but I can understand why someone would like to own something I see no appeal in, since we all own such things that interest us.

The issue between firearms and automobiles is a good place to start. Automobiles come with an obligation of good conduct and responsibility for what is done with ones vehicle that goes beyond the legal and government mandated and I feel such sentiment should be taken up by firearms owners, many of whom I know do take gun ownership seriously, but still there is room for improvement. Adam Lanza's mother is a good example of that and how it seems she never factored in the potential danger of people around her to steal her firearms.

Well, that didn't stop Iraq from using them or how ISIS has gotten their hands on that shit.

Both Canada and Australia aren't the United States because they don't have a constitution that guarantee the right to bear arms. To have weapons. The very basis of why America has so many guns started with its founding. It fought against the crown to become a country and that act of defiance has defined what America is. That's why the US had to draft a constitution that recognizes the rights of the people. You tell me does Canada or Australia have a government that actually guarantee the rights of its citizens.

It goes beyond that to the cultural roots of Anglo-Saxons. Like much of American English, a lot of American culture is that of their ancestors going back over a thousand years to the origins of the English people. You take an American back to Anglo-Saxon England, dress him like they dressed back then and change his love of firearms for spears and swords and you're not going to find much different.

It's why I chuckle when I see people amazed at the idea of giving kids firearms to use, like that one US ad, when it ties not only ties into the casual use of firearms by everyone in American society but also how boys were given spears and shields to stand in the local shield wall when they came of age around 13.

That also ties into another relic of their cultural past, Americans are very combative in their own, unique ways (many of which are unhealth or have become unhealthy overtime, mostly in step with their polarization) while the English and British as a whole have always had that as a part of themselves right down little things like the way Parliament seating is structured and the antagonistic way MPs behave that would be looked on as mind boggling reduce and unprofessional by Americans.

There comes with it, however, the clear message of what kind of citizens are those that own firearms. I find most of that kind of talk silly myself, but I appreciate the fundamental sentiment which is at it's heart Si vis pacem, para bellum despite America's historical fear of a standing army.

Permanently radiating areas is a bad idea for the side who has those weapons.

Yes, yes, permanently irradiating areas, just as we all know that Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain uninhabitable to this day - oh wait.

[excalibur]

Like I said, it's deeply rooted in America about how most of us view a government and people who support a controlling government with distrust. Even if it's meaningful and with good intentions to support certain things that feel good, it's that type of short sightness that has lead to tyranny. Sic semper tyrannis is actually something I am hearing more and more these days. People are so sheltered by living in a western country that appears to be democratic and assumes it's not possible to easily vote away their rights and liberty under the guise of good intentions.

That's why people think we're crazy sometimes because we foresee the extreme of what gun control really is who advocates them. They want to control people because deep down the only way to stop the violence is to truly have absolute authority over the people