Hunting rifles may be better at taking down one human at a time, but they aren't as good at taking down a classroom full of 5 year olds and since the sniper-with-a-hunting-rifle problem seems much less relevant than the deranged lunatic walking into a public place and firing as many bullets as possible hunting rifles get more sympathy.
Just a guess, but that might be why.
A person's rifle selection is somewhat purpose based but also has a lot to do with arm-length. I've got the length, for instance, to present an M16A4 at midnight (aim perpendicular to my chest) but most don't and need a carbine for the task. That's only relevant in body armor and those trained without it would feel just as comfortable with a long stock and barrel. For short range a shotgun is always ideal though and that's the standard hunting weapon. If your intent was to leave hunting weapons intact but crack down on those favored by spree killers you'd not succeed, they're effectively identical. People do not hunt with actual sniper rifles much.
Ultimately, with nearly any vaguely modern firearm, time between shots in primarily aiming, so full auto or not is fairly academic.
The reason people (and I'm not one of them, I'd ban them all fwiw) have problems with the AR-15 and semi-automatic pistols like the Glock is because they were designed to fire lots of bullets quickly, something you don't normally associate with good hunting practice. I'm sure you can hunt with an AR-15 or a Bushmaster M4 but that isn't what people are referring to when they talk about 'hunting rifles' that should be allowed, there is a clear difference between the design intent of a semi-automatic weapon like the AR-15 and a gun designed for long range single shot damage. I guess most people don't have a problem with owning a Remington M700 for instance, which is in no way identical to an WASR-10 for the semi-automatic pistols these shooters frequently use.
Come to the dark side, We have candy!
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I'm Israel, he's Palestine, its more fun when you pick sides.
This message last edited by TheCrownless on 21/12/2012 at 09:53:54 PM
When guns are a big national issue, how do reporters & pundits not know facts about them?
- 21/12/2012 05:33:14 PM
1846 Views
You don't hunt by walking into a classroom and shooting 20 deer
- 21/12/2012 05:56:16 PM
1250 Views
You're actually not right on that one
- 21/12/2012 07:49:53 PM
1214 Views
That wasn't the point I was making
- 21/12/2012 09:49:40 PM
1120 Views
You should probably clarify it then
- 21/12/2012 10:47:26 PM
1298 Views
His post was perfectly clear. Yours seemed like a response to an entirely different post.
- 21/12/2012 10:53:39 PM
1472 Views
Explain that remark, it is not obvious to me *NM*
- 21/12/2012 11:00:10 PM
689 Views
I think
- 21/12/2012 11:13:34 PM
1117 Views
Thats' easy, there is simply no such thing as a 'hunting rifle'
- 21/12/2012 11:17:41 PM
1146 Views
I'd say the expert gunsmith
- 21/12/2012 11:28:02 PM
1199 Views
I'm also an expert at math and physics, should I be more forgiving about those too?
- 22/12/2012 12:38:45 AM
1128 Views
Re: I'm also an expert at math and physics, should I be more forgiving about those too?
- 22/12/2012 01:00:18 AM
1166 Views
Well I appreciate your calling it pedantic when you aren't an expert, thanks for correcting me
- 22/12/2012 01:15:08 AM
1217 Views
Re: Well I appreciate your calling it pedantic when you aren't an expert, thanks for correcting me
- 22/12/2012 09:35:38 AM
1306 Views
I thought I was being perfectly clear.
- 21/12/2012 10:57:35 PM
1155 Views
A bit of an aside, but I was reading that the gun used in the attack can be bought in Canada too.
- 21/12/2012 06:14:01 PM
1160 Views
you're largely correct, which is why we need stronger laws on ownership not guns per se
- 21/12/2012 09:39:14 PM
1121 Views
I can't think of a better reason than self defense
- 21/12/2012 10:33:26 PM
1183 Views
He is right about Australia
- 21/12/2012 10:46:27 PM
1119 Views
No kidding 
- 21/12/2012 10:59:28 PM
1104 Views
- 21/12/2012 10:59:28 PM
1104 Views
If you knew all that
- 21/12/2012 11:02:38 PM
1182 Views
Because I used wiki of course
- 21/12/2012 11:21:25 PM
1290 Views
He said ""self defense" is not a valid excuse to own a lethal weapon"
- 21/12/2012 11:34:59 PM
1098 Views
Yes,which is un-cited, but I did prove it's a valid excuse to use one, so...
