

The AR-15, the Most Wanted Gun in America - OGinparadise
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/business/the-ar-15-the-most-wanted-gun-in-america.html?_r=0

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compee
The question to ask from here (for you US readers) -- why ban american
civilians from owning the same types of weapons as the government allows the
military to? In the spirit of the constitution it seems as though our founding
fathers would have wanted us, the american people, the same rights to own any
type of weapon the government has access to^ for reasons of protecting the
people against (potential) attacks from our government; if there is an
inequality in weaponry available there is an induced inequality of power.

^Fixed typo

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stcredzero
Also, given that the 2nd amendment puts this in the context of a "well
regulated militia," why not put wait list and verification requirements on
buyers who come off the street, but also enable gun ownership through state-
sponsored (as opposed to federal) militia groups? This way, gun ownership
comes in a social/civic context.

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carsongross
Why not kick the _whole_ problem down to where it constitutionally belongs:
the states. The constitution is gob-smackingly clear on the issue: the federal
government is not to restrict the right to keep and bear arms. It's also clear
(but denied, depending on the issue in question, by both the right and the
left) that the states can do whatever they damned well please in order to
maintain what their people feel is a well trained (that is, "well regulated")
militia, from tight restrictions on gun ownership, to allowing automatic
weapons.

I dunno, maybe Texas should be free to be Texas, and New York can go ahead and
be New York.

If the states just left each other alone, The Big Sort would take care of 99%
of these issues. Of course, there isn't much money in that...

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jmillikin
State governments are also subject to the bill of rights, and that's a damned
good thing.

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rdl
The amazing thing about the AR is that you can get a stripped lower for $60-80
or so, which is technically "the rifle" for the purposes of regulation --
every other piece is just an unregulated accessory.

For about $10k in business start-up costs and recordkeeping, and either
outsourced manufacturing or maybe $100k in machine shop, you can turn $10-15
into $60 (normally) or $150 (now) all day long.

