(March 27, 2014 at 9:20 pm)Bad Writer Wrote: Those questions are precisely why I started posting in this thread. I still don't know, and no one has brought up any good reasons to date.
Sorry I posted the Mini-14 and ran this morning BW, but I'm busier than the proverbial one legged man lately. Others already helped you figured out it wasn't a red herring. Rather an attempt to figure out if any objections you might have to private ownership of were based more on cosmetics than functionality.
As far as registration goes the official party line is traceability. It makes it easier for the police to find the owner of a weapon they suspect was used in a crime. While they can theoretically do that now with a gun that has only traded hands via a licensed dealer, once a gun goes through a private sale (perfectly legal in most states) that traceability disappears.
Save a life. Adopt a greyhound.