- 22/12/2012 12:36:19 AM
1196 Views
The difference between allowing someone to defend themselves with a gun they have
- 22/12/2012 01:09:40 AM
1127 Views
Which you apparently think they shouldn't be able to obtain? Catch-22 comes to mind.
- 22/12/2012 01:17:25 AM
1154 Views
Re: Which you apparently think they shouldn't be able to obtain? Catch-22 comes to mind.
- 22/12/2012 09:51:51 AM
1240 Views
A wood chipper isn't a gun, and evidence without proof isn't evidence
- 22/12/2012 06:10:34 PM
1138 Views
If only you'd asked him for a citation rather than just saying you thought he was wrong eh? *NM*
- 23/12/2012 12:29:30 AM
760 Views
I think you are on the right track, but to the wrong destination; "lethal weapon" is redundant.
- 21/12/2012 11:05:29 PM
1116 Views
My read is that the 2nd Amendment not only allows, but mandates, cop-killer bullets.
- 22/12/2012 12:45:04 AM
1211 Views
Does the Second Amendment protect the rights of felons and the mentally incompetent to have guns?
- 22/12/2012 02:35:16 AM
1369 Views
Court rulings have determined that your Constitutional Rights can be restricted for felony/insanity *NM*
- 23/12/2012 12:59:31 PM
679 Views
Activist judges should not make law. 
- 23/12/2012 02:04:42 PM
1163 Views
- 23/12/2012 02:04:42 PM
1163 Views
I agree, but the courts have already ruled that way so we are stuck. *NM*
- 26/12/2012 03:03:35 PM
654 Views
Then I guess we need the courts to rule gun owners need screening, training and licensing.
- 26/12/2012 03:46:05 PM
1143 Views
No, if you want to restrict the 2nd (or any other amendment) amend the Constitution
- 26/12/2012 07:56:19 PM
1118 Views
I do not want to restrict the Second Amendment, only enact the regulations it explictly allows.
- 26/12/2012 08:50:09 PM
1201 Views
I disagree with your interpretation. The simple EXISTANCE of the BoR makes it binding on the states
- 27/12/2012 03:46:17 PM
1137 Views
"Congress shall make no law..." restricts the STATES? How, exactly?
- 28/12/2012 03:03:19 PM
1118 Views
The 2nd amendment does not mention Congress in any way. There is that reading issue again.
- 28/12/2012 10:02:41 PM
1087 Views
You said, "the Bill of Rights," not "the Second Amendment."
- 28/12/2012 11:10:00 PM
1131 Views
Copy-N-Paste, get over it. we are specifically discussing the 2nd amendment, not everything.
- 29/12/2012 02:24:30 PM
1020 Views
Some semi-autos are easily modified for full auto fire, making the distinction one w/o a difference.
- 21/12/2012 10:53:59 PM
1214 Views
Correction: virtually all semi-automatics are easily convertable
- 21/12/2012 11:23:35 PM
1149 Views
I have seen nothing on turning a semi-auto BAR into a fully automatic one.
- 22/12/2012 01:11:12 AM
1101 Views
What's a BAR? In any event, link a diagram and I'll let you know
- 22/12/2012 01:26:31 AM
1071 Views
Confusingly, there are two: The BAR you and I think of, and the "Browning BAR," a current semi-auto
- 22/12/2012 01:07:30 PM
1265 Views
Department of Redundancy Department gets to name a lot of stuff, like "Milky Way Galaxy"
- 22/12/2012 05:01:45 PM
1356 Views
It only bothers me when people who know better speak of "the Glieseian solar system." 
- 26/12/2012 05:33:34 PM
1218 Views
- 26/12/2012 05:33:34 PM
1218 Views
Both terms are pretty stuck now
- 26/12/2012 10:48:38 PM
1290 Views
You realize that encourages rather than discourages my opposition to the usage, right?
- 27/12/2012 01:23:15 AM
1053 Views
- 27/12/2012 01:23:15 AM
1053 Views
Well I can't say it surprises
- 27/12/2012 04:29:06 AM
1021 Views
Yes the media is using terms incorrectly but the point still stands.
