Consider two rifles. Both are semi-automatic in function, an action type that was once referred to as “self-loading,” as they fire one round per trigger pull, and the action then cycles, driven by either recoil or gas tapped from the barrel, ejecting the spent case and chambering a new round with no action by the shooter. Both rifles will accept detachable magazines. Both rifles are functionally identical, except that one fires a cartridge that is significantly more powerful than the other. This is technology, by the way, that has been around since the 19th century.
One of these rifles is ignored by the “assault weapons ban” advocates despite its functional attributes. The other is demeaned, described hysterically as a “weapon of war,” and is the subject of repeated attempts to outlaw it.
The first rifle, the one largely ignored by the gun-banners, is the Winchester 100. The second?…
