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this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2026
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What makes the assault rifle scarier than a pistol?
Like, do you think the bullets from that gun are more painful/deadlier than pistol bullets?
Im not trying to belittle having a gun in public, I think that's just unnecessary for every day life. But why is a big cumbersome assault rifle scarier than a very fast and easy to conceal pistol? To me, guns kill people dead regardless of the size. At least with the assault rifle slung like that its clearly a hassle to make ready to fire.
I'm a gun owner, I enjoy shooting, and I agree that carrying a rifle is more terrifying than a hand gun here.
It's a power play, and a fantasy attempting to become reality.
You carry a rifle like that because you want to be seen with it. You want others to fear you because they see that you have the power of death in your hands. You want to feel like you're the big man in the situation, and if that's your line of thinking, I'm more inclined to think that you're the type to escalate a situation where you'll feel justified to use that power of death and and actually shoot someone.
If you were actually concerned about defense you'd carry a small pistol that you can grab in a moments notice, action it to put one in the camber, aim, and pull the trigger. A rifle like that you're not carrying loaded, maybe you have a loaded magazine in your pocket but you're still several seconds away from me able to actually shoot it. It's bad theater
It's hell of a lot easier to commit a mass murder with an assault rifle over a pistol. People carrying assault rifles aren't doing so for "self defense". They do so for intimidation or to have the ability to kill a bunch of people at once. Sure, you can do it with a handgun, but it's not anywhere remotely as quick and simple.
I am not pro gun, but it's a hell of a lot more understandable for me to see a person carrying a handgun or having a shotgun at home for home defense as opposed to a weapon of mass murder.
As a physically small human who lives alone, I do sometimes get concerned for my safety travelling in certain areas. Or if I lived in a rough area, it honestly might be wise for me to keep one at home in the event of a break in. But I'm still never going to be the type to own one. I just find it a lot more reasonable in certain circumstances.
tl;dr - an assault rifle is literally made for killing large quantities of people at once; I'd hardly call that self defense outside of a war scenario
All guns are made for killing. It doesnt matter if its a .22lr, .45acp, or 7.62x54r. There isnt a purpose for guns except killing and practicing to kill. Self defense does not make killing any better or worse. I guess you could be scared of the capacity, but depending on the state, that AR could have less capacity and be significantly slower to reload than a standard handgun. I just dont understand what specifically makes you think a bigger gun is more dangerous than a little gun. If youre okay with gun a, why not gun b?
I'm sorry, but how the hell can someone be against killing in self defense? If someone breaks into my home at night to kill me, I absolutely would have no hesitation to try to kill them before they kill me.
I don't think I have ever heard someone be anti self defense before.
Edit: Surely I must be misunderstanding.
You can be pro self defense and anti killing. If you have to kill someone, it means you have failed in every other attempt you could have made to accomplish your goals. The vast majority of people who might break into your house are just looking to steal. Are you going to justify ending the life of a person to protect a pile of stuff? There's chemical irritants, light and sound based disorientation tools, tasers, and whole laundry lists of deterrents besides.
Im not saying any of those things are safe or foolproof, but killing a person to keep yourself safe should be a last resort.