It’s seeing the spate of phrases which go like something this,”Maybe now it’s time for all patriotic Americans who own assault rifles to donate them to Ukrainian fighters”, which provokes my response.

So categorically:
[A] Actually you have to get a federal license to buy an “assault rifle” which itself is just a sloppy civilian (and politicians) term for select fire and fully automatic rifles. Of course such people know little about firearms.

[B] No mass shootings have involved any select fire or fully automatic rifle. None of them.

[C] And why is it time now?? If they mean because of more frequent mass shootings — then they have to explain why there weren’t ANY school shootings during the previous decades when semi auto rifles were just as common as today. Why NO school shootings at all until 1999?

[D] The shooters at Columbine used semi auto weapons and homemade bombs. Only screwed up individuals commit mass shootings. Homicide has always been a felony level crime. The death penalty applies to criminal homicides in some states. New laws have little or no deterrent effect. The rules applied by our society can have more effect on such individuals.

[E] Let us not forget that in 1999 there was already an assault weapon ban in place. (From 1994 to 2004 — when mass shootings first began)