I appreciate the response and we're generally on the same page with regard to the statistics. The real question in my mind is this:
Know those statistics why does the anti-gun movement and the political class spend ALL of their energy trying to get rid of a weapon that is used in 2% of the gun violence in this country? Why do they frame it as an AR15 problem instead of a gang violence problem? As I said earlier they're using gang violence numbers to scare people into thinking we have a gun problem. We don't. We have a gang violence problem and it's incredibly obvious removing all AR15 won't do anything substantial to fix it.
Another interesting spin is that the anti-gun crowd is in good company. Stalin. Mao. Pol Pot. Hitler. All murderous dictators that knew they had to disarm the opposition before they could kill them. Those four men were responsible for approximately 80 MILLION deaths in the 20th Century. It would take America's gang bangers over 6000 years to catch them.
Guns aren't the problem and the AR is definitely not the problem. I carry a handgun because I'm worried about street violence. I own AR's because I'm worried about government. Likewise they want to take my AR's because they know it's the best weapon for me to fight back. No other conclusion fits the data at hand.
A fearful society is a compliant society. That's why Democrats and criminals prefer their victims to be unarmed. Gun Control is not about guns, it's about control.