If you don't know what a Ruger Mini-14 is, you're not what I would consider a viable information source in any of this. 
You can do far more damage in a crowd with a 9mm pistol and large mag than you can do with an AR. Aim is superior, mag changes quicker, agility far better, I could go on. Your and anyone's argument to get rid of AR's is symbolic, and yes, it will filter down to slingshots. 
I am not repulsed by the confederate flag, the Nazi anything or the kkk crap. I didn't participate in any of that nor has anyone in modern times...the kkk aside I guess. To deny history is to profess ignorance and denial. It happened and YOU and yours buds will never change that no matter how you hard you want it to go away. It's no different than the liberal attempt to rewrite the book of terminology, it will not make anything go away. If you deny where you came from you will never know where you are going!