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Argument 4: Those guns have no sporting purpose, and are only designed for murdering people!

The ergonomic design and low recoil impulse of an AR-15 make it a favorite for target shooting. Contrary to the popular media line, the AR-15 is not a "high-powered rifle."

A .223 Remington or 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge is generally considered marginal for deer hunting, and some states forbid so small a bullet diameter for such hunting, but a well-placed shot can still humanely kill even a mule deer buck. It is certainly a good round for coyotes, prairies dogs, jackrabbits, and other varmints or smaller game.

Beyond that, the AR-15 platform is highly modular, and the upper receiver—the section with the barrel and bolt—can be easily replaced with a wide variety of alternative calibers. Along with .223/5.56mm, popular alternative calibers include 5.45x39mm, .300 Blackout, and 7.62x39mm. The latter two are arguably sound choices for deer.

Several shooting sports revolve around modern sporting rifles like the AR-15, especially multi-gun competitions. The modernity of neither the firearm nor the sport are cause to de-legitimize either one.

The features of the AR-15 often cited as "assault weapon features" serve practical purposes for everyday firearm owners. None of these features alter the actual function of the firearm or make it more deadly.

• The M4-style telescoping buttstock is not intended for concealment, but rather as a way to fit a single rifle to users of different statures, or to allow a shooter to easily adjust the rifle when wearing bulkier clothing.
• A relatively high magazine capacity is great for target shooting because so much more time can be spent on shooting between magazine changes. Magazines holding 20 or 30 rounds are arguably not "high capacity" by any rational measure, since they are the standard capacity for these rifles anyway.
• The pistol grip is more comfortable to hold than a traditional rifle stock, and allows better control of the firearm.
• A barrel shroud protects the shooter from touching the hot barrel, and very few rounds are needed to heat a barrel to uncomfortable levels.
• A flash suppressor primarily protects the eyesight of the shooter in low-light conditions by dispersing the hot gasses from a fired cartridge and thus reducing the muzzle flash from unburnt propellant.

And lastly, in the event one needs to use a firearm for self-defense, an ergonomic carbine with a full-capacity magazine can serve quite effectively, and it certainly can kill people or wildlife that are trying to kill you. It is absurd to conflate self-defense with initiatory aggression to declare both parties equally guilty, and no one in his right mind intentionally provokes predators. Don't blame the victim, and don't pretend disarming potential victims could ever protect them.

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