Debate: Why own a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle like the one used in Newtown, Conn.?
The victims of the Newtown, Conn., tragedy were all shot with a Bushmaster .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle - a rifle that is legal to own in Pennsylvania.
Debate: Why own a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle like the one used in Newtown, Conn.?
This post has been updated.
The victims of the Newtown, Conn., tragedy were all shot with a Bushmaster .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle — a rifle that is legal to own in Pennsylvania.
The gun is a civilian version of the military’s M-16 and often seen at marksmanship competitions. It’s similar to the weapon used in the 2002 sniper killings in the Washington, D.C., area and in a recent shopping mall shooting in Oregon.
Versions of the AR-15 were outlawed in the United States under the 1994 assault weapons ban. That law expired in 2004, and Congress, in a nod to the political clout of the gun-rights lobby, did not renew it.
But, whether it’s legal or not, does anyone really need to own such a high-powered gun?
Bob Kostaras, owner of Classic Pistol in Southampton, Bucks County, and Shira Goodman, executive director of CeaseFirePA, debate that question:
Kostaras: “We have an indoor target range. We have people here all day shooting them. People enjoy it. They’re not prepping for end of the world, they just enjoy shooting them. For some, it’s a social thing, it’s a sport. Any weapon, a baseball bat, a car with a drunk driver behind the wheel, is much more dangerous and much more liable to kill somebody. Unfortunately, this person was mentally unstable and had access to the firearm that should have been kept out of his reach.”
Goodman: “Maybe this isn’t something that everybody should just be able to have access to.... Since there is access to them, that adds to the stream of guns that can then become illegal guns. Types of weapons that are available is a problem, but I believe it’s only part of the problem, because certainly we’ve seen much devastation with handguns or other kinds of rifles that people might have for the more legitimate hunting purposes or personal-protection purposes. I don’t think it’s just a matter of types of weaponry available.… Because citizenry has access to that type of weapon and it can be sold easily, it makes it more dangerous for when those guns fall into the wrong hands.”
Kostaras: "You don’t find your normal, responsible people getting in trouble for owning guns. They’re not dangerous in the right hands. They are in the wrong hands, but so is a car.... Criminals don't go to the gun store and buy the gun. They're not following the laws you and I follow, so they're not bound by them.... This is a terrible tragedy.”
Goodman: "The trouble with the original [assault-weapons] ban from 1994 to 2004 was the way the weaponry was defined, so it was easy to make modifications to certain things, then have weapons that may have complied with the letter of the law, but not exactly the spirit. I think we need to look at what it is we’re actually trying to prevent.... It’s about making sure that law-abiding gun owners are responsible for securing their weapons.”
- It's called the bill of RIGHTS, not the bill of what you think we NEED or WANT.
— 172pilot 
Comment removed.- Not condone, but defend. When someone tries to take something away from you, isn't it natural to try to keep it? — DonQ
- Constitutional right, honey. — URANIUM235
- Rosie O,
Do you own a chef's knife? A car? A basball bat? A chainsaw? A ball point pen? These are all legal things to own and yet you can still kill plenty of people with any of one these things. Everything is a weapon with the potential to kill in the hands of a person that wants to kill.— Wildman Bill - Crazy person broke into a school in China last week with a knife. 22 injuries- 0 deaths.
Your equivalence argument (assault rifle = a ball point pen) is downright stupid. Do you really believe your own nonsense?— carl and sons - It's all frickin BS until it's your kid dead.— Tkat
- Yes, surely they would have never died if it wasn't for the evil AR-15. It's not like he was carrying sidearms or anything.... — spillthewine
- Has anyone else figured out why Mrs Lanza bought two very expensive handguns and a top-shelf M-16 clone? Perhaps because her son was too young to buy them himself? A permissive mother obeying the whim of a mentally disturbed son. One cannot describe a more dangerous situation, but it actually happened.
BTW, laws prohibiting the mentally ill from using guns would not have prevented this tragedy. Lanza was not adjudicated mentally ill by a court of law, therefore his condition was not known outside of himself, his mother and his doctors.— DonQ - The Constitution says you have the right to be speedily informed that you're children have been murdered...— ClarkU
- As a gun owner, I'm having difficulty answering this question, whatever I write or think sounds idiotic in the aftermath of this tragedy.— gtb513
- Comment removed.
- Rosie,
But WHY do the police need them? If the police need them against bad guys, then why doesn't the public have the right to also protect themselves from those same bad guys?
You have no right to tell me to rely on the police for protection because the police will rarely protect you in a gun fight.
The police in Connecticut did not protect those children. So relying on the police is stupid.
Second, the purpose of owning those weapons is also to protect us from the government and police. That's what the Founding Fathers intended.
The fact that you think the police are your friend and will protect you shows how pathetic you are. The police have no legal obligation to protect you. But you're too stupid to even know that.
— URANIUM235 - "the police have no legal obligation to protect you." you are correct. in the aftermath of the la riots a person sued the la police department because his call for help went unanswered. it went to the supreme court of the United States - the ruling was that the police are not obligated to protect the person, their responsibility is to protect society in general. in other words 911 does not protect you but a firearm will. — 41Mag
