Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid insist gun control legislation is not dead — they say they're strategizing on how to bring the issue back to the Senate floor.
Even if it does return, one proposal unlikely to survive is an assault-weapons ban. Military-style assault rifles now form a nearly $1 billion industry supported by gun owners who spend thousands of dollars collecting these firearms.
And while the gun-rights lobby keeps invoking the right of "self-defense" to defend Americans' right to buy these guns, home protection is low on the list of reasons gun enthusiasts keep buying military-style weapons.
'They Picture You As Some Kind Of Militant Freak'
There's a lot of name-calling in the gun control debate. Gun control advocates are slammed as the elitist, urban liberals who want to take everyone's guns away. Gun rights people are accused of being paranoid rednecks who think the government is out to get them. And then there are the special labels reserved for people who love their assault rifles.
"You know, they picture you as some kind of militant freak. And that's not me," says Mike Collins, who owns more than a dozen military-style rifles with his wife.
Collins wants you to understand something: He is a rational, intelligent, regular guy.
"I spent 27 years in the military," he says. "I defended this country all over the world. I've been in multiple combat tours. I'm not a nut. I'm not a crazy guy. I'm just a normal person who enjoys shooting."
And for Collins, target-practicing with an AR-15 is a hobby.
Next to Collins at the shooting range at Clark Brothers Gun Shop in Warrenton, Va., is Jason Glascock, who says if more Americans knew what it was like to shoot these weapons, they would see these guns can actually be good, clean fun.
"The AR — it's America's gun. It's what our troops carry. It's been our military firearm," Glascock says. "It's our, if you will, symbol around the world, this gun."
The fully automatic version of this gun — the M-16 — was introduced by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. The AR-15 is semiautomatic, which means you need to squeeze the trigger for each bullet.
Glascock was 3 years old when he started shooting a .22 caliber with his grandfather. By 5 years old, he moved on to shotguns. He started collecting military-style guns when he turned 18, and he just built an AR-15 for his 19-year-old son last Christmas.
Enlarge image i