• MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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    12 days ago

    There’s also the cost.

    Hi-Point: The hole-puncher for the common folk.

    Or auction house AK variants. Or strike old school fear into fascism with a Mosin Nagant or an M1 Garand (ping!).

    Lol memes aside (and not judging!) there’s hardware to fill the need at all price points. It’s the ammo that’s hard to keep up with! Also, safety (and skill) training could be a lot more universally accessible and applied.

    The time to gain familiarity and proficiency is also a severely limiting factor, and of course the working class have less and less of it.

    I think our general attitude and understanding about firearms (in the U.S/“West”) has been intentionally poisoned into some bizarre right-wing fetish thing specifically to make sure level-headed, educated, reasonable people who weren’t ultra-capitalists wouldn’t be the group statistically holding a stupidly unholy amount of them.

    I guess my point is: Capitalism will sell you whatever you like. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a vetting process for its preferred audience. It simply adjusts the culture to make the very idea revolting to those it would prefer not selling to, and amplifying the signal to stupidly comical degrees to its target audience.

    • LilB0kChoy@lemm.ee
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      12 days ago

      Nearly 150 million adults in the USA can go buy a semi auto rifle right now

      Semi auto rifle.

      • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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        12 days ago

        Well, the Mosin, being a bolt-action, was a bit of a meme funny inclusion…

        …but technically the Garand, and any AK/SKS kinda rifle, are (or can be) semi-automatic wherein a pull of a trigger discharges a single round. And yes, Hi-Point also makes rifle models Lol.

        Companies like Kel-Tec also market to the civilian affordability crowd.

        I dunno, was I missing the point of this emphasis maybe? Let me know if something went over my head. :)

        • LilB0kChoy@lemm.ee
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          12 days ago

          Sorry, I was short on time and only glanced at your comment.

          The Mosin is bolt action, as you indicated.

          Hi-Point sells carbine pistols but I didn’t see any rifles, and I’m not familiar with Kel Tec’s offerings I’m guessing they’re like Hi Point? This matters because in some jurisdictions those are sold as ‘pistols’ and require the same permitting.

          As for cheap AKs or Garands, I haven’t seen any of those since before Obama’s first term. They are less expensive than a Springfield or Colt made Armalite style rifle but not cheap. I’d like to know where you live because I’d be happy to snap up a cheap Garand.

          The least expensive semi auto rifles are going to be .22 caliber. Then we could get into the argument of if a revolutionary force was armed with a bunch of semi auto rifles, how capable would they be. At that point it’s moot because in the US they’d be going against the US law enforcement and military which will be far better equipped, that big ol’ ‘defense’ budget at work.

          Ultimately it’s a difference in wording. If the OP had said firearms then I’d have said 150 million is conservative.

          • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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            4 hours ago

            As for cheap AKs or Garands, I haven’t seen any of those since before Obama’s first term.

            Dang it, you got me there. Long time since I’ve been gun shopping and it already was an expensive and time consuming hobby then! 100% of the ones I foolishly lost in a tragic boating accident so long ago were inherited.

            Everything, like everything I guess, is ridiculous now. Ammo is inflated but at least it’s way better than it was in 2020-ish.

            Kel Tec’s offerings I’m guessing they’re like Hi Point?

            Ah, good catch about the carbines. That’s pretty popular these days! KelTec is a bit nicer. Mostly polymer, really interesting designs, but I’m not sure about their longevity reputation. They don’t just make “Another AR-15…but slightly different!” over and over, so I think they’re neat in that regard.

            Sheesh! Also not cheap though! You’re right. Anybody needs a rifle’s gotta set aside a couple grand. Even used, unless they get lucky.

            Yeah. Everything is all kinda crazy.

            The usual suspects hoarded all the arms and then went down rabbit holes towards becoming mall-ninja LARPing lackies for a fascist regime. The wealth inequality chasm widened, and most non-conservatives were busy convincing themselves guns were scary and unnecessary instead of taking responsibility and educating themselves and their communities.

            Whelp…

            … There’s always 3D printing lol. XD

            I sincerely and truthfully hope as a nation we can do a complete heel turn without having to gravely consider protecting ourselves in this manner, though.

            I think if self defense weren’t so one-sided, we might be seeing more of a reflection of the old adage: “An armed society is a polite society.”