ok, more FALSE reporting by the LIBERAL MEDIA!!!!! The ar 15 was NOT!!!! found in the school. CONFIRMED by the police.
Bob S - 11 years ago
Its so typical that David Gregory was condescending toward the NRA guy on Sunday re: the NRA's proposal to have armed personnel in schools, when (a) Bill Clinton proposed the same thing years ago and the media supported him, and (b) Gregory's kids go to a private school with lots of security including armed personnel. Liberal hypocrites. But then I repeat myself.
Heat - 11 years ago
In addition, "AR" does NOT stand for "automatic rifle"- it stands for ArmaLite, the company that originally manufactured the rifle. Do you own research, guys- don't let the firearms illiterate, mainstream media feed you their lies. The truth is available to all of you- if you look for it....
Heat - 11 years ago
Is MSNBC intentionally trying to mislead in the description by using the term "automatic"?
Because that is NOT what this rifle is, for the record.
LPeters - 11 years ago
I can't believe what I'm reading on here.
Any firearm is designed to fire a projectile. End of story. It's what the human decide to do with it is what matters.
Assigning a characteristic, such as "assault" to a piece of plastic and metal, implies that it's more than an inanimate object.
There are people with bolt action rifles who can operate them as quickly as a semi-automatic action. Takes practice, but it's achievable.
As long as there are people who are willing to kill, these arguments are a waste of time.
jkiger - 11 years ago
"Assault rifle (A.R.)" is just a marketing term someone made up to sell guns. The AR style is probably the best selling rifle of late in the US. Obviously this is because good Americans have an overwhelming desire to protect their country from enemies foreign and domestic. Obviously there are a lot of domestic enemies to our constitutional republic recently, that are bent on making us subjects instead of citizens. These guns are not for hunting or crime protection, they are our final last ditch line of resistance to tyranny.
na - 11 years ago
Hosts and guests on MSNBC consistently use incorrect terminology when discussing firearms. MSNBC's intent is to nullify the 2nd amendment. Read the writings of the founding father's to understand WHY they felt the 2nd amendment was so important.
kevin - 11 years ago
and john that is a crock, this gun like any semi auto is not like a one shot then reload gun, it fires the entire clip (of 30 or 100) non stop, not much difference from a full automatic.
kevin - 11 years ago
anyone who dont think this is an assult riffle, let it be your family that gets shot by one, at 100 rounds a minute rapid fire, of course it is a assult riffle
John - 11 years ago
Okay I do agree that what happened in that school was unthinkable and wrong and my heart goes out to the families and we should all pray for them and pray that this never happens again but let's get some things right . Taking the AR-15 that citizens can buy is a semi automatic weapon it fires one shell at a time just like any hang gun, rifle, or shot gun. The one the military uses is fully automatic big difference. I do know people that have these kinds of guns that use them for hunting. So I guess the government is going to tell you just hand it over to me it's just another way to start taking the guns away from people next it will be hand guns or any gun. Politicians can say what ever they want the one that lies the most the best gets the job. I do feel for the families with all my heart of any of these kinds of violence but targeting this one type of gun is not going to salve the problem and if you think it will your stupid. This is just the reaction of the government that does not know how to salve the problem so they just say we will take them away like people are just going to hand over there guns to the government. The government can not even fix other problems like fuel prices or protect our borders. Last time I checked this was not England it was the United States of America. Read your bibles every one because what it tells you is happening right now.
Rush said on the radio the other day that the term assault rifle was made up by the far left. OK. I am a 70 year old Navy veteran. I served with Seal Team One in the 60s. The weapon they used at that time was the AR-14 and the AR-15. These are WAR WEAPONS not hunting weapons. I do not think the children in Newtown were at war with anyone. Wiggie
Joan Gurney - 11 years ago
Here's a job for an investigative reporter-- List the names of members of congress and how much $$ they receive from the NRA. Post the results on TV and on the front pages of newspapers.We need to know which ones to vote out of office Then it becomes crystal clear why they aren't talking about CHILDREN"s SAFETY instead they split hairs about what is and what isn't an assault weapon.
Joan Gurney - 11 years ago
Here's a job for an investigative reporter-- List the names of members of congress and how much $$ they receive from the NRA. Post the results on TV and on the front pages of newspapers.We need to know which ones to vote out of office Then it becomes crystal clear why they aren't talking about CHILDREN"s SAFETY instead they split hairs about what is and what isn't an assault weapon.
MWolfe - 11 years ago
Everyone GUNNING for the Bushmaster are fools! All the killings were committed with hand guns which only have 10 round clips and the Bushmaster was left in the trunk of the car. Just as many could have been killed with a hammer or knife. Remember "Guns don't kill people, people kill people"
Tell the Army and Marines that assaulted the beaches at Normandy, Anzio or fought on Guadalcanal or Iwo Jima or Korea, and elsewhere, that their rifles, (M1, Garands, semi -automatic , .30 cal, nine shot clips) were not assault weapons. Give me an M1 and three hundred yards and I would take on anyone using a 223. cal rifle such as the bushmaster. I wouldn't even need a scope sight. Any weapon used to assault people is an assault weapon.
Gene C - 11 years ago
NO it is a SEMI-AUTOMATIC rifle that causes liberals and anti-self defense activists to lose bladder and bowel control at the mere sight of one. A true assault rifle is capable of both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire and is heavily regulated by the ATF and requires their blessings and tax stamp to own one.
Beth - 11 years ago
The AR is used for hunting small game that you can eat! Only the sick minded kill! Not the hunter! Educate yourself before writing its just for killing people, it's only going to kill people if its a deranged minded person behind the firearm, I don't believe we the legal gun owner need to be looked at as if we are the bad guys, you need to do more research on these firearms before writing false information!
geo - 11 years ago
Do you think banning only one kind of WEAPON will fix this ?
Do you think the bad guy home invading us cares about Magazine Capacity?
One bullet will kill you so shooting you more tha oncet is wasteing Ammo should we lower capacity to 1 ?
If there was a armed guard of somekind at that school how differant would this be?
Since the mom knew her son had mental problems you think she should have kept the guns lock up ? if she didnt get shot we all would have had her locked up. And we wouldnt be talking about how nice she was of a person.
i'm not for not fixing things ...there are some things needed but i think its not as much weapon but the wrong people getting them ,
much stronger backround checks with drivers licence checks for DWI's you get one you lose them !
mental test like they give cops before they get one would help!
must have a gun safe registered before you buy more than one hand gun or a rifle .
not a U.S. resident cant have any!
these ideas are better than freaking out and going Pitbull dog over it!
having a rifle that holds a modest amont of ammo was intended for target shooting.but does come in handy when hunting for hogs and fast moving anamials . shouldnt need 30 round target mags for that i must admit . target shooting is very fun and compition shooting is a very big sport and most likly will suffer cuz some assholes arent getting any attention .
rudolph - 11 years ago
there are guns to hunt food, but this evil weapon is for hunting and killing people!! who ever buys this killer of people should be looked at long and hard!!!!
Beth - 11 years ago
This is truly crazy talk! The .223 is not an assaut rifle!!!!!!! I have a long rifle and a handgun, both guns will fire the minute you pull the trigger and just as fast! My father has hand guns that require larger bullets than the .223, by the way my AR is very effective when I hunt coyote! Im Just saying! Furthermore, seeing that we are on the topic, if certain people are gun ho about banning assault rifles (which were not used in this idiot rampage) I look at it like this, Obama, members of congress, all politicians, celebrities, whom all are millionaires, have the money for armed body guards, you ban our right to certain weapons, then you drop yours! Lets see how safe they feel then, this is a doubled edge sword here, they are all talking about disarming the Americans on assault rifles, but they walk around with the real assault rifles guarding them, what does that say about the American people, that they are more valuable than the rest of us? I have not heard one word about that, and as for this poll that people believe that they consider the .223 as a assault rifle, you either don't have one, never shot one, and has never owned one, or your not educated on such firearms, with that being said, you should not have an opinion on the subject! It is our 2nd American right bare ams, legal gun owners should not be punished for the criminals jerk offs that are not legal!
geo - 11 years ago
The AR - 15 is not an assalt weapon ! it shoot one bullet at time .Any gun civilion gun does this .
the two hand guns that the mentaly messed up guy had could have done the same thing! just as fast and they make 30 round mags for them too! A plain old shot gun would have made an even nastier mess than any of them . I agree 30 round mags are bit much ,but if he only had 10 round mags he just would have changed them sooner! so crying about mag capacity is useless!!!!! the last two shootings were people that stole the weapons from someone that was careless in storeing them , if they where in a gun safe like me and most people that like compition shooting and hunt do..... Sandy Hook wouldnt have happend! But that A- hole would have found a way to blow it up instead. So banning guns will not stop the next crazy person useing a shot gun,hunting rifle ,or even a small .22 cal tin can shooter ! So then what you going to blame?"Call of duty" video games that teach our 10 year old kids how to kill ?you know they play that game all day and with adults all over the world now . Should we lock up all mentaly troubled people before they kill us all ? Here in N.C. we had a crazy kid run down students in a quad with a SUV just cause he hated them all. Ban ALL SUV's?
WE ARE ALL to Blame ! not careing about the people around us and only worring about ourselves and who or what we can blame for our lack of responseability.
