Amazing, just amazing
The AK is a weapon of mass destruction. Who would have thought it?
Just one more instance of someone taking a recognised term and changing the accepted definition to suit their agenda.
That's how we got "assault weapons" in the first place. From the valid and well understood term "assault rifle", the enemy propagandists turned all military looking semi automatic rifles (and many handguns) into "assault weapons" which they said were bad.
Now they want to turn them into Weapons of Mass Destruction". Why? because it is a tremendously emotionally charged phrase, and there is a really tenous connection with destruction. This really cheapens the definition of WMDs. And it is really hard to argue for individual posession of a "Weapon of Mass Destruction".
As an aid to clear thinking and discussion, I submit that, the basic underlying difference between a gun and a WMD is that the WMD creates mass destruction by only firing once.
They are trying to lump all the violence in an area, and over time, and claim the AK is responsible, and therefore it should be considered a WMD.
Achieving the current state of "mass destruction" has required the AKs being fired literally millions of times. The same volume of death could be achieved with actual WMDs being "fired" only once, or a handful of times.
Release (fire) a chemical agent, and it is going to kill everyone it reaches until it is diluted enough by the environment to be non-lethal. Total numbers of dead depend on target density and the effectiveness of your delivery system. Totally indiscriminate with the effective zone.
Release (fire) a biological agent, and the effects are going to be similar to a chemical agent at first, but, biologicals can travel outside the targeted area, and their persistance can be orders of magnitude greater than chemicals. And then there is the whole question of mutation of the biological agent.
Totally indiscrininate, with a widely variable effective zone.
Release (fire) a nuclear weapon, and the results are well known. Totally indiscriminate within the targeted and the fallout zones.
All of the "destruction" caused by the AKs, and/or all other small arms is discriminate. Each round is aimed (in some sense) at the intended target. Area or individual, no matter the target, each shot is a concious act by the firer.
In other words, except for what is today called "colleteral damage", only people who are intentionally shot at get killed. Even though the numbers of individuals killed/wounded may be huge, this is not mass destruction.