So can every other semi-automatic rifle chambered in a cartridge common for use in wild game hunting, that's not how we define "assault weapon". What's your point?
Actually, assault weapons fire faster than hunter rifles, they have higher capacity magazines, and less recoil. But we're comparing 18th century weapons to modern weapons, not assault weapons to hunting rifles. The fact that many styles of modern guns have these capabilities show why it's important to keep them out of the hands of people who wish to use them for harm.
Such as?
Fewer people killed in mass shooting events. Every life matters.
So, you're advocating for a ban on the secondary market for firearms
Certainly. Quite a few weapons are purchased without a background check. It might also be worth considering a national gun registry to prevent weapons being sold to criminals.
and also creating and then expanding a list of mental illnesses that, somehow, will allow the NICS background check system to fail the people that have them?
Any chance you'd want to flesh out some more details, there?
Any mental illness that greatly affects judgement and decision making would bar someone from purchasing a gun. We would also have to improve the mental health system to help more mentally ill people receive proper diagnosis and treatment.
Ah, so because those guys were racists they weren't really gun controllers?
Just because you support certain measures of gun control doesn't mean you support all forms of gun control legislation. That's nonsense. You might as well say that if someone supports regulating corporations, then they're obligated to support regulations that are racist, harmful, dangerous, or too costly.
The American homicide rate has been dropping faster than the global rate, and that of other developed countries such as the UK.
So, if a 175 lb. man loses 25 lbs., he has something to learn from a 400 lb. man who loses 30 lbs.? Considering that gun homicide issue is so out of control in America, the right policies should decrease homicides far quicker than countries that already have the problem somewhat under control. There's not much else a country can do once the homicide rate falls below a certain level.