Why is it that people feel less....?

I think this is actually a really good question, and that it points to the degree of shaping the media can have on an ignorant mind.

First, people hunt with lever actions, bolt actions, slide actions and revolvers, double and single and it is only more recently that this has started to become more common place with a military style semi automatic rifle. An enormous portion of the anti gun mantra has been driven around "no one needs (insert semi automatic weapon or accessory) for HUNTING." So, automatically, anything that inarguably IS used for hunting somehow becomes an acceptable firearm.

Second, only firearms people have any real understanding of relative power of firearms. To a news reporter? .22 LR, .223, .243 Roberts, .270 Winchester might as well be all the same cartridge. In fact, the perspective is that the power is associated with the firearm, not the cartridge. So, somehow a Steyr AUG, a Ruger Mini - 14, and an AR-15 are radically different "power" firearms, because they look different. The Mini - 14 must be less powerful and less dangerous because it has a wood stock. A bolt action AR conversion for .460 Bushmaster? Deadly. A .460 Weatherby Magnum bolt action? Just an expensive hunting rifle. The difference? Nice furniture on the Weatherby (yes, I know those are very different cartridges, but I'm illustrating a point about how the "look" controls the media.)

Third - and most insidious - the media and anti gun folks don't WANT anyone to understand the differences. We do because we are gun people. We know that if a self defense encounter is going to stop at 5 rounds then 5 rounds of .357 magnum are probably preferable to 5 rounds of ..25 ACP. However, the people that actively hate guns and gun people aren't interested in the distinctions, and they try and propogate that ignorance and hatred. If they actually knew too much about guns it would move any discussion or argument onto "our" turf. If they drive everyone to be ignorant of even the most basic ideas, then it makes it harder for us to have our side of the sensible discussion about firearm ownership and legal carry. So the misinformation is pushed.

So, it makes a sort of sense. Manipulation of igorance for the purposes of showmanship and for attempting to control a majority of the population that previously had no interest - it makes that kind of sense. Not really any other kind.

Thinkingblade

I can agree with you 110% on this subject Doc. For some reason that I cannot quite grasp, people believe a chunk of plastic and aluminum is more dangerous than a conglomeration of fine walnut/cherry and blued 4140.

I believe the sensationalism is caused by not only a Hollywood induced mindset... but a liberal agenda as well. When anyone hears a series of numbers to designate the model/make of a firearm... it sends chills down their spine (and I'm not saying M1894 or 336, or Model 1892, etc). High capacity magazines are another hot topic.

Truthfully... If I were raiding a home as a police officer (in full body armor), I would be far more terrified of the guy holding an "innocent" looking Marlin 1894 in .45-70, rather than the hick with an AR or AK. Most high level vests will shrug off a .223 or 7.62x39... but what if you happen to get hit with a 400gr. bullet traveling 1700fps? The vest will stop it no doubt... but your insides are jelly.

I would as well lay odds, that the man wielding a single action revolver, or lever rifle knows more about shooting than some para-military punk with an AR (although I am NOT saying all AR owners are para-military wannabes).

One reason - anti-gun nuts especially those from Hollywood.

Despite the anti-gun mentality, Hollywood still glamorizes the modern weaponry making them look "cool" and intimidating. Plus, what few westerns that are being made today, you always see people get shot who live long enough for a dramatic death scene or shrug it off as if they were hit with a BB gun.

And remember how we got to this point with the Assault Rifle. Before the ban, the news media and the anti-gun crowd were demonizing the ownership of Assualt Rifles and "automatic" pistols because they were "too powerful and no one should be allowed to own one." It was all BS, but the massive propaganda campaigns that was everywhere day after day for months were everywhere on radio, tv, newspapers, magazines, etc. all raging against the evil black gun. So much so, the ban was able to pass Congress and signed into law during the Clinton administration. That ban only expired 2004. And from the look of things, it may come back in the not distant future.

People think the way they do because they were told to think this way.

Efficiency: in other words, rapid fire and rapid reload.

