![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Dear journalists
Dec. 17th, 2012 11:33 amPlease stop using the phrase "high-caliber assault weapons".
The caliber isn't relevant to whether a gun is an assault weapon or not. Many assault weapons are low caliber (eg. M16 or AR15). Using this phrase marks you as ignorant about firearms and gives NRA types an excuse to discount anything else you may have to say on the subject of guns.
I think it should be at least as hard to get a firearms license as a driver's license*. Untracked gun sales should be be eliminated. Defining assault weapons will be as difficult as defining high-performance cars. I think attempts to regulate assault weapons won't work. The definition will likely be too broad or too narrow. Also, the gun manufacturers will create new products that fall just shy of any line that is drawn. That's what happened last time.
*and getting mental health care should be easier than getting guns or cars.
The caliber isn't relevant to whether a gun is an assault weapon or not. Many assault weapons are low caliber (eg. M16 or AR15). Using this phrase marks you as ignorant about firearms and gives NRA types an excuse to discount anything else you may have to say on the subject of guns.
I think it should be at least as hard to get a firearms license as a driver's license*. Untracked gun sales should be be eliminated. Defining assault weapons will be as difficult as defining high-performance cars. I think attempts to regulate assault weapons won't work. The definition will likely be too broad or too narrow. Also, the gun manufacturers will create new products that fall just shy of any line that is drawn. That's what happened last time.
*and getting mental health care should be easier than getting guns or cars.
