Assault rifles, crazy people, and the constitution

Sit down, kids. We're going to have a little lesson about "assault rifles." And crazy people. And the constitution.

First, the assault rifles. 

If you think being scary/cool looking makes a gun an assault rifle, you're an idiot. If you think a gun's cosmetic features somehow make it more dangerous than a regular wood-stock rifle with the same features, I'm surprised you can tie your own shoes.

Military-style assault weapons have one big difference from civilian rifles. They have a fully automatic or burst-fire feature. Civilian hunting rifles, even the AR-15 and the .223 used at Sandy Hook, have no automatic or burst feature. They are no different than a hand-gun. Hell, they both fire 5.56 mm rounds (not interchangeable but the rounds are roughly the same), which are smaller than some handgun rounds.

Banning cosmetically threatening-looking guns will not solve the problem that has settled on our fair country. People will just use other guns. Then, when you ban those guns, they will use the shit under their kitchen sink and make gas bombs or explosives to kill people. Or they'll buy a 6 dollar bottle of booze at the liquor store and make a Molotov cocktail. Or whackos will run into movie theaters with machetes and swords and start hacking people.

It's not the guns. Crazy people are crazy people, and if they want to commit mass murder they will find a way to do so whether they have guns or not. Crazy people do not see "gun-free zone" signs, or at least they don't obey them. Neither do criminals. It's an old one, but that doesn't make it less true: take away guns from law-abiding citizens, and the only ones that will have guns are the criminals. 

CRIMINALS. DO NOT. OBEY. LAWS. Legislating guns will not solve this problem!

Additionally, the 2nd amendment guarantees each and every law-abiding American citizen the right to bear arms. Why? So that some day, when our government finally becomes so corrupt and disgusting that the people can't stand it anymore, the people can arm themselves and revolt. Is that going to happen soon? Probably not. But it could happen someday, and I'd rather that the military and the police aren't the only ones with guns when it does.

So, in closing, let's take a long look at mental healthcare in this country and stop worrying about the millions of gun owners in this country who have owned guns for years and never committed mass murder.