- 22/12/2012 03:02:18 AM
1062 Views
Re: Yes the media is using terms incorrectly but the point still stands.
- 22/12/2012 04:12:30 AM
1108 Views
Yes people can always still kill each other, humans are very ingenuitive
- 22/12/2012 04:42:04 AM
1098 Views
I took a driving exam when I was 16, and have never been tested since, nor will I ever be.
- 23/12/2012 01:17:05 PM
1266 Views
Never is a long time; just renewing a license requires retaking the eye exam most places.
- 23/12/2012 02:16:54 PM
1158 Views
Rather hard to do an eye exam online or through the mail.
- 26/12/2012 03:08:06 PM
1244 Views
Yes, it is, which is why I have always had to go by DPS for a new license.
- 26/12/2012 03:50:04 PM
1089 Views
Tennessee and Florida pass them out like candy. For several years TN offered a no ID license
- 26/12/2012 08:02:39 PM
1091 Views
I still find it odd they require no eye test, that either allows the blind drivers licenses.
- 26/12/2012 08:58:57 PM
1102 Views
Oh yeah, we have wandered off course *shrug*
- 27/12/2012 03:55:55 PM
1269 Views
Voter registration while getting a drivers license is distinct from the ease of licensing.
- 28/12/2012 03:35:34 PM
1224 Views
Re: Voter registration while getting a drivers license is distinct from the ease of licensing.
- 28/12/2012 10:14:32 PM
968 Views
If you can prove someone voted illegally, call the ACLU and claim your $1000.
- 28/12/2012 11:18:38 PM
1131 Views
puhleeze.... election fraud is a fact. Pick a state, ANY state, ANY election...
- 29/12/2012 02:41:40 PM
1105 Views
Clip size is meaningless, semi-autos and even revolvers can be reloaded VERY quickly. *NM*
- 23/12/2012 01:20:59 PM
628 Views
1997 North Hollywood Shootout
- 22/12/2012 04:07:39 AM
1199 Views
typical NRA bullshit response
- 22/12/2012 04:53:40 AM
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typical Moondog bullshit response
- 23/12/2012 01:06:12 PM
1125 Views
of course! there is no connection between having a gun and shooting someone. got it 
- 23/12/2012 02:33:18 PM
1025 Views
- 23/12/2012 02:33:18 PM
1025 Views
There is no corelation between decidng to kill someone and what tool you use.
- 26/12/2012 03:11:08 PM
1074 Views
By that logic no one needs a gun for self-defense; a coffee mug is perfectly adequate.
- 26/12/2012 09:06:51 PM
1141 Views
I can kill you with my coffee mug... RESPECT THE MUG but I wouldn't, I might spill the coffee.
- 27/12/2012 04:08:52 PM
1008 Views
So you are saying you do not need a gun then? I will keep mine anyway, thanks.
- 28/12/2012 04:19:03 PM
1116 Views
- 28/12/2012 04:19:03 PM
1116 Views
You covered a bunch of different things, and completely misrepresentted what I wrote
- 28/12/2012 10:28:24 PM
1139 Views
Home made explosives are pretty much always illegal; I did not want to overlook legal ones.
- 28/12/2012 11:44:19 PM
1338 Views
Re: Home made explosives are pretty much always illegal; I did not want to overlook legal ones.
- 29/12/2012 03:31:01 PM
1100 Views
Laws against murder failed to prevent that, too; clearly they are ineffective and should be repealed
- 22/12/2012 06:02:24 AM
1280 Views
Such laws were never intended for prevention, they define actions that will be punished. *NM*
- 23/12/2012 12:57:57 PM
679 Views
So do laws against getting a gun without screening, training and certification.
- 23/12/2012 02:01:32 PM
1108 Views
Then CHANGE the Constitution, don't ignore it. *NM*
- 26/12/2012 03:12:11 PM
602 Views
I am not suggesting either changing or ignoring the Constitution.
- 26/12/2012 04:01:02 PM
1175 Views
Yes you are.
- 26/12/2012 08:06:01 PM
1008 Views
Learn logic, and stop needlessly trying to teach me grammar.
