Originally Posted By: sini
Originally Posted By: Daye


The only difference between pistol and rifles are engagement ranges. The rifle is more accurate and designed for targets at longer range than a pistol is whereas a pistol is ideal for concealment and close range work.



Absolutely not true.

Clip size
Stopping power
Ease of handling (and effective rate of fire).

You can get a handgun that would fire magnum high caliber rounds, but not 20+ at a time, plus only very skilled marksman would be able to shoot such handgun more than one round at a time and maintain any kind of accuracy.

There is absolutely no point denying that semi-automatic rifle is by far more deadlier weapon than any comparable handgun.


Again, no offense, but from your past comments I would wager you do not own any firearms, thus your opinions are based on experiences and information other than your own observations.

A chest shot with a tiny 55gr Vmax .223 round ( regardless of platform type ) will kill anyone just as quickly as a chest shot from a 250gr .50AE Magnum round from a pistol. I promise.


Lets take your points one at a time:

Clip Size: This line of thinking assumes that killing ten is somehow less horrific than killing twenty. How many a lunatic kills ( including their age and/or gender )is irrelevant, the fact that they are killing anyone is the real issue here.


Stopping Power: Range dependent. At close range like this, is a moot point completely. Only becomes an issue as ranges increase beyond pistol caliber capabilities.


Ease of Handling: Application dependent. Indoors in cramped quarters, pistols are the go to device. It tougher to maneuver a rifle within a building than a pistol. Outdoors with plenty of room and where engagement distances are expected to be longer, the rifle is the go to device.


However, you're not going to give in, nor will I. As a result, I will call the argument here just because.


Some final thoughts:

In the right hands firearms can be used to save lives, in the wrong hands, they take them. The tool itself is neutral in application, it's all about the wielder.

Arguing semantics such as caliber, clip capacity, grip types, or appearance is ridiculous and missing the point entirely.

That point being:

The world is full of evil people and there is nothing you or I can do about it. From time to time, they will crawl out from under their rock and wreak havoc on the rest. Regardless of what tools they use to do it or how many they can kill in one go, it's still horrific.

So unless you're ok with applying selective bans to just about anything that can be used to harm someone else ( computers, chemicals, fast food, alcohol, tobacco, etc ) you might want to consider what slippery slope you're standing on before finalizing your decision.