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[RedKing]

Rifles are not useful to anyone but hunters and only these who should have them, because, frankly, no one else has a bloody use for them (as stated a few words ago). If they are not useful, why should they be openly available? Hell, you can even buy sniper rifles on the internet.
It is easy for anyone to acquire such a weapon, and that is a risk.

Rifles are, in fact, useful. If an armed individual breaks into my house, a rifle will provide a much more effective deterrent than a frying pan or a threat of lawsuit.

Oh please. If you're going to defend your home against a (as Aqizzar pointed out probably not very professional) burglar, why would you want a rifle? It's considerably less wieldy than a handgun and both does the job just right.

Also, every moron (not literally!) in the USA can get a gun. If they'd require licenses at least, but no...

Because it's more fun to shoot the burglar and anyone for the next 50 yards behind him (give or take a few intervening barriers).

But yeah...for home defense, you optimally want high stopping power, low penetration. It's not like the average home intruder is going to be wearing body armor.

There is a Federal background check for purchasing a firearm, but sadly it's probably less thorough than the one you go through to get hired as a cashier at a Wal-Mart. All it does is check to see if you have a felony. There's nothing to check to see if someone has a history of mental illness, is on anti-psychotic medications, has had a restraining order files against them, etc. And it's pretty much dependent on the merchant being scrupulous enough to refuse to sell if the check comes up red-flagged. (Although ATF routinely audits gun shops to make sure all their paperwork squares up.)

It also doesn't check to see if there's a pattern of stockpiling. That falls to law enforcement and intel, to track gun puchases and try to figure out why that nice little old grandma has bought a dozen AR-15s in the last two months...

[Jreengus]

Unless I'm mistaken you can buy guns at gun shows with absolutely no checks.

[Andir]

Unless I'm mistaken you can buy guns at gun shows with absolutely no checks.

Guns shows are considered private sales so no check.

[Grakelin]

It also doesn't check to see if there's a pattern of stockpiling. That falls to law enforcement and intel, to track gun puchases and try to figure out why that nice little old grandma has bought a dozen AR-15s in the last two months...

Because the end-times are coming.

I don't even know why this is an issue.

[Lord Dakoth]

Rifles are not useful to anyone but hunters and only these who should have them, because, frankly, no one else has a bloody use for them (as stated a few words ago). If they are not useful, why should they be openly available? Hell, you can even buy sniper rifles on the internet.
It is easy for anyone to acquire such a weapon, and that is a risk.

Rifles are, in fact, useful. If an armed individual breaks into my house, a rifle will provide a much more effective deterrent than a frying pan or a threat of lawsuit.

Oh please. If you're going to defend your home against a (as Aqizzar pointed out probably not very professional) burglar, why would you want a rifle? It's considerably less wieldy than a handgun and both does the job just right.

Let us assume that a rifle is the most convenient thing at the moment. The days of "chivalrous" burglary are over; I can't ask him to politely wait while I go purchase a handgun from my local sporting goods store.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

why did you bought a riffle instead of a handgun then? unless you're a hunter, it's not more useful to you than a handgun, in fact, if youre fighting an armed burglar, you'd better have a better arm than him, and in close quarters one on one combat, a riffle is hardly better than the burglar's handgun

[RedKing]

It also doesn't check to see if there's a pattern of stockpiling. That falls to law enforcement and intel, to track gun puchases and try to figure out why that nice little old grandma has bought a dozen AR-15s in the last two months...

Because the end-times are coming.

I don't even know why this is an issue.

Because stockpiling is often an indication of illegal activity. Either as a straw purchaser, identity theft, or precursor to some armed incident. Moreover, the question becomes how did Grandma *afford* a dozen AR-15s? Straw purchasing and pipelining of guns from the US to points south is a MAJOR issue.

You wanna know why the situation in Mexico is so incredibly fucked up right now? Look no further than the gun dealer in Yuma busted for selling .50 "sniper rifles" that are basically anti-tank rifles with a 2km range. Legal in the US, would be considered military-grade hardware in any other country. Dude knowingly sold three to what he thought were Mexican nationals, but were actually undercover agents. Why? Because he stood to make $150K off three guns. People like that sicken me. They'll gladly sell BFGs to drug cartels, because it's "down there".