Sally - 11 years ago
many things are being lost in this hysteria - 1) the 2nd amendment is not about hunting. Our founders had just fought a long and bloody war to free themselves from their own oppressive government. 2) more children are murdered by abortion in one day, every day than died in Newtown - where is the outrage there? 3) more children have died in cars than in all the shooting incidents combined - when will we ban cars?
Art Eisenson - 11 years ago
It is a semi-automatic weapon - one shot per trigger press. An "assault weapon" by definition is a selective-fire or fully automatic shoulder arm. Fully automatic weapons can be called machineguns - multiple shots as long as the trigger is depressed. Selective fire weapons can either fire in semi-automatic or fully automatic mode. Magazine capacity has nothing to do with it, and "assault weapon" has become such a loaded term that people react to anything called that without understanding that the diction is essentially propaganda.
Whether that thing should be marketed to civilians is another matter. That's a "maybe" for me, okay if they are stored at shooting ranges and the ammunition is only available when and where it's legal and prudent to fire them. In homes or businesses, no.
Heartbroken - 11 years ago
Why don't you ask the survivors who stared down the end of the barrel and watched their teachers and students being assassinated at rapid speed before their eyes? I'll bet they categorize it as an assault weapon. A baseball bat or piece of rope is considered a lethal weapon when used to kill. A weapon of this type is an assault weapon by looking at the damage it inflicted. It's just common sense. Don't need all these definitions of ammo and speed or anything else. Just look at the result. Let's stop bickering, people, and work together to solve this problem.
James - 11 years ago
You know, the whole "is it an assault rifle or not?" is beside the point. Someone posted elsewhere that they have a .22 caliber rifle with a 30 round clip. I would say, get rid of any gun with more than a 10 round clip and ban any clip larger than that. And background checks for all. This is something that can and should be done that may help. It is no argument to say, "well if it only "may" help then we shouldn't do it." I say, if everyone's child who is horribly murdered by guns were in an open casket, like Emmet Till's mother insisted on for her child, we'd all change our love of military weaponry, and guns in general pretty quick.
Edward Cooper - 11 years ago
This gun only fires one bullet every time you pull the trigger. Many, many, many guns do this. The Ruger Mini 14 Ranch can do the very same thing and also take high capacity clips; however, the Mini does not come with a pistol grip. The Bushmaster just has a military style look. There are weapons called assault weapons that have a selective switch that can turn the gun into fully automatic where once you pull and hold the trigger, it empty's out the magazine. Do I think this gun should be banned.....Yes, I do.
James - 11 years ago
Yes this is an assault weapon - A .223 caliber weapon that is designed to kill or disable as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. Kingston is obfuscating the issue. He is saying that an assault weapon has to be an automatic. That is pure BS. Fully automatic weapons, firing more than one bullet with a single pull of the trigger, were at that time illegal and I am fairly certain that is still illegal everywhere. In the late 1970's I owned an HK 91 assault rifle, a German made (Heckler & Koch) military weapon. It was a semi-automatic. It went off like a cannon and it had a 20 round clip. I got rid of it eventually, my fascination with guns finally over. The HK91 was called a heavy assault rifle at that time because it fired .308 caliber bullets. The NRA and their representatives like Kingston are trying to confuse the issue and buy time until their PR people can come up with some excuse why weapons that are designed to kill lots of people in very little time are needed by anyone. In the beginnings of our country, farmers had muskets and the army had muskets and a few cannons. The country was new, so, citizens needed to be able to defend themselves against a government they didn't trust yet. They could then. Our country is not new. We've had a democratic republic for a well over 200 years. We don't trust that the democratic process is working, yet? So, where do we draw the line? Should each family have its own nuke? Do we need to have machine guns, rocket launchers and tanks, to match the military? No, that is ridiculous. Get real. Have a rifle, sure. Have a gun that is setup to kill dozens of people at once? What are they expecting, a zombie apocalypse?
Chris N - 11 years ago
Quit asking if this gin is an assault rifle because of the clip it had. They make a 10rnd clip, so if it had that, would that make it better? They have special made 30rnd clips for 12ga shotguns, you don't call that an assault weapon!! Call the gun for what it is, not the accessories it can accommodate! COMMON SENSE RIGHT???
Joseph J - 11 years ago
I checked the Bushmaster web site this am. One of the safety warnings indicate that the weapon will fire if the breach gets hot enough. But heere is the thing that is most convincing, its a you tube video where the weapon fires a whole magazine at a paper target. In the video the weapons fire automatically until the rifleman releases the trigger. Check it ot for you self with this link.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UGxJAwtgrY Pay attention to the condition of the paper target at the end.
randall williams - 11 years ago
At any point of view, the bushmaster . 223 is an assault rifle. Something i would use overseas. Anyone who thinks this weapon should be bought or used outside of military affairs are ignorant. These weapons are designed for death, destruction, and complete devastation. This type of firearm should be taken off the civilian shelves and strict bans nationwide on these types of firearms should be enforced. I am for gun rights but this isn't your daddy's shotgun used for hunting, its a weapon used in trends of war. My condolences to the families effected by the sandy hook incident.
54markl - 11 years ago
It is completely irrelevant whether it is a text book "automatic weapon". The niceties of the distinguishing factors exist merely as Loopholes. ALL multiclip weapons, whether "automatic weapons" or not, should be banned in America, and optimally ALL FIREARMS WHATSOEVER should be banned in America, except when being used by our Armed Forces in an active War. I don't even think it's a good idea to let law enforcement use guns, they kill too many innocent people. The Second Amendment should be repealed, it benefits only Lunatics and victimizes all other Americans.
Michael Page - 11 years ago
I think the question for any NRA supporter is simple. "Can you identify a single instance in which a private citizen owning an assault weapon, or any weapon with a 30 round clip or larger, saved a single innocent life? Ever?" And balance that against how many have died. All the drivel about "just enforce the laws we have and keep guns out of the hands of criminals"??? The guns in Newton were owned by an NRA poster girl for one of the "good, law abiding citizens": a single white woman with no criminal history in a quiet middle class town. Thank god she was armed so she could keep her community safe.
Julian - 11 years ago
The Bushmaster AR15 is a *semi* automatic rifle. Its rate of fire is only as fast as the person holding it can pull the trigger, meaning 1 round per a trigger pull. Just because it is an AR15 semi automatic does NOT mean it has a unusually high rate of fire. You can do the same thing with all semi automatic rifles and hand guns, pull the trigger, 1 round is fired, pull it again, another round is fired, etc. Please people do NOT listen and believe the mis-information and lies that the media is feeding you. Merry Christmas to all !!!
Daniel - 11 years ago
Any weapon that can be fired at the rate of 100-200 rounds per minute is certainly an assault weapon.
Stephanie - 11 years ago
Can someone please explain to me why the media lied about what really happened at the Oregon mall shooting? A law abiding citizen with a concealed weapon is what stopped the gun man. But nothing but anti gun propaganda is spewed out of the mouths of the liberals behind the media desks, guns in the proper hands save lives. Gun free zones are just criminal empowerment zones. Apparently it's hard for you people to understand criminals don't go by the rules
Hey eman like Ben said your numbers are still skewed, if you honestly do home work you will see that the uk has much comparable to overall crime of the us based on other forms of weapons, can you explain why Britain has a much higher rape rape than the USA?
e man - 11 years ago
2010 - Britain muders by firearm...58 (equivalent to 290 taking population size into consideration)
2010 - US murders by firearm...8775.
i did the homework slick.
Ben Striker - 11 years ago
@ e man, I suggest you do some research before claiming England has far less crime than the US, because this is completely false
e man - 11 years ago
bob, yes the bushmaster uses a .223, or NATO 5.56 round. why is called the "NATO" round??? cuz all NATO MILITARY units use it. Duh?
e man - 11 years ago
england has a gun ban. their crime rate is WAY below the US's . argue that.
Bob - 11 years ago
This is nuts how stupid this argument is! No!!!!! The Bushmaster 223 is not an assault weapon. It uses a 223 or 5.56 Nato ammo. This is not in any way high power ammo! It is so small it is illegal to use to hunt deer. This is a hunting rifle. It is called a varmint gun. It is used to hunt small game like rabbits, prairie dogs and coyote. It is only effective at about 100 to at its best 500 yards. Even at 500 yards the bullet drop is about 28". It would be the luckiest shot to come close to a rabbit running even with thirty rounds shot at one time. Banning the Bushmaster will not stop events like what happened in Connecticut. The demon that did this could have used many other weapons and type of ordinance that would have done much more devastation in a shorter amount of time. If someone who wants to hurt a lot of people, banning scary guns is not the answer. Look at how someone has access to or who is stable to have access to or own any kind of gun or weapon. People who want guns must show they have been educated with real gun safety. Most important, is how people need to keep their guns safe. I am proud to say I have a lot of guns in my house. If someone broke into my home and stole all but one they would not work. My guns have been made safe and will not work when stored. Again, all but one and that one is in a small vault that only opens if it is my hand that will open it. If any education is needed it is all the over emotional, over reactive witch hunters that are looking at an easy target to try and make changes. It is not the "scary" gun that will make the difference. It will be who and how someone has access to guns.
And YES I want several people in my school who are trained, willing and capable to have guns in my children’s school to protect them if in any way some insane idiot try to harm any of the children, administrators or other teachers from harm.
