Runsvold letter: Assault rifles

The headline makes Adam Winkler’s basic point: “assault rifle bans simply are not the answer.”

True enough. What makes “assault rifles” and semi-automatic handguns (pistols) perfect for killing lots of bunched-up people is not their looks, it’s their high-capacity, easily-detachable magazines. Empty 10 to 30 rounds into people out of the first mag, drop it, insert a second loaded magazine, repeat. And repeat, until you run out of the 5 or 10 extra loaded mags you carry.

Guns with detachable magazines are simply easier and faster to reload than guns with fixed “magazines.” “Assault rifles” and pistols are ergonomically optimized for this. Quickly reloading a “six gun” or other revolver, a “thirty-thirty” rifle, or the typical shotgun or bolt-action hunting rifle can be hard, which offers plenty of opportunities, in the heat of the moment, to screw up. In a mass shooting scenario, that would be the break in the action needed for a potential victim to hide, flee, or overpower the shooter.

As every gun expert knows, there is no actual need for detachable-magazine guns (including my cherished Model 760) for any kind of hunting or self-defense that can’t be met by fixed “magazine” guns.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 11:34 PM with the headline "Runsvold letter: Assault rifles."