Let me start with this: I am not a gun owner or enthusiast. What I am is curious; I’ve shot handguns at indoor ranges and a number of my friends are enthusiastic owners of both sidearms and long rifles. These friends answer serious questions for me like, “How many AR-15’s does one person need?” (The answer, according to one of them, is three.)

I have mixed feelings on firearms — specifically, how far the Second Amendment should extend in an era of semi-automatic weapons made easily available for purchase online and off. With every mass shooting comes the sinking feeling in our collective stomach, followed by a familiar response: what the fuck do you need these things for? I’ve been asking this question myself since April 20th, 1999; I was home sick from middle school and got to watch the events at Columbine High School unfold on live TV.

The list of valid reasons to own a gun (or three — or thirteen, depending on their level of investment) is long and filled with examples of hardworking Americans whose firearms truly would have to be plucked from their cold, dead hands — ranchers, farmers, hunters. All of them, hopefully, utilize these weapons within the scope of their industry or lifestyle without brandishing them in public spaces and threatening the safety of bystanders. I’d be remiss if I neglected to mention the point hammered on by every enthusiast I know: the importance of gun ownership for those living in the areas overrun by feral hogs. Having never encountered a wild pig myself, I’m going to trust the experts that menacing hand gestures accompanied by a rousing “shoo!” is not enough to quell their masses.

Frankly I’m less concerned with the deaths of wild swine than the deaths of all the students, teachers, pedestrians, congregations, movie-goers, concert attendees, security officers, and bystanders brought about courtesy of assault-style weapons.

After watching CNN’s Town Hall pitting Parkland students against Florida Congressman Marco Rubio, one thing became perfectly clear: too much political capital is being burned while seekers of gun reform scream at NRA-approved candidates over semantics. In this case, burning political capital means alienating moderate voters who are waiting for what they consider to be workable solutions — unlike assault weapons bans, which many consider unenforceable.

When Nancy Pelosi issues vague statements about gun control, right-leaning publications push forth plenty of content surmising she’s calling for confiscation — and Democratic nominees in purple states suffer for it.

In the wake of the Aurora and Connecticut massacres, two Democratic state senators in Colorado provided critical support for a package of state gun laws. The New York Times reported “both sides spent heavily and campaigned fiercely, fighting to prevail in what analysts called a proxy battle between gun-control advocates and the National Rifle Association” — and this was just for a state package! Five months after the Senate struck down national gun control measures, the two were recalled and replaced with Republicans.

Semantics

The conversation about gun control, if we can call it that, tends to get snagged on semantics. The thing you need to know about the gun community is that it’s comprised of detail fetishists. This is just as true of those building Swiss watches or model airplanes in their spare time, but that’s where the similarities end — there’s only one type of hobbyist whose final product causes cavitation.

The refusal of most the self-identified “left” to acquaint themselves with the technicalities of firearms and their legislation makes it easy for gun enthusiasts to be dismissive of their concerns as well as their suggestions. Those that know too little are seen as firmly on the outside, raging against all they do not know within. Such levels of expertise in the face of knee-jerk reactions enables the continued derailing of the conversation. Semantics matter.

Below are three photos of an AR-15, the modern sporting rifle (MSR) used in Parkland, Las Vegas, San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, Chattanooga, Colorado Springs, and Crandon. The AR-15 is described as the perfect rifle: extremely accurate — provided you’re not using bump stock, reliable, and endlessly customizable — a lethal set of Legos, if you will, whose parts are not only inexpensive but easy to fabricate. Furthermore, they are easy to use safely, the ammunition is cheap, and they have almost no recoil. In short, they were made with the average idiot in mind.

Top: Illegal assault rifle. Middle: Legal assault rifle. Bottom: Illegal assault rifle.

So why is one of the three configurations legal, even in states with an assault rifle ban? Technicalities — the lack of a pistol grip (top), change in stock (also known as the butt of the rifle), and a smaller magazine (10 bullets versus 30). All three versions shoot the same ammunition from the same type of magazine, size notwithstanding, with the same accuracy — and the same horrifying results.

The suggestion that we ban the AR-15 sounds rational to most non-gun owners. The problem is that there are a handful of similar models on the market, each with slight alterations made to the design in the interest of avoiding patent infringement. Banning specific models of firearms has shown to be a poor use of legislative power in the past, as proven by the grandfather clause in Bill Clinton’s Assault Weapons Ban, which did nothing to restrict the ownership, sale, or transfer of the 1.5 million automatic weapons and over 24 million high-capacity magazines manufactured before the law went into effect. And this doesn’t even begin to touch upon homemade firearms.

Under federal law, anyone not considered a “prohibited person” based on the criteria laid out in the Federal Background Check Form is not only allowed to purchase weapons, but manufacture them provided they do not sell, gift, or otherwise surrender the firearm to another individual. Basically, self-built weapons are for their creator’s use only.

The eCommerce revolution has given birth to retailers like GrabAGun, GunBuyer and GunBroker, a gun auction site built in the spirit of eBay, and innumerable websites selling “80% Lower Kits.”