I know sixteen million gun owners that wish they were there when that moron first tried to get into the school. I wish instead of only having hands to try and defend and attack Adam someone had a gun in their hand. What a different outcome could have been.
Barbara - 11 years ago
Teachers and administrators should be armed only with textbooks and computers... not weaponry. The safety hazards of having armed educators far outweighs an imagined benefit of preparedness for the remote likelihood of an in-school attack...and if a perpetrator had an AR, a concealed handgun in the possession of a teacher would not be effective. Instead, innocent children would be educated in atmospheres much like war zones. Ban all such weaponry except for our armed services and law enforcement...or limit possession to the single shot muzzle-loader that our forefathers had in mind when they referenced 'arms' in the Constitution. Only in that way will senseless, tragic loss of life caused by guns in our nation ttruly decrease.
Solver04 - 11 years ago
I read the comments on here and have summized that some of you are "with a clue" of what constitutes a hunting rifle for GAME and that an assault WEAPON is to kill PEOPLE. The AR15 , Bushmaster, whatever brand name you chose, it is a 223 caliber gun. They do make 223 long guns in bolt action and clip fed hunting rifles. They have real stocks and usually sights and are meant to hunt mostly small game; I have hunted deer with one. I carried an AR15 in the Marines, it at the time replaced the very heavy and out of date M16. I carried the AR15 in the USMC - NOT into the woods to hunt game. I carried it in the service as my "weapon" not to hunt game - Is any of this making sense - Assault rifles/weapons were designed with one objective in mind and one only - To KILL humans in a war. Why does anyone think it's OK for any moron to buy one without reason or training ? I have lived in NY and SC and I have seen way too many unqualified individuals buy these things - People like this guy BUTTS, bragging about all the FIREPOWER he just purchased. I got news for him, I shoot perfect 300's with my single action Colt 45 (cowboy pistol) and all I need is one shot to bring all of his bragging and bluster to an end forever. I will guarantee he never obtains the proper training for his weapons nor do I think he will ever fire them past the initial outing at the range. Personal protection - Get a handgun, revolver is fine. Want home protection - Get a cruiser PUMP shotgun, the sound of cocking will make any burglar run. Guns are made for killing, not for bragging rights and certainly NOT for lame brains - Right BUTTS ?
Luigi - 11 years ago
Any gun that can fire armor piercing bullets should be considered an assault weapon.
Our policemen are at a disadvantage. Asking teachers to keep guns handy is ridiculous.
Alan - 11 years ago
The only ban I'd like to see is a ban in breeding. the real issue is over population of mentally insane people, but the libtard media and misinformed ignore this and place blame on a inanimate object. A failed mental health system and a tax handout to people with children encourages people who can't afford them or raise them inproperly to pump them out like "bullets" people need to stop praying about it and start being a parent. Go ask Australia how their gun control is helping post ban, ya have fun with that. Also a semi automatic weapon doesn't pump out 30 rounds with one trigger pull like some idiots have claimed. The lengths it takes I obtain automatic weapons by a law abiding citizen is often too much effort to make it worth while, yet no gun control or weapons ban will prevent the purchase and trafficing of illegally obtained weapons by gang bangers and drug lords. Wake up and look up facts. Also someone please try to explain to me how a type of weapon that wasn't even used in this recent school shooting can the cause of the problem, I am Canadian and see the negative side of our anti gun laws every day.
Donald Brurud - 11 years ago
Of course this gun is an assault rifle. AR means assault rifle. I doesn't matter whether you consider " guns", weapons, Robert, or that they only shoot a measly .223 as fast as you can pull the trigger. Why stop wit assault rifles? Most. 9mm, .380, .45' are semi auto that shoot as fas as you can pull the trigger. The 9 mm and .380 bot come with at least 16 round capacity. They are just as dangerous, and there's a bunch around. Happy days.
LR - 11 years ago
you can tell by how many people have shot a gun of any kind. automatic and semi automatic are two different things. i'm for gun control but lets deal with it with logicaly and involve people who know what they are talking about. know is the time to protect our kids and grandkids school marshals (we can have air marshals and every protection avaliable for adults and every so called leader in this country) bullet proof doors with auto locks, staging locks until cleared protect the schools now and get off the politics. ED watch your show everynight you are our hope.
e man - 11 years ago
and gun toters, how can this argument be a lame one???? 20 children ages 6-7 were just gunned down. you have no morals then.
Pat - 11 years ago
Yes, this absolutely IS an assault weapon. no one is trying to take your weapons we want to just save our babies.
Rob - 11 years ago
Please tell me more on how criminals follow gun control laws. This would do nothing but take away our power to be on any kind of neutral ground with the people who don't follow the same rules that we do. This is NOT an assault weapon. You can't kill 30 people in a second like one commenter said. You would need at least 8-10 seconds to fire off a full clip, and then you wouldn't have the accuracy to hit the broad side of a barn. People want to talk all kinds of smack about the "gun nuts" and eat up whatever drivel everyone who is anti-gun has to say. Its pathetic. Have none of you considered the implications if just ONE of those teachers in CT would have been able to have a gun on them? They could have killed him before he had the chance to slaughter all of those innocent children. People see the destructive use of guns, but seem to be forgetting the self-defense aspects of them. If someone is willing and able to cause the kind of chaos that happened in Newtown, no amount of legislation is going to stop them. It is just going to stop US as morally upstanding citizens from being able to defend ourselves.
George Fernandez - 11 years ago
It amazes me that anyone who works for MSNBC allows the ignorance of Guns especially An assault rifle which is a select-fire (either fully automatic or burst capable) rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge(meaning a .22 caliber round) and a detachable magazine(not 'clips' - from 10 rounds to 30). It is not to be confused with assault weapons.[1] Assault rifles are the standard service rifles in most modern armies. Assault rifles are categorized in between light machine guns, which are intended more for sustained automatic fire in a light support role, and submachine guns, which fire a pistol cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge.
Examples of assault rifles include the StG 44, AK-47,[2] M16 rifle, QBZ-95, INSAS, Heckler & Koch G36, and Enfield SA80
Note the Bushmaster is not one of these, it is Semi meaning SEMI as most of the rifles and firearms produced today. Ed just put magazine not 'Clips' as the measure of these Rifles, that's ignorant. FYI people target shoot, hunt (legally), or just home defense.
Ed misrepresenting the mechanicals of Guns, and the previous ban from 94-04 did not change the level of deaths over those years. It would be really smart to have a data sharing from law enforcement DEA, ATF, and Healthcare to help weed out as many Ill people as we can for a background checks. But you will never make the U.S. safe, that is an illusion, and
You know Maddow is very precise in how she gives us information, you know objectivity, and Intelligence . Ed has shown sadly his loss of perspective, and his blatant advocacy of his agenda. Very disapointing. Shame on MSNBC and Ed.
e man - 11 years ago
jack, so your right to shoot targets is far more important than any other argument. seriously????? play call of duty dude. its damn close. and you know what, i have shot rifles my WHOLE life, but i am ok with taking away weapons of war out of the hands of civilians. we arent fighting the English, the american indian or black bears anymore.
Carolyn - 11 years ago
The Bushwacker slaughter machine .223 is definitely a semi automatic assault weapon. I do not care what the NRA says about it or how gun enthusiasts label it. Look at the carnage this rifle caused. Twenty Babies and eight adults were slaughtered in a matter of minutes and most bodies were discovered to have multiple bullit wounds. That is a slightly modified battlefield weapon meant to kill as many people in a short amount of time.
conrad moreno - 11 years ago
Ed, if I roll up my fingers on both hands and made fists out of them then hit someone, it's an assault, right? The police will arrest me for assault. If my fists can be considered assault weapons then why on earth can just a six shooter can't be considered an assault weapon? In Vietnam I used a AR-15 to assault people all the time. Had a 20 round clip with another 20 round clip taped around it. Forty rounds. You could do the same thing with a thirty round banana clip. That's 60 rounds. There should be only five round clips max.
As far as the mental health question is concerned, I've got about 500 people that look strange to me. This will not work as people turning in people. There needs to be trained personnel in schools to observe behavior that is to the extreme. And of course more money to mental health services on the federal level. Thanks Ed for listening to what I had to say.
JIMNYVET - 11 years ago
Derek, I don't know about where live. But using rim fired .22 to hunt deer is illegal in NY.
e man - 11 years ago
lets make this simple. lets do away with the term "assault weapon" and call it what it is, a weapon of war. the gun wasnt invented for target practice was it??? so lets not use that lame excuse.
