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Comment by bluedino | Hacker News Reader

Rifles (especially AK47s) are very popular with gangs for drive by shootings.

The AK-47 is a select fire fully automatic rifle. It has been illegal to import or manufacture fully automatic rifles for civilian use for decades.

AKs in the US have been semi-automatic for a long time. It takes an experienced gunsmith to restore fully automatic firing to an imported AK. They have been sold this way in the US for decades and are a cheaper alternative to the AR-15.

Then it isn't an AK-47 in the same way that an AR-15 isn't an M16.

The point is, nobody is making or importing full auto AK-47s and selling them to gang members. A semiautomatic-only AK-47 is just the functional equivalent of a hunting rifle.

The M16 has been semi-auto (single fire and three round bursts) since the Vietnam war with the rare exception of special forces weapons[1]. Fully automatic mainline rifles are inaccurate, wasteful, expensive, and less effective.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M16_rifle#M16A2

Burst fire is NOT semi-auto.

Burst fire IS semi-auto, despite the other commenter. Automatic firing means that when you hold down the trigger it continues to fire until either the trigger is released or the ammunition supply is exhausted.

The federal government does not consider burst to be semi-auto. Semi-auto rifles are legal for civilians without any special license. Automatic weapons require a Class III license and no civilian can buy one manufactured after 1986. Three-round burst falls into the later category, and any gun store in the U.S. will use the same terminology as the ATF.

I've been in many gun shops, never heard them referred to as automatic weapons. At least in the midwest, I've heard them referred to as either "burst" or Class III weapons.

Do you have a citation for that? AK47s became popular with many hunters and target shooters because they're rugged, cheap, and have really cheap ammunition for target practice with a rifle.

Popular with gangs for the same reason. They're also pretty intimidating. Citation? Go to a search engine and type something like "AK47 chicago gang" or search the news websites for any large city with a high murder rate for 'ak47'

> The AK-47 is a select fire fully automatic rifle. It has been illegal to import or manufacture fully automatic rifles for civilian use for decades.

Don't do this. You know I meant 'AK pattern weapon', we'll use the WASR you can get at any sporting goods store for an example. You can get/modify all the parts to convert over a civilian AK to full auto without problems, unless the ATF finds out.

You'll get a lot of hits on that because the media calls every long gun an AK47. No criminal in his right mind would use one, it's expensive and objectively terrible.

You think full-auto weapons aren't used on the streets of America?

Ah, but they're illegal, so you're admitting that banning guns doesn't work.

Fully automatic weapons are exceedingly rare. I know everyone thinks gang members are just flush with first-world armaments but most are using handguns. Easy to get a hold of (either stolen or straw purchases) and easy to conceal. Other than organized crime, street gangs have very few contacts for illicit imported weapons purchases.

I would say you are wrong because legal AR15s, even California legal AR15s with bullet buttons, have become popular among all types of gun owners. It's the #1 selling rifle. There are many variants and styles for hunting, such as the 6.8, 6.5 and .308 (also known as the AR10).

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