First let me explain that I absolutely do believe we have the right to bear arms for hunting and target shooting. That being said, there is simply no reason for a mere civilian to own an assault rifle. It is a weapon literally meant to "assault" an enemy position in times of war. Given that rifles only kill a few hundred people a year in the US, the loss of these guns will be minimal because they are simply not used for self defense. They are used for slaughtering large numbers of civilians in prolific mass shootings. No one is hunting deer with an AR-15. One shot from it and you'd blow the damn thing into pieces, it ruins the meat.
All that being said, why are we continuing to allow these weapons of mass destruction in our society? Let's discuss this issue and find a solution we can all agree on.