This turned into a novel, but I hope some of it helps:
-"Assault Rifle" and "Assault Weapon" are two different things.
-An "Assault Rifle" is a mid-range caliber rifle that is capable of fully automatic fire. You pull the trigger and it keeps on shooting. German Sturmgewher 44, AK-47, M-16, etc.
-An "Assault Weapon" is a made-up term. Assault weapons were defined by legislators flipping through a gun catalog and picking out weapons that "looked" dangerous. As defined, an "Assault Weapon" might LOOK similar to an "Assault Rifle", but can only shoot once for every time you pull the trigger.
-The "Assault Weapons" ban did NOTHING to further regulate the sale and ownership of Assault Rifles. Anyone can own one if they pay a transfer fee and pass a stringent background check - established in the 1930s.
-The term "assault Weapon" plays upon the confusion between a semi-automatic weapon like a Saiga and a fully-automatic weapon like an AK-47. The news media has even been known to show a fully-automatic Assault Rifle blasting away on full auto when doing stories about Assault Weapons.
-Can't use Assault Weapons for hunting? The second amendment is not about hunting, it is about truly creating a government of/by/for the People and denying tyrants the ability to run the United States.
-The original definition of "Assault Weapon", in my opinion, was a "camel's nose in the tent" strategy. Is the 30-06 Remington 7400 I use to hunt deer an "Assault Weapon"? It's actually significantly more powerful than an AK-47. Is a 30-30 lever-action Winchester an "Assault Weapon"? It can punch through standard police and military body armour. Is a shotgun an "Assault Weapon"? Loaded with slugs, a $100 single-shot shotgun can punch through and destroy a Master Lock - the ones that still work when shot with a high-powered rifle. Once we accept that certain guns can be outlawed, it's not a big jump to the next gun until we are only allowed to own licensed $2000+ shotguns that we need to store and shoot down at the gun club because John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi "believe in the 2nd Amendment".
-''If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them, Mr. and Mrs. America, turn 'em all in, I would have done it.'' – Senator Dianne Feinstein, CBS-TV's 60 Minutes, February 5, 1995.
-All legislation for renewing the "Assault Weapons" ban included expanding the definition of "Assault Weapons" to include more rifles.
-Is a baseball bat an "Assault Weapon"? Many baseball bats, pool cues, nightsticks, big flashlights and rolling pins have been used as a weapon to assault someone. Is it "assault" when someone uses one of thee weapons to defend themselves? Or does "assault" depend on the motivations of the assault-er? "Assault" is a crime. Weapons do not commit crimes. Is it "assault" if you use an effective weapon to defend yourself and your family from assault or attack? Possession of a weapon does not force a person to commit a crime. Your car is a much more potent weapon than ANY pistol, shotgun, rifle or machine gun. It's "Assault" if you choose to drive your car into a crowd, but you're still not driving an "Assault Vehicle".
-In my opinion, movies like "Die Hard" created the assumption that so-called "assault weapons" and even "assault rifles" were being used in crimes. In reality, only 1-2% (depending on which study you believe) of crimes before AND AFTER the AWB involved "Assault Weapons".
-Why own one? Well - as an American, your first answer to that should be "it's a free country" followed with a quick "mind your own **** business", but no one seems to learn the basics of being a free citizen while growning up anymore. If you really need to explain it, military rifles are easy to operate, fun to shoot, built strong enough to shoot many rounds in one sitting - like at a competition or while under attack from multiple attackers, designed for all sizes/strengths of people to operate, designed to operate in deserts/jungles/everywhere in between, low recoil, ammo is readily and cheaply available, many are affordable for people who don't have Secret Service protection or can't afford bodyguards, while not optimal for deer - most CAN be used for hunting, full-capacity magazines allow for recurring shots without leaving yourself defenseless, standardization allows for replacement and after-market parts and accessories to keep your rifle operating and match it to your specific needs.
A better question is "Why NOT own one? Don't you care about your life and protecting your family?"
"You don't?...well, I do."
More info:
http://www.ont.com/users/kolya/AR15/aw94.htm
http://www.fulton-armory.com/WhatWastheAWB.htm
http://www.awbansunset.com/