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Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by NateEag on Thursday May 26, 2022 @10:37AM (#31518854)
> No, guns aren’t exclusively designed to kill.

Um...

I know you can shoot targets with them, but that doesn't seem like the principal use.

What else do you think a gun is designed to do, beyond killing things?

Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by refurb on Thursday May 26, 2022 @09:03PM (#31525053)
Recreational shooting clearly.

The guns the biathletes use in the Winter Olympics aren’t “meant to kill”.

Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by NateEag on Friday May 27, 2022 @01:17PM (#31532128)
They may not be meant to kill, but they are clearly designed to kill.

They have the same essential design as most low-caliber rifles that are explicitly designed for hunting - i.e., designed for killing.

That design came from centuries of seeking more efficient, efficacious ways to kill with guns.

Sure, they're tweaked to be optimal for very formalized, competitive shooting, not military combat, but they'd still serve very well for executions, sniping, and the like.

See also biathlon's roots in military training: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biathlon#History