Quote Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit View Post
The 2nd amendment was written to allow the people to overthrow a tyrannical government - for which you need modern rifles.

Also, what are called assault rifles all the time by anti-gun folks (and copied by the media) are actually semi-auto rifles. True, military, assault rifles have the capability to fire fully automatically.

Also, semi-auto rifles are rarely used in crime.

CR
The practical difference between a semi-auto and full-auto weapon is not as meaningful as the calibur, barrel type, magazine capacity and the type of action the weapon uses. Cut the full auto out of the M-16 and you actually have a more dangerous weapon in most instances because you remove the temptation to "rock and roll", which is pointless execpt for things like room clearence. Most battle rifles, including early version of the M-14 and FAL/SLR were single shot but their range and destructive potential is greater than their replacements, to the extent that reconditioned or similar weapons are being issued for the sort of long range firefights soldiers have in Afganistan.

Your "overthrow tyrannical government" tack is a complete non starter for two reasons.

1. The modern US militias would be rolled over by even your National Guard, to say nothing of the US Army, no chance none. They would be much more vulnerable than, for example, the Afgan tribesmen.

2. From the perspective of the Founding Fathers your government should already have been overthrown, although because of its sheer size and complexity rather than any percieved democratic deficit.