Letters: Assault rifles for home defense?

Why would anyone need a .223/5.56 mm AR-15 assault rifle for home defense? This weapon can kill someone 500-600 yards away and be legally customized with a $150 100-round magazine from Buds Gun Shops and a Guns America “bump stock” for $369 that simulates automatic fire (about 600 rounds a minute).

The NRA and the Republican Party feed the right-wing militias’ paranoia that they’ll need these weapons of mass destruction for the future war they’ll wage against a repressive government.

AR-15s will cause mass destruction whether used by Republican militias, Islamic jihadists or the mentally ill.

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Letters: Assault rifles for home defense?."