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Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive
You're wrong, I'm afraid.
AR-15 - style rifles (and large capacity 30-round clips), under the original Colt patent, have been sold to and were popular with American gun enthusiasts for well over 50 years. No less an authoritative source than NPR states this: "For more than a half-century, the AR-15 has been popular among gun owners, widely available in gun stores and, for many years, even appeared in the Sears catalog...." ("A Brief History of the AR-15", Greg Myre, NPR, February 28, 2018). Once the colt patent expired, other gun companies began manufacturing the AR-15 type as well. Remember--the type was designed to be sold to America's CIVILIAN population and they've been around for a long time and were quite popular well over a half-century ago.
But guns with large-capacity magazines have been around far longer than that. Keeping it to more-or-less recent history, following WW II hundreds of thousands of surplus M1 Carbines were sold to the public: many by the Federal Government itself at steeply discounted prices under the Civilian Marksmanship Program. They came with 20-round clips but even then, larger clips were available for purchase. I recall seeing the ads in The American Rifleman magazines: you could buy many surplus military rifles, not just the MI Carbine, for as little as $12.00, and as I recall the NRA as well as other retailers sold the large-capacity clips as well.
You may be thinking of the Federal Firearms Control Act, which banned large-capacity magazines (I believe any that held more than eleven rounds) but that was in effect for only 10 years, 1994 to 2004.
The fact of the matter is that semi-automatic rifles with large-capacity clips have been around since the middle of the last century, and were probably a whole lot more available to people then, than the AR-15 models are available for purchase now. But even with the easier access, things like Texas or Columbine just didn't happen then.
Face it. It's a people problem, NOT a gun problem. And until we fix the people, that won't change.
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If you remember the days when your company treated you like a family. Many of us joined a company thinking one day you will retire from the same company. There were office parties for your personal celebration and company picnics and yes, pensions for your long dedicated service. Some of us were actually happy to go to work spend time with your co-worker/friends. Then over the years the society changed, Business changed to pursuit of profits regardless of employee happiness. Remember the movie "Wallstreet"? Michael Douglas claimed "Greed is Good".
Now, happy people with guns should have no reason to become a mass murderer. But society changed. Opioid epidemic means killing more people means more profit. In this environment, we must change. We have to limit the availability of guns that can kill people so easily so fast. 2nd amendment yes but when Gov has F-35, what chances average citizens have to resist and win against them. Voting is one way but for guns, I think license/reg/insurance is the way to go to limit the availability.
Sadness