good lord
First of all, why didn't numb nuts just produce a knife, instead of a part for a '16? Yeah, it was a really cool concept, but it proved impractical a few shots into the demonstration. Personally, you couldn't get me to shoot one of those "composite" weapons on a bet. According to SAAMI each standard, civilian round creates about 56,000 PSI per shot. Mil-Spec is north of 62K PSI, so I'm thinking that running around with a half dozen banana clips and one of the "printed" rifles would be a wonderful example of the law of natural selection, in that after a few shots, fatigue would set in and the weapon could catastrophically fail, injuring the shooter and anybody close to him.
Personally, I went with an AK, instead if an AR. Not nearly as many moving parts, much tougher than an AR, cheaper and slings a round that's roughly twice as heavy as an AR/M-16 platform. Did I mention these things are cockroach tough? I've seen things done with AK's that I wouldn't dream of doing with an AR, and they still worked.
As far as the whole gun control issue, it's a very complex issue and it's not going to be resolved over night, nor is it going to be resolved by penalizing licensed and law abiding people. Conversely, ignoring the folks who are concerned about safety wouldn't be in anybody's interest as they have some valid points.
That being said, I think the immediate, short term focus should be on mental health issues, as it's only the crazies that make it to the media, as horrific examples of American culture. Next should be on crime (gangs, robberies, home invasions, etc) and then finally safety. I've been around firearms all my life, I did some time in the military and now I enjoy collecting (I'm licensed) and in my time I've learned one undeniable truth: There is no such thing as an accident with a fire arm. It's either intentional or someone being irresponsible. And if people don't have a health respect for what it can do, someone could get hurt or killed.
By the way... wanna know what one of the most dangerous things are, regardless of political affiliation, nationality or whatever? Hopping in a car. The number of people injured, maimed or killed by driving (even if they're licensed) is exponentially more than all of the firearms related deaths combined (excluding military crap). I'm a hell of a lot more scared of 4000 lbs of steel, aluminum and what not flying at me and my family, being driving by some tool who's yacking away on a cell phone or texting.
my two cents...
feel free to flame away