Originally Posted by Diesel911

It is illegal to own an Assault Rifle. A real Assault Rifle has a selector Switch/Lever that changes it from Semi Automatic (one shot per Trigger Squeeze) to Fully Automatic (it will keep shooting as long as the Trigger is held down until the Magazine is Empty).
Normally not Legal. The exception to the Rule is there was/is a special Machine Gun registration.

No registed Machine Gun has ever been used to commit a Murder; ever.

The Semiautomatic Versions of the real Assault Rifles look the similar even though the do not function the same.

The term Assault Weapon was invented by the News Media because of the emotional strings it pulls by tagging on the "Assault"; yes they are yanking your emotional Chain.
When I was a kid in the 1950s and early 1960s there was no such term.

Part of the issue with Banning Assult Weapons it that it is a made up Term that allows someone to define the Term; meaning the Law might choose to define it any way they like to.

I don't have any person issues with how many Bullets are in a Magazine. The Killer in the latest Mass Murder just brought several Guns a long with Him; that is one way to compensate for a lower Magazine Capacity.

In the State I am in you can still own high capacity Magazines they just have to be Manufactured before a certain Date.

People have not only defended themselves with what you call an Assault Weapon they go Hunting with them. But, the peaceful use of something is not going to make the News.
(Hunting stuff. The 30 Cal Cartridges used in the older AK-47 type Guns is similar in ballistics to the venerable 30-30 Whinchester Cartridge; a well know hunding Cartridge for Deer.)

When they had the Riots out here in CA over the Rodney King Verdict you the News would occasionally flash pics of Korean Store owners Armed with what you Call Assult Weapons.

They protected their Stores until the National Guard (the Guard arrived with no Bullets or orders to stop Looters) came a long and forced them to leave; resulting in their businesses being pillaged.
See Pic Korean Store Owners defending there Homes and Businesses.
In the Pic I point to a Mini-14, in the back round is a Shot Gun with the evil high capacity Magazine.
Past the Shot Gun it looks like that a Guy with an UZI.

So in the above paragraph the Firearm owners are using their Guns to defend property and maybe their lives if they tried to defend property without Guns.

Most Mass Murders or even regular Murders have not been comitted with Assault Rifles or even Assault Weapons if that had been so it clearly would have been in the News.

People like to ignor the fact that in Switzerland the Soldiers have their real Assult Rifles with them at Home and they do a lot of compative shooting with them. Yet no one runs amuck with them.

The issue with Violince is a problem of our Society not with Guns.