Jack - 11 years ago
Im a "blue dog" democrat from the largest swing state and an NRA member, your guests are out of line and plainly uninformed and rude this week, many sports shooters such as myself feel insulted and under attack from people ignprant about firearms, not knowing the difference between clips and rounds, or calling flash suppressors flash supporters, and not even knowing the definition of semi automatic makes you seem as out of touch as with the sport aspect of shooting as the republicans were with womens issues during elections, I respect your opinion, but the content this week has been disappointing to say the least, sport shooting is very popular in this country and the hunting references are ridiculous, there are more sports shooters in america than hunters and most use AR15's. Tone down the rethoric and the volume, and stop quoting bloomberg, he is seen as a dictator in these parts. If freedom of speech is unconditional, so is the right to bear arms, treating the dead like martyers to promote a non populist agenda had a heavy cost in 1994, it will have even a worst one in 2012. If you think my latino friends do not love their guns you are sadly mistaken, they are latino,They are legal and owning guns makes them feel like true americans. Rash decisions always have unforseen consequences.
e man - 11 years ago
c'mon man!!!??? no one likes to be told what they can and cannot do. but you cant tell me your right to shoot an assualt rifle in target practice, is more important than taking away a nuts right to shoot an assault rifle at your loved ones. i am seriuosly concerned about the selfishness in this country. take one for the team people. lets get rid of the weapons of war.
mike mclauchlin - 11 years ago
RCB,,,,,, boy you really know your guns,, Is that All you know ??
Ms. Joni - 11 years ago
THANK YOU MEDIC FROM NYC. I AM A MEDIC IN CHICAGO.
Derek butts - 11 years ago
I went t and bought a mini 14 and an ar14 tonight. I also bought five 90 round magazines online. Why because I love guns. I have a .22 that has killed more deer in one shot than my actual hunting rifle and that is a high number of deer. Does that mean my .22 is an assault rifle? I guess it does hold 18 rounds. Anything is an assault weapon in the wrong hands. Take away assault weapons and crime
Will increase.
Ms. Joni - 11 years ago
Any gun in the hands of someone with no remorse, sociopathic tendencies, unethical, and no morals yes presents as an ASSAULT WEAPON. Definition of Assault: a sudden violent attack; onslaught. an unlawful physical attack upon another, esp. an attempt or threat to do bodily harm.
IS THAT ENOUGH?
Sandy D. - 11 years ago
I'm not a gun expert, but it seems to me when you can shoot once and it can go off 30 times, that is an assault weapon. And if you don't think it is, go tell that to the people who lost those precious children and their teachers that this wasn't an assault weapon. How many times do we in our country have to go through this mass killing? We need to ban these kinds of weapons from our streets, we need to have background checks on all people that buy guns including those who buy at gun shows . There is no one in our country, except for the military, that need assault weapons. Ban these guns, ban them.
Bill Beckerle - 11 years ago
Are you kidding?! this isn't used to hunt Deer, Bear, or other Game. This is use to kill----People. How many people that hunt Game use this, because of the name? Smoke and Mirrors if you ask me. Gun Lobby--Wake up, we are Not talking about Cartoons.
JIMNYVET - 11 years ago
This is a tactical weapon , very similar to the M16 that I was trained on in the USAF. Hunters do not high capacity magazines to shoot game, sportsman who shoot for compition often use bolt action rifles. This type of gun was design for combat with the intent to kill what it was aimed at. First step would be to reduce clip capacity. Secondly the owner of the guns used in this tragic incident, should of had them locked up and only accessible by her.
RCB - 11 years ago
Assault Weapon is a political term and has to do with the cosmetics of the rifle. The band that went away a few years ago described rifles with certain attributes as assault weapons (e.g. a bayonet lug). The bushmaster is a semi-automatic rifle that shoots one bullet per trigger pull. Learn about what you are talking about before speaking. A rifle that shoots multiple rounds with a single trigger pull is an automatic rifle. These rifles are heavily regulated because of the gangsters that used them during prohibition. Take some pride in your profession and learn a little about the subject before you try and incite people and congress to limit a constitutional right.
What would the story have been if this young man shoot his way into the school and he was dropped like a bad habit by a properly train education professional with a concealed weapon?
mike mclauchlin - 11 years ago
Vote Out pro-gun right wingers that don't have the common sense to do as the majority of U.S. Citizens want. The new special interest is the voice of the American People... Period.
Jim Kupinski - 11 years ago
The AR 15, aka, assault rifle 15 is just that. If it looks like a duck and quaks like a duck, it is a duck. Of critical importance is the responsibility of all gun owners to secure their guns from use by others such as children and those who are considered unstable. Anything short of a gun safe is unacceptable.
Jessica Coleman - 11 years ago
I can't believe this is even a debate people are dying in our country because we think its our freedom to carry a gun.. Life is a lot different then it was in the 1800's.. How many more children how many more people need to die before we stand up and make a change.. I would rather give up my life then have someone take my childs life.. Guns do kill period...
e man - 11 years ago
if i am not mistaken, ed, this bushmaster HAS a pistol grip as well as a telescoping stock. not that that should really matter. 30 bullets in 30 seconds. thats what matters.
Rev. Janet P. Moore - 11 years ago
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is a duck! It is the results, people.
Joe Citizen - 11 years ago
The discussion on today's Ed Show (12/18) concerning the definition of an assault gun focused mainly on the distinction between semi-automatic and fully-automatic weapons, magazine capacity, and speed of firing. It would also be useful to consider whether a weapon can be converted from semi-auto to full-auto. Many guns like the Bushmaster and Kalashnikov variants are sold in semi-auto configuration but can be converted to full-auto with basic gunsmithing skills. The pro-gun congressman interviewed today argued the Bushmaster is not an assault gun. Even if you accept his definition, that gun can be made into a fully-automatic weapon that does satisfy the congressman's narrow definition.
Mollie - 11 years ago
I have fired an AR-15 and other similar rifles. I grew up in the mid-west and have owned guns and been around them most of my life. The moment I fired one, I understood why they should not be legal--or should, at least, be HEAVILY regulated. It was fun for a well-adjusted, peace loving humanitarian woman who likes to target shoot, but not shoot at living things. At that moment I realized how dangerous they were in the wrong hands.
I became an NRA member in the 1980's until the mid-nineties when they went off the sanity reservation. Perhaps people like me should have stayed to try to keep them sane, but I thought I was a loner in that respect.
There is not one home owner out there that needs an assault weapon except those that have 8 or 10 burglars breaking into their homes at one time.
Derek butts - 11 years ago
Why are the people for the assault bam so ignorant and misinformed. Ever heard of sportshooting. 1.7% of violent crimes are committed with assault weapons. I have a bb gun with pistol grips, laser sight, and folding stock. Uh oh assault weapon. Please, I can tell you do not own a gun or shoot very often from the commentary by everyone on msnbc.
Dan Roberts - 11 years ago
How can someone, ANYONE, say it's not an assault weapon? Of course it's an assault weapon. It is designed to kill lots of people quickly. I would submit that that was amply demonstrated last Friday morning.
John Nuzzolilo - 11 years ago
an asshole put's a bomb in his shoe and we all have to have an x-ray of our shoe's all around the world. Now this kid has made it apparent that from now on we the people are not going to let any one to be able to shoot 100 bullets in 10 seconds. These weapons serve one purpose to kill faster during a war period
C Brown - 11 years ago
Of course it is. 30 to 100 rounds within seconds to minutes? If you can't hit your target in 10 tries....a gun won't help you, unless you plan on using it like a hammer.
Donald Klempke - 11 years ago
Of course it is an assault weapon. I used the military m-16 when I was in the Army. The high velocity .233 cal. round is the same. Except for the stock and lack of fire control selector switch, this is the same weapon.
Jack - 11 years ago
No, I cant say that I consider any firearm to be a weapon on it's own. I agree that it can become one in the wrong hands, however there are millions of responsible owners in our country who use them for recreation and protection. I personally own firearms that many would consider to be "assault weapons". For me they are not. I use them for sporting purposes, mainly target shooting and I keep them for home protection. When they are not being used, they are locked in my safe. On the question of regulations... I agree with many people. Close the "gun show loophole", do more to keep them out of the hands of mentally ill people, restrict magazine capacity. I have no problem with these things, however, I am not convinced that this will stop these evil things from happening.
Genesis A. Slaughter - 11 years ago
Yes, they are and shouldn't be sold publically to just anyone.
MedicNYC - 11 years ago
The problem with common sense legislation is the crazies that love their guns more than their children lack common sense and won't vote for anything that comes close to responsible legislation that actually does some good.
These politicians MUST be lose their seats in 2014. Let them primary the moderates, the psychotics will lose and responsible politicians will slowly gain super majorities so we can get important things done in this country, like $4T stimulus package to rebuild our infrastructure!!!
Not just yeah but hell yeah the Bushmaster .223 is an super assault weapon lets get really about this thing I'm just saying !!!
Kathleen Sullivan - 11 years ago
High capacity magazines are illegal when hunting. Their main purpose is for target shooting.
LaVina - 11 years ago
When a person use a gun, no matter which one, is consider an assult weapon. The use of the weapon is consider power in their hands, the metal like symbol may look innocent and may not cause no harm, but when a person pull the trigger, then that's another story. There's no responsibility once the trigger is released and the bullet is taken one life after another. If you cause the situation, you must take the blame for your action.
Guns don't kill people, people kill people. End of the statement.
Sandy Brookover - 11 years ago
A gun designed to kill numerous people at the same time is an assault weapon!!!
Ed GAry - 11 years ago
I would like congressman Kingston, GA to explain that the Bushmaster is not an assault weapon to the parents of the little boy buried yesterday who, according to the coroner's report, was shot eleven times.
BTanzman - 11 years ago
The question is irrelevant. A semi-automatic is a semi-automatic. Control clip size and it doesn't matter what you call it.
William Blanton - 11 years ago
Don't these people know what the AR-15 in the Bushmaster .223 mean?
