I’m going to make a guess that the majority, if not most, of the 15 million owners of AR-15’s, have not witnessed first hand what the weapon can do to a human body. That means they purchased the automatic rifle for its imagined potential. They have no experiential expectation of the damage it can inflict.

That would be fine for the purchase of a video game or a DVD with dramatized mass shootings, but it is appalling to think that millions of AR-15 owners walk around with visions of gunshot death, not anything near the reality of it.  In fact, the anticipation of using the AR-15 is sadly unrealistic, because it is mostly imaginary.

After reading about the damage inflicted once the bullet of the AR-15 enters the body in the Post editorial on Monday, I have a better understanding of the horrific injury and death this weapon carries for the victim.  The bullets’ capacity to spread out and poison the body of the survivor shows its appalling potential.  It has the combined lethality of an explosive bullet and a chemical weapon.  Were the consumers of this product aware of the implacable pain and death of this weapon when they purchased it? If so, what kind of carnage were they planning?

Considering that AR-15 completely eliminates the sporting nature of hunting by scatter-shooting wild animals, I have to ask how the weapon serves in self-defense.  Does it provide the consumer with the never-fail evisceration of their target in case their aim is bad? Does it provide a sadistic pleasure in knowing you have at least permanently maimed an intruder, if your shot was imprecise? Does it guard against a half dozen invaders coming at you at once? How many enemies do you need to be worthy of a mass attack of more than two house breakers?

It seems to me AR-15 owners come in roughly four groups. There may be those experienced in combat, who respect the terrible lethality of these weapons and need them to live or work in high-risk circumstances. These are probably a small minority. There are those who have used them in combat and enjoy the potential maiming or eviscerating of their enemies. There are those who only imagine and relish the havoc and pain they can cause using this weapon against any intruder. And there are those not confident in their marksmanship under pressure and realize a dozen bullets will succeed where one or two might fail.

We have no idea who these 15 million owners are, but I’m pretty sure most of them have not used automatic weapons under combat circumstances. Where imagination governs our practice with multiple shot rifles, I think we should stick to single-action weapons and believe that one intruder stopped in his tracks will discourage any others.  As for hunting, let’s keep it a sport, not a carnage.

Of course we have to consider the government coming for us with an AR-15 armed militia.

No we don’t! If you believe that a super-armed military force is coming to your house to imprison you for rebellious speaking, you are too paranoid to own anything more than a revolver.   This arming ourselves against a military that has never fired on law-abiding civilians in the last hundred years is pure fantasy.  If we have to prepare for that kind of attack, we might as well build fortresses in the mountains or desert and hope for the best.  To be honest, I would prefer that we keep that kind of mania out of suburban neighborhoods.

Whether your enemies are imagined or based on military experience, I would prefer you don’t carry a potential for mass destruction. I don’t want to plan a surprise birthday party for someone that heavily armed. I don’t want AR-15 armed neighbors whose primary experience with automatic weapons is from demonstration movies and video games.  I am threatened by those who brag about how easily they could drop a battalion descending on their home.  Let them quietly and safely store their single-shot weapons where they can use them in a real emergency.

Fantasy might be fun when the victims are video characters. When human beings have murderous fantasies about real people it is hard to know when to avoid them and when to report them.  AR-15 owners leave small room for errors in this judgment. They are either cautious beyond reason, dangerous, or misguided. In any case,  I hope none of them move in next to me.