Anonymous wrote:the reason citizens should be allowed to have assault weapons is because the purposes of the right to bear arms is not to go hunting or shoot targets, but to protect yourself from tyranny if the govt ever turned into a despotism (see, III, George or al-Assad, Bashar). you are not going to do to well with a shotgun against Navy Seals. now is that far-fetched today? probably so. but it IS in the friggin Bill of Rights so somewhat of a big deal.
Yet, the Heller case, the defining Supreme Court ruling on the Second Amendment, allows for limitations on the type of weapons. And in fact it specifically mentions the M-16, which as any gun enthusiast knows is a variation of the M16. See pp. 54-55 of the majority opinion by Justice Scalia.
So basically the Supreme Court disagrees with your opinion.