Villain - 11 years ago
It is modeled after the M-16 or M-4 assault rifle used by the US military. The only difference is the ability to fire automatically. It has a collapsable stock, a pistol grip, a 30 round magazine and a flash suppressor on the end of the barrel. Definitely an assault weapon.
Tina Tate - 11 years ago
I agree with your guest tonight...Sen. Robert Menendez...you don't need a round of thirty to kill a deer? Duh!
Robert Nelson - 11 years ago
How can this possibly be considered an assault weapon? It is semi-automatic. It shoots at a higher velocity but is not much larger than a .22 caliber bullet. Despite what you have said on your program, it was NOT used in the shooting in Newtown. As you have pointed out, it was in Adam Lanza's car. You say anything that can put thirty rounds in something in a matter of seconds could be classified as an assault weapon, but do you not realize that a person with a 9mm handgun needs only one extra magazine to fire off the same quantity of shots? Should that be considered an assault weapon? To me, an assault weapon is something that would have to be burst fire or automatic fire when you pull the trigger. The argument that you are presenting is ridiculous, and it is nothing more than fear-mongering to increase your ratings. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Carl Harrison - 11 years ago
Of course it is an assault weapon, it is designed for infantry to assualt the enemy and imflict maximum damage!
ok, more FALSE reporting by the LIBERAL MEDIA!!!!! The ar 15 was NOT!!!! found in the school. CONFIRMED by the police.
Its so typical that David Gregory was condescending toward the NRA guy on Sunday re: the NRA's proposal to have armed personnel in schools, when (a) Bill Clinton proposed the same thing years ago and the media supported him, and (b) Gregory's kids go to a private school with lots of security including armed personnel. Liberal hypocrites. But then I repeat myself.
In addition, "AR" does NOT stand for "automatic rifle"- it stands for ArmaLite, the company that originally manufactured the rifle. Do you own research, guys- don't let the firearms illiterate, mainstream media feed you their lies. The truth is available to all of you- if you look for it....
Is MSNBC intentionally trying to mislead in the description by using the term "automatic"?
Because that is NOT what this rifle is, for the record.
I can't believe what I'm reading on here.
Any firearm is designed to fire a projectile. End of story. It's what the human decide to do with it is what matters.
Assigning a characteristic, such as "assault" to a piece of plastic and metal, implies that it's more than an inanimate object.
There are people with bolt action rifles who can operate them as quickly as a semi-automatic action. Takes practice, but it's achievable.
As long as there are people who are willing to kill, these arguments are a waste of time.
"Assault rifle (A.R.)" is just a marketing term someone made up to sell guns. The AR style is probably the best selling rifle of late in the US. Obviously this is because good Americans have an overwhelming desire to protect their country from enemies foreign and domestic. Obviously there are a lot of domestic enemies to our constitutional republic recently, that are bent on making us subjects instead of citizens. These guns are not for hunting or crime protection, they are our final last ditch line of resistance to tyranny.
Hosts and guests on MSNBC consistently use incorrect terminology when discussing firearms. MSNBC's intent is to nullify the 2nd amendment. Read the writings of the founding father's to understand WHY they felt the 2nd amendment was so important.
and john that is a crock, this gun like any semi auto is not like a one shot then reload gun, it fires the entire clip (of 30 or 100) non stop, not much difference from a full automatic.
anyone who dont think this is an assult riffle, let it be your family that gets shot by one, at 100 rounds a minute rapid fire, of course it is a assult riffle
Okay I do agree that what happened in that school was unthinkable and wrong and my heart goes out to the families and we should all pray for them and pray that this never happens again but let's get some things right . Taking the AR-15 that citizens can buy is a semi automatic weapon it fires one shell at a time just like any hang gun, rifle, or shot gun. The one the military uses is fully automatic big difference. I do know people that have these kinds of guns that use them for hunting. So I guess the government is going to tell you just hand it over to me it's just another way to start taking the guns away from people next it will be hand guns or any gun. Politicians can say what ever they want the one that lies the most the best gets the job. I do feel for the families with all my heart of any of these kinds of violence but targeting this one type of gun is not going to salve the problem and if you think it will your stupid. This is just the reaction of the government that does not know how to salve the problem so they just say we will take them away like people are just going to hand over there guns to the government. The government can not even fix other problems like fuel prices or protect our borders. Last time I checked this was not England it was the United States of America. Read your bibles every one because what it tells you is happening right now.
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-government-reenact-the-federal-assault-weapons-ban-and-make-it-law
Rush said on the radio the other day that the term assault rifle was made up by the far left. OK. I am a 70 year old Navy veteran. I served with Seal Team One in the 60s. The weapon they used at that time was the AR-14 and the AR-15. These are WAR WEAPONS not hunting weapons. I do not think the children in Newtown were at war with anyone. Wiggie
Here's a job for an investigative reporter-- List the names of members of congress and how much $$ they receive from the NRA. Post the results on TV and on the front pages of newspapers.We need to know which ones to vote out of office Then it becomes crystal clear why they aren't talking about CHILDREN"s SAFETY instead they split hairs about what is and what isn't an assault weapon.
Here's a job for an investigative reporter-- List the names of members of congress and how much $$ they receive from the NRA. Post the results on TV and on the front pages of newspapers.We need to know which ones to vote out of office Then it becomes crystal clear why they aren't talking about CHILDREN"s SAFETY instead they split hairs about what is and what isn't an assault weapon.
Everyone GUNNING for the Bushmaster are fools! All the killings were committed with hand guns which only have 10 round clips and the Bushmaster was left in the trunk of the car. Just as many could have been killed with a hammer or knife. Remember "Guns don't kill people, people kill people"
Tell the Army and Marines that assaulted the beaches at Normandy, Anzio or fought on Guadalcanal or Iwo Jima or Korea, and elsewhere, that their rifles, (M1, Garands, semi -automatic , .30 cal, nine shot clips) were not assault weapons. Give me an M1 and three hundred yards and I would take on anyone using a 223. cal rifle such as the bushmaster. I wouldn't even need a scope sight. Any weapon used to assault people is an assault weapon.
NO it is a SEMI-AUTOMATIC rifle that causes liberals and anti-self defense activists to lose bladder and bowel control at the mere sight of one. A true assault rifle is capable of both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire and is heavily regulated by the ATF and requires their blessings and tax stamp to own one.
The AR is used for hunting small game that you can eat! Only the sick minded kill! Not the hunter! Educate yourself before writing its just for killing people, it's only going to kill people if its a deranged minded person behind the firearm, I don't believe we the legal gun owner need to be looked at as if we are the bad guys, you need to do more research on these firearms before writing false information!
Do you think banning only one kind of WEAPON will fix this ?
Do you think the bad guy home invading us cares about Magazine Capacity?
One bullet will kill you so shooting you more tha oncet is wasteing Ammo should we lower capacity to 1 ?
If there was a armed guard of somekind at that school how differant would this be?
Since the mom knew her son had mental problems you think she should have kept the guns lock up ? if she didnt get shot we all would have had her locked up. And we wouldnt be talking about how nice she was of a person.
i'm not for not fixing things ...there are some things needed but i think its not as much weapon but the wrong people getting them ,
much stronger backround checks with drivers licence checks for DWI's you get one you lose them !
mental test like they give cops before they get one would help!
must have a gun safe registered before you buy more than one hand gun or a rifle .
not a U.S. resident cant have any!
these ideas are better than freaking out and going Pitbull dog over it!
having a rifle that holds a modest amont of ammo was intended for target shooting.but does come in handy when hunting for hogs and fast moving anamials . shouldnt need 30 round target mags for that i must admit . target shooting is very fun and compition shooting is a very big sport and most likly will suffer cuz some assholes arent getting any attention .
there are guns to hunt food, but this evil weapon is for hunting and killing people!! who ever buys this killer of people should be looked at long and hard!!!!
This is truly crazy talk! The .223 is not an assaut rifle!!!!!!! I have a long rifle and a handgun, both guns will fire the minute you pull the trigger and just as fast! My father has hand guns that require larger bullets than the .223, by the way my AR is very effective when I hunt coyote! Im Just saying! Furthermore, seeing that we are on the topic, if certain people are gun ho about banning assault rifles (which were not used in this idiot rampage) I look at it like this, Obama, members of congress, all politicians, celebrities, whom all are millionaires, have the money for armed body guards, you ban our right to certain weapons, then you drop yours! Lets see how safe they feel then, this is a doubled edge sword here, they are all talking about disarming the Americans on assault rifles, but they walk around with the real assault rifles guarding them, what does that say about the American people, that they are more valuable than the rest of us? I have not heard one word about that, and as for this poll that people believe that they consider the .223 as a assault rifle, you either don't have one, never shot one, and has never owned one, or your not educated on such firearms, with that being said, you should not have an opinion on the subject! It is our 2nd American right bare ams, legal gun owners should not be punished for the criminals jerk offs that are not legal!
