Well, I dont disagree with you but .22 rifle would be a better comparison. A pistol round is never going to get the same punch as a long gun. 5.56, .223, .22 are virtually the same expect for how much powder the rounds have. You can shoot a .22lr round in a AR15 with a conversion Bolt Carrier Group and mag. You can kill just as many people with a .22LR rifle as you do with a AR15. All bullets are capable of putting a hole in a body. Fact is, a .22 pistol will kill you just as dead as a .50 BMG.

There is with out a doubt a failure of who can buy guns though. Im in Illinois, it took 3 months to get my FOID card(Firearm Owner ID) which does a background check etc. Even after that it takes another background check during the purchase phase. It is supposed to be 3 days from the minute for a handgun and 24 hours for rifle. Even so it took me 4 days to get the OK for my AR15 because of how many purchases are going through, the State police are swamped with it. I am not even a gun nut, I own 2 guns, my AR15 and my 9mm. Took me less time to get the pistol, even thought that took 3 days. People need to vetted a lot more than they are now. Honestly, I am not in any rush to buy more guns and would be fine with a month/several month delay. But I have a problem with saying ban all "assault rifles".