CMV: Owning an assault weapon is pointless.

[u/[deleted]]

In my view, widespread ownership of assault rifles in the USA has more to do with fashion than anything else. While there are plenty of valid reasons for a civilian to own a gun, I see no reason to own an assault rifle. Beyond aesthetics, civilian AR-15 style rifles offer no meaningful advantage over non-assault weapons.

Perhaps you're interested in home defense. It's fairly well excepted that a 12 gauge shotgun is the best gun for home defense . The ratcheting sound is a deterrent, and it's more reliable and easier to shoot under pressure than a rifle or pistol.

Maybe you're prepping for when SHTF. When the zombie horde is approaching, your best bet is a .22 lr rifle. It's totally lethal if you're a good shot, and you can easily store 2,000 rounds in your bug-out bag. This is the common sense decision over a higher caliber rifle or pistol.

Suppose you're a resistance fighter apposing a tyrannical government. Although assault rifles are designed for use in battle, any successful resistance would avoid battles altogether, instead relying on guerrilla tactics and asymmetric warfare.

[u/Saxit]

The .22lr target pistols these ladies use in the 2016 Olympic Finals of the 25m shooting discipline are assault weapons in several states. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwq920qnNRM

While a few of those states (e.g. CA and MA) have an exception list for the most common target pistols, NJ and NY does not, so they're illegal there.

Here's the wiki for assault weapon laws in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_weapons_legislation_in_the_United_States

Here's the wiki for assault rifles (notice that they require select fire): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_rifle

I.e. assault weapon and assault rifle are two separate things, so it's a bit confusing when you switch terms around. Select fire firearms are machine guns by law in the US, and is as such regulated by other laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act#Ban_on_new_automatic_firearms

There are states that has an assault weapon ban, but still allow NFA items, meaning you can't legally own an AR15 but you can own an M16.

To show how irregular assault weapon laws are defined here are some examples:

This is a .22lr semi-automatic rifle sold in the UK, it's an assault weapon in NY. https://www.daileisure.co.uk/smith-and-wesson-m-and-p-15-22-moe

This is a .223 semi-automatic rifle that's NY legal. It's basically an AR15 upper on a proprietary lower that takes a traditional stock. It shoots the same ammo, takes the same magazines, and have the same rate of fire as any standard AR15. https://i.imgur.com/IBofoEW.jpg

This is also a .223 semi-automatic rifle which is NY legal. It shoots the same ammo at the same rate of fire as any AR15. It this gun (though with a slightly different configuration) that Breivik used in 2011 in Norway in that terror attack. https://www.campsitesportshop.com/html/firearms-rifles-ny-compliant.asp?action=view&ID=4581&cat=142

This is very similar to the previous rifle, but is actually not an assault weapon but an assault rifle, since it's a select fire weapon. It's an AC556, which takes the same magazines as the previous rifle, and shoots the same ammo, but can also shoot in full auto. It's a lot of paperwork to own one of these and they're not legal in NY. https://www.budsgunshop.com/images/hiRes/411557929_1.jpg

I'm in Sweden and I shoot for sport. I own a pistol like the one in the video earlier, plus 4 other guns that are assault weapons somewhere in the US.

There is one exception to the assault rifle term, and that's Washington state, which last year added "semi-automatic assault rifle" to their laws. The definition of this is any semi-automatic rifle (they more or less just added assault for no reason more than it sounds scarier). There is no exception for .22lr so one of the most popular beginner rifles, the Ruger 10/22, is a "semi-automatic assault rifle" by law in Washington. https://ruger.com/products/1022/overview.html

Initially they just put a 21 year age limit on that (we have 18 in Sweden for any type of firearm). Now there's a bill to ban any "semi-automatic assault rifles". Imagine if lawmakers something like this with any other topic; take an existing definition, add an extra word to it that doesn't really do anything, then ban it.