The AR - 15 is not an assalt weapon ! it shoot one bullet at time .Any gun civilion gun does this .
the two hand guns that the mentaly messed up guy had could have done the same thing! just as fast and they make 30 round mags for them too! A plain old shot gun would have made an even nastier mess than any of them . I agree 30 round mags are bit much ,but if he only had 10 round mags he just would have changed them sooner! so crying about mag capacity is useless!!!!! the last two shootings were people that stole the weapons from someone that was careless in storeing them , if they where in a gun safe like me and most people that like compition shooting and hunt do..... Sandy Hook wouldnt have happend! But that A- hole would have found a way to blow it up instead. So banning guns will not stop the next crazy person useing a shot gun,hunting rifle ,or even a small .22 cal tin can shooter ! So then what you going to blame?"Call of duty" video games that teach our 10 year old kids how to kill ?you know they play that game all day and with adults all over the world now . Should we lock up all mentaly troubled people before they kill us all ? Here in N.C. we had a crazy kid run down students in a quad with a SUV just cause he hated them all. Ban ALL SUV's?
WE ARE ALL to Blame ! not careing about the people around us and only worring about ourselves and who or what we can blame for our lack of responseability.
many things are being lost in this hysteria - 1) the 2nd amendment is not about hunting. Our founders had just fought a long and bloody war to free themselves from their own oppressive government. 2) more children are murdered by abortion in one day, every day than died in Newtown - where is the outrage there? 3) more children have died in cars than in all the shooting incidents combined - when will we ban cars?
It is a semi-automatic weapon - one shot per trigger press. An "assault weapon" by definition is a selective-fire or fully automatic shoulder arm. Fully automatic weapons can be called machineguns - multiple shots as long as the trigger is depressed. Selective fire weapons can either fire in semi-automatic or fully automatic mode. Magazine capacity has nothing to do with it, and "assault weapon" has become such a loaded term that people react to anything called that without understanding that the diction is essentially propaganda.
Whether that thing should be marketed to civilians is another matter. That's a "maybe" for me, okay if they are stored at shooting ranges and the ammunition is only available when and where it's legal and prudent to fire them. In homes or businesses, no.
Why don't you ask the survivors who stared down the end of the barrel and watched their teachers and students being assassinated at rapid speed before their eyes? I'll bet they categorize it as an assault weapon. A baseball bat or piece of rope is considered a lethal weapon when used to kill. A weapon of this type is an assault weapon by looking at the damage it inflicted. It's just common sense. Don't need all these definitions of ammo and speed or anything else. Just look at the result. Let's stop bickering, people, and work together to solve this problem.
You know, the whole "is it an assault rifle or not?" is beside the point. Someone posted elsewhere that they have a .22 caliber rifle with a 30 round clip. I would say, get rid of any gun with more than a 10 round clip and ban any clip larger than that. And background checks for all. This is something that can and should be done that may help. It is no argument to say, "well if it only "may" help then we shouldn't do it." I say, if everyone's child who is horribly murdered by guns were in an open casket, like Emmet Till's mother insisted on for her child, we'd all change our love of military weaponry, and guns in general pretty quick.
This gun only fires one bullet every time you pull the trigger. Many, many, many guns do this. The Ruger Mini 14 Ranch can do the very same thing and also take high capacity clips; however, the Mini does not come with a pistol grip. The Bushmaster just has a military style look. There are weapons called assault weapons that have a selective switch that can turn the gun into fully automatic where once you pull and hold the trigger, it empty's out the magazine. Do I think this gun should be banned.....Yes, I do.
Yes this is an assault weapon - A .223 caliber weapon that is designed to kill or disable as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. Kingston is obfuscating the issue. He is saying that an assault weapon has to be an automatic. That is pure BS. Fully automatic weapons, firing more than one bullet with a single pull of the trigger, were at that time illegal and I am fairly certain that is still illegal everywhere. In the late 1970's I owned an HK 91 assault rifle, a German made (Heckler & Koch) military weapon. It was a semi-automatic. It went off like a cannon and it had a 20 round clip. I got rid of it eventually, my fascination with guns finally over. The HK91 was called a heavy assault rifle at that time because it fired .308 caliber bullets. The NRA and their representatives like Kingston are trying to confuse the issue and buy time until their PR people can come up with some excuse why weapons that are designed to kill lots of people in very little time are needed by anyone. In the beginnings of our country, farmers had muskets and the army had muskets and a few cannons. The country was new, so, citizens needed to be able to defend themselves against a government they didn't trust yet. They could then. Our country is not new. We've had a democratic republic for a well over 200 years. We don't trust that the democratic process is working, yet? So, where do we draw the line? Should each family have its own nuke? Do we need to have machine guns, rocket launchers and tanks, to match the military? No, that is ridiculous. Get real. Have a rifle, sure. Have a gun that is setup to kill dozens of people at once? What are they expecting, a zombie apocalypse?
Quit asking if this gin is an assault rifle because of the clip it had. They make a 10rnd clip, so if it had that, would that make it better? They have special made 30rnd clips for 12ga shotguns, you don't call that an assault weapon!! Call the gun for what it is, not the accessories it can accommodate! COMMON SENSE RIGHT???
I checked the Bushmaster web site this am. One of the safety warnings indicate that the weapon will fire if the breach gets hot enough. But heere is the thing that is most convincing, its a you tube video where the weapon fires a whole magazine at a paper target. In the video the weapons fire automatically until the rifleman releases the trigger. Check it ot for you self with this link.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UGxJAwtgrY Pay attention to the condition of the paper target at the end.
At any point of view, the bushmaster . 223 is an assault rifle. Something i would use overseas. Anyone who thinks this weapon should be bought or used outside of military affairs are ignorant. These weapons are designed for death, destruction, and complete devastation. This type of firearm should be taken off the civilian shelves and strict bans nationwide on these types of firearms should be enforced. I am for gun rights but this isn't your daddy's shotgun used for hunting, its a weapon used in trends of war. My condolences to the families effected by the sandy hook incident.
It is completely irrelevant whether it is a text book "automatic weapon". The niceties of the distinguishing factors exist merely as Loopholes. ALL multiclip weapons, whether "automatic weapons" or not, should be banned in America, and optimally ALL FIREARMS WHATSOEVER should be banned in America, except when being used by our Armed Forces in an active War. I don't even think it's a good idea to let law enforcement use guns, they kill too many innocent people. The Second Amendment should be repealed, it benefits only Lunatics and victimizes all other Americans.
I think the question for any NRA supporter is simple. "Can you identify a single instance in which a private citizen owning an assault weapon, or any weapon with a 30 round clip or larger, saved a single innocent life? Ever?" And balance that against how many have died. All the drivel about "just enforce the laws we have and keep guns out of the hands of criminals"??? The guns in Newton were owned by an NRA poster girl for one of the "good, law abiding citizens": a single white woman with no criminal history in a quiet middle class town. Thank god she was armed so she could keep her community safe.
The Bushmaster AR15 is a *semi* automatic rifle. Its rate of fire is only as fast as the person holding it can pull the trigger, meaning 1 round per a trigger pull. Just because it is an AR15 semi automatic does NOT mean it has a unusually high rate of fire. You can do the same thing with all semi automatic rifles and hand guns, pull the trigger, 1 round is fired, pull it again, another round is fired, etc. Please people do NOT listen and believe the mis-information and lies that the media is feeding you. Merry Christmas to all !!!
Any weapon that can be fired at the rate of 100-200 rounds per minute is certainly an assault weapon.
Can someone please explain to me why the media lied about what really happened at the Oregon mall shooting? A law abiding citizen with a concealed weapon is what stopped the gun man. But nothing but anti gun propaganda is spewed out of the mouths of the liberals behind the media desks, guns in the proper hands save lives. Gun free zones are just criminal empowerment zones. Apparently it's hard for you people to understand criminals don't go by the rules
http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/6.1/gun_facts_6_1_screen.pdf
Hey eman like Ben said your numbers are still skewed, if you honestly do home work you will see that the uk has much comparable to overall crime of the us based on other forms of weapons, can you explain why Britain has a much higher rape rape than the USA?
2010 - Britain muders by firearm...58 (equivalent to 290 taking population size into consideration)
2010 - US murders by firearm...8775.
i did the homework slick.
@ e man, I suggest you do some research before claiming England has far less crime than the US, because this is completely false
bob, yes the bushmaster uses a .223, or NATO 5.56 round. why is called the "NATO" round??? cuz all NATO MILITARY units use it. Duh?
england has a gun ban. their crime rate is WAY below the US's . argue that.
This is nuts how stupid this argument is! No!!!!! The Bushmaster 223 is not an assault weapon. It uses a 223 or 5.56 Nato ammo. This is not in any way high power ammo! It is so small it is illegal to use to hunt deer. This is a hunting rifle. It is called a varmint gun. It is used to hunt small game like rabbits, prairie dogs and coyote. It is only effective at about 100 to at its best 500 yards. Even at 500 yards the bullet drop is about 28". It would be the luckiest shot to come close to a rabbit running even with thirty rounds shot at one time. Banning the Bushmaster will not stop events like what happened in Connecticut. The demon that did this could have used many other weapons and type of ordinance that would have done much more devastation in a shorter amount of time. If someone who wants to hurt a lot of people, banning scary guns is not the answer. Look at how someone has access to or who is stable to have access to or own any kind of gun or weapon. People who want guns must show they have been educated with real gun safety. Most important, is how people need to keep their guns safe. I am proud to say I have a lot of guns in my house. If someone broke into my home and stole all but one they would not work. My guns have been made safe and will not work when stored. Again, all but one and that one is in a small vault that only opens if it is my hand that will open it. If any education is needed it is all the over emotional, over reactive witch hunters that are looking at an easy target to try and make changes. It is not the "scary" gun that will make the difference. It will be who and how someone has access to guns.
