Firepower

[Doc]

And I will flat out say that in reasonable, realistic situations, an american civilian defending him or herself and family with an assault rifle would be just as effective using a rifle or small handgun.

Fine. Perhaps. I agree. Most of the time. I keep a S&W .357 on or near my person at all times. It's my baby. It's a five shot revolver. In defense situations, it's far better then an assault rifle. It is a frightning looking weapon. Psychological factor alone will no doubt settle most situations.

While this is a local problem, I am sure other events of similar nature happen in other places. Hell Night. It's a local night of anarchy, murder, and rape. Good Ol Boys in white hoods ride around in pick up trucks, killing, raping, looting, and doing pretty much as they please. They burn crosses on lawns. They lynch uppity folks that deserve to get it. And it's not one or two men, it's a small lynch mob. This, I feel, is one valid and true situation where assault weapons are key. A man with a revolver firing into the mob has to worry about return fire, as most of these men are armed themselves. Automatic weapons are key to personal defense in these situations. And they do happen. Every frigging year. And I honestly feel if more people who were targets in these hate crimes had high powered autofire weapons for home defense, we would see less of this behavour. It would not be an easy target, and, a chickensnot yellow livered coward wants an easy target. If you see a couple of spooks in your front yard with wooden planks and kerosine, and open fire over their heads with an Uzi or something, they don't come back to your home next year in most cases. Nope, they go home that night and get to change their drawers, crawl into bed, and suck their thumb whimpering all night long.

Guns are empowerment. They turn the helpless into capable citizens. They DO deter crime. Right where I live, in the city, where most apartment dwellers and suburb folks don't own guns, crime is high. Out in the outer areas, out on the farms, where men keep lots of guns, shotguns, rifles, etc, crime is nearly non issue. Criminals know, a gun lives there. Everybody around me knows I have firearms of all shapes and sizes. I fire thousands of rounds of ammo a year. I shoot several times a week for recreation. From the crisp popping report of a .22 rifle to the stuttering chatter of a 10mm Uzi, to the deafining thundering ear shattering roar of my new S&W .500, there is no mistaking that I live in what is considered a very safe area. And I am not alone. All around me, my neighbors, also farmers and woodsy types, you can hear them "clearing the air" around them.