LogFAQs > #910302602

Like, has anyone ever changed your viewpoints or opinions on something?

I had a co-worker ask me on Facebook why "[I] needed a fully-automatic machine gun assault rifle if I'm not going to war."

(Personal story in asterisks.)

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I stayed patient with him and explained that the AR-15 is not fully-automatic, an assault rifle, OR a machine gun, and that fully-automatic and burstfire weapons are completely illegal in this country, with the only exception being a pre-1986 weapon that requires extensive background checks (like 6 months worth), a Class III Tax Stamp and your name on a government list for the transfer and as long as you own the weapon, and the gun costing up to $40,000. I explained to him that even the M16 and M4 rifle and carbine that ARE assault-rifles and are based on the AR-15 platform are not "machine guns", they are assault rifles. Machine guns are open bolt and designed for sustained fire, and are often (but not always) belt fed. The U.S. government considers anything faster than one round per trigger pull to be a "machine gun", but that's incorrect. If I rigged my side by side double barrel shotgun to fire two shells with one trigger pull (as opposed to pulling both triggers at once, which is legal), it would be an "illegal machine gun."

I explained various scenarios where a reliable and accurate carbine or rifle with decent magazine capacity would be a better weapon to have than a shotgun (my usual home defense gun.) I also explained how they want to ban a gun that fires a tiny 5.56x45mm NATO round, which is one of the smallest rifle rounds in existence, but they are fine with me keeping a 12 gauge shotgun like a farmer... which has Magnum 00 Buckshot in 12 Gauge which is literally capable of cutting another human being in half with a single trigger pull.

After that, he changed his views a little bit, and then asked him to teach him how to shoot. So, I took him to the range after going over gun safety with him and... he completely 180'd. He's talking about buying a gun now, and says he is mad that the media poisoned him with fear of the "scary" AR-15s.

*****

As for me, I can't think of any personal examples, but I know it has happened before. Someone further educated me on something and I had to take a step back and think "Wow, I might be wrong about this..."
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