Obama: AK47's Belong in the Hands of Soldier's NOT Criminals

[Grassy Knoll]

***JUMP To 4:15 For That Statement****

[TouchOfGray]

1. Oh great, I wonder if he knows that our soldiers doesn't use the AK47

Because the right wing will sure be all over him about in the morning.

[Drunken Irishman]

2. I'm sorry, but I can't get past your awful grammatical error...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. They're going to criticize him for not being a gun nut like them.

I suppose next they'll claim the really patriotic way of honoring the troops is to be armed and dressed just like they are.

I guess it's celebrity worship like when women all ran out and got Farrah Fawcett haircuts.

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[HopeHoops]

11. They do in Afghanistan. They don't jam as much and there's ammo everywhere.

[gregoire]

3. They don't

And hunting rifles are even more powerful so they even more so don't.

[spin]

5. It was as usual a great speech but I fear Obama made a mistake by ...

saying AK47s belong in the hands of soldiers rather than citizens. Technically I agree with him as the AK47 is indeed a select fire military weapon. Very, very few such weapons are in the hands of American citizens and are tightly regulated.

The news media often portrays semi-automatic AK-type rifles which are legal to buy in many states as fully automatic assault rifles which is a a lot like comparing a Mustang that you can buy at at car dealership to a 900 hp NASCAR stock car.

Semi-automatic assault style rifles are very popular in the U.S. and are used for target shooting, hunting and self defense in rural areas. In many states there are limitations on the size of the magazine (clip to some) that you can legally use while hunting deer, often five rounds. I agree that it is not necessary to have a 30 round magazine to hunt deer as if you fail to drop your game on the first shot your chances go rapidly downhill from there. A couple of follow up shots may be effective but spray to 20 or 30 rounds at a running target could endanger other hunters you are not aware of. (I heard two stories many years ago of hunters who had to duck for cover when some fool emptied a 20 round magazine at a running deer and they were downrange.)

The NRA will probably use Obama's comment on AK47s to try to scare gun owners into voting for Romney as this organization will say this proves Obama will turn into a "gun grabber" in his second term. This may or may not be successful as Romney is hardly a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment despite that fact that he is playing one today. Obama's statement will gain support from the very liberal wing of the Democratic Party but they will vote for Obama anyhow.

What I do fear most is that Obama's statement will cause many gun owners to vote for Republican candidates in the Congressional races. Of course this would make little difference in more liberal states but could cause many Democrats in the red states to lose their election even when they actually do strongly support the 2nd amendment and have a high rating from the NRA. This might ensure that the Republicans maintain control of the House and possibly allow them to gain the majority in the Senate or to gain several seats.

With the exception of that one statement I agree with Obama's position on gun control that he expressed in the speech.

We do need to have a rational discussion on gun control and both sides of the issue need to try to work together to implement and improve our existing system of regulating gun sales.

[Junkdrawer]

7. Bump stocks, tech triggers, and now rubber bands....

Those clever NRA types have made it necessary to ban "semi-automatic rifles"...

So now any gun which uses recoil to reload the round needs to be banned - unless it can be shown that the single shot trigger can't be defeated with a rubber band.

Ya did it to yourselves.

[spin]

8. The idea of banning all semi-auto firearms is politically impossible at this time. ...

You also have to understand that an extremely large number of such firearms currently exists in civilian hands.

I will admit that I have been disturbed by watching the videos on bump firing and the rubber band trick. I had never heard about these techniques until a couple of months ago. I will also agree that it is the best argument I've seen for the gun control side to use against the sale of semi-auto assault style rifles.

Unfortunately while publicizing how easy it is to use rubber band technique for bump firing might work to get another assault weapons ban, it could also lead to some nut job going full auto in a crowded area. Once again that might be great for the gun control crowd but let's both pray that it never happens.

The first time I seen some of these videos on Youtube I thought to myself that I would have never made such a video. It was irresponsible.

[Junkdrawer]

9. Let me share part of a PM I sent BEFORE I posted:

I'm conflicted about posting any of this.

On the one hand, the gunners ALWAYS try to make "semi-automatic" a non sequitur. In fact, as long as you have a clip that reloads the next round, it's insanely easy to go fully auto.

On the other hand, I don't want to educate copy cats.

In the end, it was the 300,000 + view count on YouTube that tipped the balance. Clearly it was out there and exposure seemed to me the best disinfectant.

[spin]

10. Sometimes people do the dumbest things on YouTube. ....

I feel videos describing how to bump shoot by using a rubber band are irresponsible at the least.

[sasha031]

6. Thank you President Obama