- 26/12/2012 08:55:25 PM
1154 Views
Lear to read, and I won't have to
- 27/12/2012 04:28:59 PM
1227 Views
Ironically, you misspelled "learn."
- 28/12/2012 05:15:17 PM
1439 Views
- 28/12/2012 05:15:17 PM
1439 Views
I know, I thought about going back and fixing the typo, but thought it was funny so I left it. 
*NM*
- 28/12/2012 10:34:06 PM
623 Views
*NM*
- 28/12/2012 10:34:06 PM
623 Views
2 commas or 4 makes no difference one is a 12D the other is a sentance.
- 28/12/2012 10:55:31 PM
1071 Views
It makes a huge difference when (incorrectly) claiming to know the text.
- 28/12/2012 11:31:51 PM
1385 Views
and by REGULATED, the authors meeant "able to use it effectively"
- 29/12/2012 03:47:57 PM
1147 Views
You are wrong.
- 22/12/2012 12:14:40 PM
1123 Views
That explains much; I read somewhere Brits are averse to it.
- 22/12/2012 01:17:15 PM
1100 Views
What bemuses me about this thing with Adam Lanza, is that his mother had 5 registered guns
- 23/12/2012 07:10:26 AM
1141 Views
She also had many knives, and blunt objecs around the house. Tools are only as good as the user
- 23/12/2012 01:10:58 PM
1144 Views
So clearly she wasn't prepared enough... btw, do we know she was sleeping?
- 27/12/2012 10:52:03 AM
1094 Views
That she 1) was in bed, 2) had guns for self-defense and 3) was shot 4 times strongly suggests sleep
- 28/12/2012 11:49:20 PM
1209 Views
She was asleep with him in the house.
- 23/12/2012 02:24:47 PM
1154 Views
LOOK, look, there is another one...
- 26/12/2012 03:13:45 PM
1095 Views
I find the absolutist ant/pro-gun positions equally dangerous and absurd.
- 26/12/2012 04:20:37 PM
1095 Views
So we should just *kinda* ignore the Constitution *this* time... But what about NEXT time...
- 26/12/2012 08:08:12 PM
1099 Views
No, we should enact gun regulation the Constitution explicitly empowers.
- 26/12/2012 09:02:12 PM
1082 Views
Which would be... NONE. *NM*
- 27/12/2012 04:31:53 PM
646 Views
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state...."
- 28/12/2012 05:14:49 PM
1080 Views
Your point being?
- 27/12/2012 10:47:29 AM
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I am certain it would have been better, though not good, if she had been awake and shot him.
- 27/12/2012 02:16:13 PM
1137 Views
So the situation of Nancy and Adam shooting at each other
- 28/12/2012 07:44:12 AM
1157 Views
No, I believe they were both mentally incompetent to have guns; that does not mean EVERYONE is.
- 28/12/2012 02:19:51 PM
1107 Views
As a father, I would rather kill my own child than have him kill 26 other people.
- 27/12/2012 04:35:02 PM
1020 Views
And as a father, you are somehow clairvoyant?
- 28/12/2012 07:43:08 AM
1066 Views
Nice flippant unthinking reply, you and moondog should get together. *NM*
- 28/12/2012 04:55:14 PM
644 Views
How is my reply flippant? Your statement was unthinking, not mine.
- 29/12/2012 06:59:04 AM
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YOU asked if it would have been better for her to kill her own child instead, I answered.
- 29/12/2012 03:52:02 PM
1125 Views
I asked if a shoot out between mother and son had been better, not whether she should have killed
- 29/12/2012 08:54:09 PM
1063 Views
You make no sense.
- 31/12/2012 06:07:50 PM
1116 Views
I make no sense to you because you probably just don't understand my point.
- 01/01/2013 08:09:11 AM
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Maybe the heat death of the univers occurs before you finally have a cohearant thought
- 01/01/2013 07:34:31 PM
1125 Views
You do realize that resorting to personal attacks reveal an inability to make sound arguments? *NM*
- 02/01/2013 06:01:33 PM
757 Views
That is not an ad hominem attack, and your prior post was not very logically coherent
- 02/01/2013 08:59:16 PM
1239 Views
Instead of actually showing why my arguments would be incoherent or why I'm immature, he just said
- 05/01/2013 02:02:23 AM
1199 Views