And YES I want several people in my school who are trained, willing and capable to have guns in my children’s school to protect them if in any way some insane idiot try to harm any of the children, administrators or other teachers from harm.
I know sixteen million gun owners that wish they were there when that moron first tried to get into the school. I wish instead of only having hands to try and defend and attack Adam someone had a gun in their hand. What a different outcome could have been.
Teachers and administrators should be armed only with textbooks and computers... not weaponry. The safety hazards of having armed educators far outweighs an imagined benefit of preparedness for the remote likelihood of an in-school attack...and if a perpetrator had an AR, a concealed handgun in the possession of a teacher would not be effective. Instead, innocent children would be educated in atmospheres much like war zones. Ban all such weaponry except for our armed services and law enforcement...or limit possession to the single shot muzzle-loader that our forefathers had in mind when they referenced 'arms' in the Constitution. Only in that way will senseless, tragic loss of life caused by guns in our nation ttruly decrease.
I read the comments on here and have summized that some of you are "with a clue" of what constitutes a hunting rifle for GAME and that an assault WEAPON is to kill PEOPLE. The AR15 , Bushmaster, whatever brand name you chose, it is a 223 caliber gun. They do make 223 long guns in bolt action and clip fed hunting rifles. They have real stocks and usually sights and are meant to hunt mostly small game; I have hunted deer with one. I carried an AR15 in the Marines, it at the time replaced the very heavy and out of date M16. I carried the AR15 in the USMC - NOT into the woods to hunt game. I carried it in the service as my "weapon" not to hunt game - Is any of this making sense - Assault rifles/weapons were designed with one objective in mind and one only - To KILL humans in a war. Why does anyone think it's OK for any moron to buy one without reason or training ? I have lived in NY and SC and I have seen way too many unqualified individuals buy these things - People like this guy BUTTS, bragging about all the FIREPOWER he just purchased. I got news for him, I shoot perfect 300's with my single action Colt 45 (cowboy pistol) and all I need is one shot to bring all of his bragging and bluster to an end forever. I will guarantee he never obtains the proper training for his weapons nor do I think he will ever fire them past the initial outing at the range. Personal protection - Get a handgun, revolver is fine. Want home protection - Get a cruiser PUMP shotgun, the sound of cocking will make any burglar run. Guns are made for killing, not for bragging rights and certainly NOT for lame brains - Right BUTTS ?
Any gun that can fire armor piercing bullets should be considered an assault weapon.
Our policemen are at a disadvantage. Asking teachers to keep guns handy is ridiculous.
The only ban I'd like to see is a ban in breeding. the real issue is over population of mentally insane people, but the libtard media and misinformed ignore this and place blame on a inanimate object. A failed mental health system and a tax handout to people with children encourages people who can't afford them or raise them inproperly to pump them out like "bullets" people need to stop praying about it and start being a parent. Go ask Australia how their gun control is helping post ban, ya have fun with that. Also a semi automatic weapon doesn't pump out 30 rounds with one trigger pull like some idiots have claimed. The lengths it takes I obtain automatic weapons by a law abiding citizen is often too much effort to make it worth while, yet no gun control or weapons ban will prevent the purchase and trafficing of illegally obtained weapons by gang bangers and drug lords. Wake up and look up facts. Also someone please try to explain to me how a type of weapon that wasn't even used in this recent school shooting can the cause of the problem, I am Canadian and see the negative side of our anti gun laws every day.
Of course this gun is an assault rifle. AR means assault rifle. I doesn't matter whether you consider " guns", weapons, Robert, or that they only shoot a measly .223 as fast as you can pull the trigger. Why stop wit assault rifles? Most. 9mm, .380, .45' are semi auto that shoot as fas as you can pull the trigger. The 9 mm and .380 bot come with at least 16 round capacity. They are just as dangerous, and there's a bunch around. Happy days.
you can tell by how many people have shot a gun of any kind. automatic and semi automatic are two different things. i'm for gun control but lets deal with it with logicaly and involve people who know what they are talking about. know is the time to protect our kids and grandkids school marshals (we can have air marshals and every protection avaliable for adults and every so called leader in this country) bullet proof doors with auto locks, staging locks until cleared protect the schools now and get off the politics. ED watch your show everynight you are our hope.
and gun toters, how can this argument be a lame one???? 20 children ages 6-7 were just gunned down. you have no morals then.
Yes, this absolutely IS an assault weapon. no one is trying to take your weapons we want to just save our babies.
Please tell me more on how criminals follow gun control laws. This would do nothing but take away our power to be on any kind of neutral ground with the people who don't follow the same rules that we do. This is NOT an assault weapon. You can't kill 30 people in a second like one commenter said. You would need at least 8-10 seconds to fire off a full clip, and then you wouldn't have the accuracy to hit the broad side of a barn. People want to talk all kinds of smack about the "gun nuts" and eat up whatever drivel everyone who is anti-gun has to say. Its pathetic. Have none of you considered the implications if just ONE of those teachers in CT would have been able to have a gun on them? They could have killed him before he had the chance to slaughter all of those innocent children. People see the destructive use of guns, but seem to be forgetting the self-defense aspects of them. If someone is willing and able to cause the kind of chaos that happened in Newtown, no amount of legislation is going to stop them. It is just going to stop US as morally upstanding citizens from being able to defend ourselves.
It amazes me that anyone who works for MSNBC allows the ignorance of Guns especially An assault rifle which is a select-fire (either fully automatic or burst capable) rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge(meaning a .22 caliber round) and a detachable magazine(not 'clips' - from 10 rounds to 30). It is not to be confused with assault weapons.[1] Assault rifles are the standard service rifles in most modern armies. Assault rifles are categorized in between light machine guns, which are intended more for sustained automatic fire in a light support role, and submachine guns, which fire a pistol cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge.
Examples of assault rifles include the StG 44, AK-47,[2] M16 rifle, QBZ-95, INSAS, Heckler & Koch G36, and Enfield SA80
Note the Bushmaster is not one of these, it is Semi meaning SEMI as most of the rifles and firearms produced today. Ed just put magazine not 'Clips' as the measure of these Rifles, that's ignorant. FYI people target shoot, hunt (legally), or just home defense.
Ed misrepresenting the mechanicals of Guns, and the previous ban from 94-04 did not change the level of deaths over those years. It would be really smart to have a data sharing from law enforcement DEA, ATF, and Healthcare to help weed out as many Ill people as we can for a background checks. But you will never make the U.S. safe, that is an illusion, and
You know Maddow is very precise in how she gives us information, you know objectivity, and Intelligence . Ed has shown sadly his loss of perspective, and his blatant advocacy of his agenda. Very disapointing. Shame on MSNBC and Ed.
jack, so your right to shoot targets is far more important than any other argument. seriously????? play call of duty dude. its damn close. and you know what, i have shot rifles my WHOLE life, but i am ok with taking away weapons of war out of the hands of civilians. we arent fighting the English, the american indian or black bears anymore.
The Bushwacker slaughter machine .223 is definitely a semi automatic assault weapon. I do not care what the NRA says about it or how gun enthusiasts label it. Look at the carnage this rifle caused. Twenty Babies and eight adults were slaughtered in a matter of minutes and most bodies were discovered to have multiple bullit wounds. That is a slightly modified battlefield weapon meant to kill as many people in a short amount of time.
Ed, if I roll up my fingers on both hands and made fists out of them then hit someone, it's an assault, right? The police will arrest me for assault. If my fists can be considered assault weapons then why on earth can just a six shooter can't be considered an assault weapon? In Vietnam I used a AR-15 to assault people all the time. Had a 20 round clip with another 20 round clip taped around it. Forty rounds. You could do the same thing with a thirty round banana clip. That's 60 rounds. There should be only five round clips max.
As far as the mental health question is concerned, I've got about 500 people that look strange to me. This will not work as people turning in people. There needs to be trained personnel in schools to observe behavior that is to the extreme. And of course more money to mental health services on the federal level. Thanks Ed for listening to what I had to say.
Derek, I don't know about where live. But using rim fired .22 to hunt deer is illegal in NY.
lets make this simple. lets do away with the term "assault weapon" and call it what it is, a weapon of war. the gun wasnt invented for target practice was it??? so lets not use that lame excuse.
Im a "blue dog" democrat from the largest swing state and an NRA member, your guests are out of line and plainly uninformed and rude this week, many sports shooters such as myself feel insulted and under attack from people ignprant about firearms, not knowing the difference between clips and rounds, or calling flash suppressors flash supporters, and not even knowing the definition of semi automatic makes you seem as out of touch as with the sport aspect of shooting as the republicans were with womens issues during elections, I respect your opinion, but the content this week has been disappointing to say the least, sport shooting is very popular in this country and the hunting references are ridiculous, there are more sports shooters in america than hunters and most use AR15's. Tone down the rethoric and the volume, and stop quoting bloomberg, he is seen as a dictator in these parts. If freedom of speech is unconditional, so is the right to bear arms, treating the dead like martyers to promote a non populist agenda had a heavy cost in 1994, it will have even a worst one in 2012. If you think my latino friends do not love their guns you are sadly mistaken, they are latino,They are legal and owning guns makes them feel like true americans. Rash decisions always have unforseen consequences.
c'mon man!!!??? no one likes to be told what they can and cannot do. but you cant tell me your right to shoot an assualt rifle in target practice, is more important than taking away a nuts right to shoot an assault rifle at your loved ones. i am seriuosly concerned about the selfishness in this country. take one for the team people. lets get rid of the weapons of war.