[Vester]

why did you bought a riffle instead of a handgun then? unless you're a hunter, it's not more useful to you than a handgun, in fact, if youre fighting an armed burglar, you'd better have a better arm than him, and in close quarters one on one combat, a riffle is hardly better than the burglar's handgun

Because he probably bought it for hunting, simple enough. And it's probably the only gun in his house.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

Rifles are not useful to anyone but hunters and only these who should have them, because, frankly, no one else has a bloody use for them (as stated a few words ago). If they are not useful, why should they be openly available? Hell, you can even buy sniper rifles on the internet.
It is easy for anyone to acquire such a weapon, and that is a risk.

Rifles are, in fact, useful. If an armed individual breaks into my house, a rifle will provide a much more effective deterrent than a frying pan or a threat of lawsuit.

Oh please. If you're going to defend your home against a (as Aqizzar pointed out probably not very professional) burglar, why would you want a rifle? It's considerably less wieldy than a handgun and both does the job just right.

Let us assume that a rifle is the most convenient thing at the moment. The days of "chivalrous" burglary are over; I can't ask him to politely wait while I go purchase a handgun from my local sporting goods store.

i just think he forgot what he was trying to say

[Earthquake Damage]

You wanna know why the situation in Mexico is so incredibly fucked up right now?  stuff

I doubt arms smuggling is Mexico's greatest problem, let alone its only problem.

[smigenboger]

The arm-smuggling is a small problem compared to their gastrointestinal terrorism on American tourists.

[Forumsdwarf]

What I don't get is why someone would need a freaking hunting, battle or whatever-rifle or shotgun when for simple defence a handgun is completely sufficient.

A shotgun isn't a rifle, hunting, battle, or otherwise.  In fact, a semi-automatic riot shotgun is almost a perfect weapon for home defense.
Unlike a rifle, which fires a single very powerful bullet, a shotgun fires numerous small pellets in a conical arc in front of the weapon.  The width of a shotgun's arc determines the shotgun's stopping power and likelihood of hitting a target at a given range.  The wider the spray, the shorter the shotgun's ideal range.  The riot shotgun goes for a fairly wide, short-range arc perfect for home defense.
The most important characteristic of the shotgun is accuracy, good and bad: good, because with the spread pattern a homeowner is more likely to hit a target just by pointing and shooting, and bad, because the spread will also almost certainly hit things the defender wasn't aiming at.  A final consideration of the way shotguns are aimed is that very little training is required to become nominally proficient.
The semi-auto is just in case your first shot misses.  Within your likely target ranges you're throwing a cone with a diameter somewhere between that of a coffee cup and a dinner plate.  You can still miss.
When we get to penetration versus stopping power shotguns are in a class by themselves.  A shotgun blast has brutally lethal stopping power but doesn't typically penetrate walls or doors, a huge advantage for home defense.  A hunting rifle could well shoot through a wall and hit an innocent bystander.  A 12ga shotgun blast might obliterate a wall, but it probably won't penetrate.  Think of it as a spiked sledgehammer and you've got the right idea.

Funny you should ask how a rifle might be used for home defense.  I happen to know the answer.
On farms they are the best choice for defending people and livestock against predators.
Against human attackers rifles are the best option for defending from cover at long range, a situation which while rare actually does come up during civil disturbances, most famously the LA Riots.  In neighborhoods where property owners were armed the mob turned aside.  Dug in as the defenders were, on roofs or behind vehicles and armed with rifles, the mob was completely outclassed.

[Aqizzar]

Exactly how often do armed race riots sweep through your neighborhood anyway?

Of course, the biggest baddest gun in the world does absolutely nothing to "protect your home" or whatever if you aren't there to brandish it.  The best home defense solution from the dawn of time to today is still a 75+lbs dog.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

Exactly how often do armed race riots sweep through your neighborhood anyway?

Of course, the biggest baddest gun in the world does absolutely nothing to "protect your home" or whatever if you aren't there to brandish it.  The best home defense solution from the dawn of time to today is still a 75+lbs dog.

unless the bad guys have shotguns themselves...in which case your dog should be wearing kevlar helmet and vest, as well as carry a firearm himself

[Cheeetar]

Unless I'm mistaken you can buy guns at gun shows with absolutely no checks.

Guns shows are considered private sales so no check.

I don't see how this negates the stupidity of being able to buy guns with absolutely no background checks.