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Ksh_667 t1_iwcb7h4 wrote

Reply to comment by ArrrGaming in Suspect in custody following fatal shooting of 12-year-old, 14-year-old also injured in Colorado shooting by spiceponey

I'm in uk & I wonder why assault rifles are legal in parts of the us. I mean I get hunting & protection but i can't see a reason for anyone having a machine gun. They aren't used to hunt are they? If I'm wrong fair enough, you could fit my knowledge about guns on the back of a postage stamp.

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3klipse t1_iwcdvjm wrote

Machine guns are full auto. There are like 400k registered full auto guns that are in civilian hands, the absolute vast majority of non bolt action rifles are going to be semi auto only.

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CryptidGrimnoir t1_iwe0g08 wrote

I can explain some of this.

An assault rifle is a long rifle that is specifically designed for selective fire. This means that it can be set to fire automatically or semiautomatically.

If a firearm is set to automatic fire, when the gunman pulls the trigger, rounds will fire until the magazine is empty or until the gunman released the trigger.

If a firearm is set for semi-automatic fire, the gunman can only fire one round per pull of the trigger.

Automatic firearms are actually extremely rare in the United States, having their production banned since 1986. Existing automatic firearms cost tens of thousands of dollars. They've quite literally only been used in crimes a handful of times.

Semi-automatic rifles are extremely common and yes, they can be used for hunting. AR-15s and AR-10s can be used to hunt feral hogs. AR-15s can also be used to hunt varmints--rats, prairie dogs, etc.

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Ksh_667 t1_iwe3rig wrote

Thanks for making this clear. Can I ask if a semi-auto gun can be easily converted to become fully auto? My knowledge is kind of limited to Hollywood films lol & it seems every criminal has access to fully automatic machine guns. I had no idea they were rare. Sorry if this is a naive question.

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CryptidGrimnoir t1_iwec112 wrote

You're welcome. And no worries. I don't mind answering any honest question. And there's no such thing as a naive question.

To start, it's not a particularly difficult process to "convert" certain semi-automatics to fully automatic if somebody knows what they're doing, but it is highly illegal.

As for what you've seen in movies: As general rule of thumb--Hollywood will lie to you. They do it to tell a story, but it's still a lie.

The guns in movies fire far more rounds than the magazines will hold, with almost nobody reloading ever.

The guns in movies are much, much quieter--your average gun fight in a superhero film will cause permanent hearing loss to anyone in the room in real life. When was the last time any action movie had its characters use proper hearing protection?

As an additional note, automatic firing tends to wreck accuracy, because the gun is moving around so much.

Once again, I'm happy to answer questions.

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Ksh_667 t1_iwehl7j wrote

Thanks I really appreciate this. Yeh I suspected the movies ive seen were not particularly accurate, but I just didn't know enough about any of it to know why. The average English person has no knowledge of guns. Most ppl I know have never seen one, let alone be able to identify say a pistol from a revolver, or a semi from a fully automatic.

Apart from the deafening noise, which would obv preclude all the complex conversations they have in films while mowing down lines of baddies lol, I'd have expected the semi or fully auto weapons to have more of a kick back when fired. Like I'm a 5'4 woman & weigh 90lbs. I'd expect to find myself knocked off my feet if I fired a rifle style gun. Would that be likely or am I over thinking it?

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CryptidGrimnoir t1_iwel786 wrote

Happy to be of service!

Movies make everything up. They have too many rounds in magazines, the guns fire too quickly or too quietly, and in some cases, the guns fire too well. It's not often brought up, but larger magazine drums often cause the guns to jam.

There's a great deal of Americans who have just as little knowledge of firearms. I don't own guns myself--everything I know, I learned, most of it coming from firearm experts who happened to be my favorite novelists.

That's actually the thing about a lot of semi-automatics--they look similar to automatic rifles, which makes laymen all the more afraid of them.

Recoil can be tricky. There's a lot of factors that come into it, but the bottom line is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Some heavy guns actually have less recoil and the recoil in a handgun can be surprisingly strong if you haven't braced yourself properly. This is because, if fitted with the same ammo, the guns are firing the same round. The larger, heavier gun absorbs more of the recoil across its entire frame and although the overall recoil may be greater, the felt recoil won't be nearly as strong for the gunman. The smaller handgun has it more concentrated and thus, the gunman feels that much more.

The most popular firearm in the United States is the AR-15, which is noted for having a very light recoil.

That all being said, a stranger on the Internet isn't the best person to give you advice on which firearm might suit you best, if you were ever to use one. You'd want to speak to people with experience, face-to-face about that.

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