RCB,,,,,, boy you really know your guns,, Is that All you know ??
THANK YOU MEDIC FROM NYC. I AM A MEDIC IN CHICAGO.
I went t and bought a mini 14 and an ar14 tonight. I also bought five 90 round magazines online. Why because I love guns. I have a .22 that has killed more deer in one shot than my actual hunting rifle and that is a high number of deer. Does that mean my .22 is an assault rifle? I guess it does hold 18 rounds. Anything is an assault weapon in the wrong hands. Take away assault weapons and crime
Will increase.
Any gun in the hands of someone with no remorse, sociopathic tendencies, unethical, and no morals yes presents as an ASSAULT WEAPON. Definition of Assault: a sudden violent attack; onslaught. an unlawful physical attack upon another, esp. an attempt or threat to do bodily harm.
IS THAT ENOUGH?
I'm not a gun expert, but it seems to me when you can shoot once and it can go off 30 times, that is an assault weapon. And if you don't think it is, go tell that to the people who lost those precious children and their teachers that this wasn't an assault weapon. How many times do we in our country have to go through this mass killing? We need to ban these kinds of weapons from our streets, we need to have background checks on all people that buy guns including those who buy at gun shows . There is no one in our country, except for the military, that need assault weapons. Ban these guns, ban them.
Are you kidding?! this isn't used to hunt Deer, Bear, or other Game. This is use to kill----People. How many people that hunt Game use this, because of the name? Smoke and Mirrors if you ask me. Gun Lobby--Wake up, we are Not talking about Cartoons.
This is a tactical weapon , very similar to the M16 that I was trained on in the USAF. Hunters do not high capacity magazines to shoot game, sportsman who shoot for compition often use bolt action rifles. This type of gun was design for combat with the intent to kill what it was aimed at. First step would be to reduce clip capacity. Secondly the owner of the guns used in this tragic incident, should of had them locked up and only accessible by her.
Assault Weapon is a political term and has to do with the cosmetics of the rifle. The band that went away a few years ago described rifles with certain attributes as assault weapons (e.g. a bayonet lug). The bushmaster is a semi-automatic rifle that shoots one bullet per trigger pull. Learn about what you are talking about before speaking. A rifle that shoots multiple rounds with a single trigger pull is an automatic rifle. These rifles are heavily regulated because of the gangsters that used them during prohibition. Take some pride in your profession and learn a little about the subject before you try and incite people and congress to limit a constitutional right.
What would the story have been if this young man shoot his way into the school and he was dropped like a bad habit by a properly train education professional with a concealed weapon?
Vote Out pro-gun right wingers that don't have the common sense to do as the majority of U.S. Citizens want. The new special interest is the voice of the American People... Period.
The AR 15, aka, assault rifle 15 is just that. If it looks like a duck and quaks like a duck, it is a duck. Of critical importance is the responsibility of all gun owners to secure their guns from use by others such as children and those who are considered unstable. Anything short of a gun safe is unacceptable.
I can't believe this is even a debate people are dying in our country because we think its our freedom to carry a gun.. Life is a lot different then it was in the 1800's.. How many more children how many more people need to die before we stand up and make a change.. I would rather give up my life then have someone take my childs life.. Guns do kill period...
if i am not mistaken, ed, this bushmaster HAS a pistol grip as well as a telescoping stock. not that that should really matter. 30 bullets in 30 seconds. thats what matters.
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is a duck! It is the results, people.
The discussion on today's Ed Show (12/18) concerning the definition of an assault gun focused mainly on the distinction between semi-automatic and fully-automatic weapons, magazine capacity, and speed of firing. It would also be useful to consider whether a weapon can be converted from semi-auto to full-auto. Many guns like the Bushmaster and Kalashnikov variants are sold in semi-auto configuration but can be converted to full-auto with basic gunsmithing skills. The pro-gun congressman interviewed today argued the Bushmaster is not an assault gun. Even if you accept his definition, that gun can be made into a fully-automatic weapon that does satisfy the congressman's narrow definition.
I have fired an AR-15 and other similar rifles. I grew up in the mid-west and have owned guns and been around them most of my life. The moment I fired one, I understood why they should not be legal--or should, at least, be HEAVILY regulated. It was fun for a well-adjusted, peace loving humanitarian woman who likes to target shoot, but not shoot at living things. At that moment I realized how dangerous they were in the wrong hands.
I became an NRA member in the 1980's until the mid-nineties when they went off the sanity reservation. Perhaps people like me should have stayed to try to keep them sane, but I thought I was a loner in that respect.
There is not one home owner out there that needs an assault weapon except those that have 8 or 10 burglars breaking into their homes at one time.
Why are the people for the assault bam so ignorant and misinformed. Ever heard of sportshooting. 1.7% of violent crimes are committed with assault weapons. I have a bb gun with pistol grips, laser sight, and folding stock. Uh oh assault weapon. Please, I can tell you do not own a gun or shoot very often from the commentary by everyone on msnbc.
How can someone, ANYONE, say it's not an assault weapon? Of course it's an assault weapon. It is designed to kill lots of people quickly. I would submit that that was amply demonstrated last Friday morning.
an asshole put's a bomb in his shoe and we all have to have an x-ray of our shoe's all around the world. Now this kid has made it apparent that from now on we the people are not going to let any one to be able to shoot 100 bullets in 10 seconds. These weapons serve one purpose to kill faster during a war period
Of course it is. 30 to 100 rounds within seconds to minutes? If you can't hit your target in 10 tries....a gun won't help you, unless you plan on using it like a hammer.
Of course it is an assault weapon. I used the military m-16 when I was in the Army. The high velocity .233 cal. round is the same. Except for the stock and lack of fire control selector switch, this is the same weapon.
No, I cant say that I consider any firearm to be a weapon on it's own. I agree that it can become one in the wrong hands, however there are millions of responsible owners in our country who use them for recreation and protection. I personally own firearms that many would consider to be "assault weapons". For me they are not. I use them for sporting purposes, mainly target shooting and I keep them for home protection. When they are not being used, they are locked in my safe. On the question of regulations... I agree with many people. Close the "gun show loophole", do more to keep them out of the hands of mentally ill people, restrict magazine capacity. I have no problem with these things, however, I am not convinced that this will stop these evil things from happening.
Yes, they are and shouldn't be sold publically to just anyone.
The problem with common sense legislation is the crazies that love their guns more than their children lack common sense and won't vote for anything that comes close to responsible legislation that actually does some good.
These politicians MUST be lose their seats in 2014. Let them primary the moderates, the psychotics will lose and responsible politicians will slowly gain super majorities so we can get important things done in this country, like $4T stimulus package to rebuild our infrastructure!!!
Not just yeah but hell yeah the Bushmaster .223 is an super assault weapon lets get really about this thing I'm just saying !!!
High capacity magazines are illegal when hunting. Their main purpose is for target shooting.
When a person use a gun, no matter which one, is consider an assult weapon. The use of the weapon is consider power in their hands, the metal like symbol may look innocent and may not cause no harm, but when a person pull the trigger, then that's another story. There's no responsibility once the trigger is released and the bullet is taken one life after another. If you cause the situation, you must take the blame for your action.
Guns don't kill people, people kill people. End of the statement.
A gun designed to kill numerous people at the same time is an assault weapon!!!
I would like congressman Kingston, GA to explain that the Bushmaster is not an assault weapon to the parents of the little boy buried yesterday who, according to the coroner's report, was shot eleven times.
The question is irrelevant. A semi-automatic is a semi-automatic. Control clip size and it doesn't matter what you call it.
Don't these people know what the AR-15 in the Bushmaster .223 mean?
It is modeled after the M-16 or M-4 assault rifle used by the US military. The only difference is the ability to fire automatically. It has a collapsable stock, a pistol grip, a 30 round magazine and a flash suppressor on the end of the barrel. Definitely an assault weapon.
I agree with your guest tonight...Sen. Robert Menendez...you don't need a round of thirty to kill a deer? Duh!
How can this possibly be considered an assault weapon? It is semi-automatic. It shoots at a higher velocity but is not much larger than a .22 caliber bullet. Despite what you have said on your program, it was NOT used in the shooting in Newtown. As you have pointed out, it was in Adam Lanza's car. You say anything that can put thirty rounds in something in a matter of seconds could be classified as an assault weapon, but do you not realize that a person with a 9mm handgun needs only one extra magazine to fire off the same quantity of shots? Should that be considered an assault weapon? To me, an assault weapon is something that would have to be burst fire or automatic fire when you pull the trigger. The argument that you are presenting is ridiculous, and it is nothing more than fear-mongering to increase your ratings. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Of course it is an assault weapon, it is designed for infantry to assualt the enemy and imflict maximum damage!
Steven Wonder knows it is an assault weapon.
Guns are manufactured to kill. End of discussion.