You never realize how much of a difference it makes unless you try to shoot a three gun match with a side by side shotgun and a lever action carbine. I did it just for a lark and I think while most people finished the course of fire with their semi-auto AR-15's and high capacity shotguns were in the tens of seconds, my time could be measured with a kitchen timer.

While the American psyche used to imagine oneself alone against a war party of Injuns, what is burned into the American psyche nowadays is a lone gunman picking off a crowd of unarmed innocents. Thank you, Liberal gun-phobic media

As gun owners, most of us spend some time thinking about how we hope to be properly armed when an armed robber, home invader, or mall mass murder strikes; but, most citizens and bureaucrats (who are not gun nuts) want only inefficient firearms in the hands of mass murderers. Their thinking: it'd be very easy to take down a mass murderer who needs to reload his single action revolvers and lever actions after 6 shots, as he's shucking in one cartridge at a time. *1

Of course, they don't realize what they're doing is handicapping their friends, co-workers and neighbors who might save their lives if the laws and social conventions didn't work against their carrying firearms so much.

*1- That's why the American military's small arms evolved away from those legacy arms of the American West towards the semiautomatic and then fully automatic (machine guns).

I agree 100%. They would rather take a .22 dressed up like an AK off the streets then a .30 caliber hi powered scoped rifle. They would rather take an Raven .25 off the streets then a .500 Mag revolver. Once again tough, It doesn't matter what kind of gun it is, ANY gun is the wrong hands is dangerous. A .22 single shot pistol is more dangerous in a crip's hands then a full auto .50 BMG M2 in your safe.

Becuase they're considered obsolete, and becuase they're obsolete they're almost seen quaint, like toys. It's the same reason why even people who hate guns don't mind muskets, even though hundreds of thousands of people were slaughtered by musket fire during the Civil War.

Realistically it's driven by mass media. Movies show assault rifles being able to mow down whole armies of bad guys while I can't think of a single recent movie that showed a lever action. The M1 Garand used to be considered an old WWII relic until Clint Eastwood came out with his famous "Get off my lawn" scene.

Another star for your question, Doc. But I thought you knew that there's no difference between semi-automatic and fully automatic rifles. And as everybody on TV knows, there's no need to gain a sight picture: just point in the general direction, and your target's hit! We only spend time punching paper because we're crazed fanatics, right?

As for the power of Blackhawks and Colt SAA's, I use squib loads of Unique and cast the bullets from paraffin, just like the factory loads. And the last time I rolled four or five hogs with my Winchester 71, in only a few seconds, it was obviously because I shot the first, and the others simply died from heart attacks. The rifles can't be shot that fast.

The above answerers make many fine points......

That is why I prefer the Ruger Mini 14 Ranch Rifle over AK and AR15 rifles.... It is more "polite" looking... Which in my opinion may give you a split second advantage.... At a quick look it appears like a harmless .22.... It doesn't draw as much attention to itself.... I don't want to be seen with some evil looking black rifle when trying to extricate myself from a bad social situation.... I'm not interested in trying to look like "Mr. Bad" or like some swat team wanna-be.....

So I say - a gun that looks less harmless like a lever action rifle may be an advantage depending on your situation......

Blame the media. They spread the message, these guns are evil! they will kill your children and rape your wife! ect. Honestly, with the media demonizing everything a black firearm will be thought as a tool of satan. Or they think, Duh, its a lever gun, it can't shoot as good as one of them Ak-16s or M-47s Duhh. Yes i have talked to people who mix those up. I would rather have a lever action .357 than an AK or a AR-15, because thoset make you stand out, and that's not a good thing. Its irony, that more powerful guns are left alone and the lesser ones demonized, just because they are copies of what the military uses.

I feel it is the media that causes the scare.The news media reports more with ratings on their mind then facts. It's just another symptom of the times we live in.

The word " assault rifle" conjures up visions of death and destruction. The words " lever action rifle" conjures up images of a hunting rifle.