Why do people want/need AR-15s?

[TGLS]

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?

[excalibur]

Well that is your opinion. If you don't like guns, ok but I don't need to justify to anyone why I have them. Since you've never served in the military, police or recognize that defending your life is not as simple as owning just any gun, you don't have the mindset to understand the why.

The point is you ask the why we should have "insert object"? But the real question is "Are you going to be responsible for it?" It is a personal question not an objective thing.

I'm not going to type out a long winded rant about why I prefer an AR-15 as a defensive tool in my life because you're asking the wrong question. Nor will I explain why "high capacity" magazines are needed, different sizes of guns, calibers etc. Because you're question is not what you're trying to ask. A person's justification for why they want something isn't going to change your mind.

You're not asking from an intellectual standpoint or a technical standpoint on why. You're asking from an emotional reaction standpoint due to circumstances of recent events. And it others that ask such questions will never be satisfy with whatever relevant answers that comes back because it's not the answer they are looking for.

[Darth Wedgius]

Very rarely do people want to buy an AR-15 to fire 45 round in a minute. However, someone might want to fire a burst of several rounds in a couple seconds as a way to put someone out of action (dead, grievously wounded, whatever). However, the capability to fire a few rounds in a second and a half implies the capability to fire 45 rounds in a minute, magazine size allowing.

My car can probably go significantly over 100 MPH, but that's not because I want to drive over 100 MPH. I just don't to take 5 minutes to get from 0 to 65.

[TGLS]

A person's justification for why they want something isn't going to change your mind.

I'm trying to understand where the other side sits. I don't want to do something as lazy and stupid as just writing off the other side as stupid and evil, because I'm certain I'd be wrong. Thank you for your answer all the same.

[excalibur]

A person's justification for why they want something isn't going to change your mind.

I'm trying to understand where the other side sits. I don't want to do something as lazy and stupid as just writing off the other side as stupid and evil, because I'm certain I'd be wrong. Thank you for your answer all the same.

You should try it yourself. Do research, look it up. Go to a local range and rent one and get instructions. Go to a basic rifle class. I've seen all sorts of people from old men to small stature women shoot this weapon and become very proficient at it.

[Admiral X]

AR-15s (or at least the vast majority of them) are a semi-automatic firearm, and thus only fire one round for each trigger pull. There is a way around that with a "bump fire" device, which essentially uses the recoil of the weapon to pull the trigger again without the shooter having to move their finger. Hell, if you're fat enough, you can use your gut for this.


The reason people want this rifle or one like it is because it is light, has very little recoil, and the way its stock is positioned directly behind the action helps to reduce this further, which makes it very easy to aim and keep on target when firing a lot of shots one after the other. It can also hold a lot of ammo with its standard magazine, which makes it ideal for plinking out on the target range, or for defending your life and your property against one or more attackers. A classic example of this is the LA riots, during which some Korean shop owners in a strip mall banded together and defended their shops from would-be looters, using such weapons (if not AR-15s specifically).


youtu.be/OCYT9Hew9ZU

The light weight and recoil of the AR-15s and others like it are also ideal for people with a lighter frame and can't handle something like a full-sized deer rifle or a shotgun (as Joe Biden laughingly suggested would be ideal for home defense). Also they tend to be shorter than those types of weapons, which makes them much easier to use indoors, which makes them ideal for home defense, or your shop, even from multiple aggressors.


youtu.be/bUUKDv85DSY


youtu.be/qzMx3Z5EbQQ

If you watch that second video's first clip, you'll note that the armed robbers were shot more than once, yet still survived, which is a big part of why I'm against magazine limits. When the average person is afraid for their life, they probably aren't focusing on being the most proficient marksman, and wrestling with a longer gun that has a manual action might be asking too much from them.

As for me personally, I suppose I wouldn't mind one, but I prefer historical firearms because I don't really have home defense in mind with them and it isn't a big concern for me since crime is pretty low where I live. So I tend to go for WWI and WWII guns. Probably the most modern weapon I have is a .22 cal Marlin (made in the 1970s sometime), or if you don't count that, the Romanian Tokarev (1956).

[Robovski]

Another reason folk like a rifle is because they cannot legally have a handgun for home/personal defense. I also understand that the AR-15 is a popular target shooting rifle for the many reasons Admiral X cited.

[phantom000]

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?

[excalibur]

It's none of your business what other people uses as long as they are safe and responsible for it.

[Darth Wedgius]

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?

A gun isn't really for when you're expecting trouble, but rather for when there's a reasonable chance of trouble, in the same way that you don't need home insurance just when you think the house is going to burn down. Complicating this are waiting periods; not that waiting periods are necessarily a bad idea overall, but, for example, California has a 10-day waiting period for firearm purchases, and a city can go from zero to riot in less than that. You can ask the rioters to come back in several days, but I think that would work only with very polite rioters. Maybe in Canada?