Appreciate your thoughts and I will try and give my perspective, having been a responsible gun owner/user for many years.

> I'll try to unpack this. The statement is conflating looks, cartridge action/mechanism (bolt-action), semi-auto describes the bullet firing mechanism (the gun only fires one round per trigger pull - fully auto will continue to fire as long as the trigger is depressed), and caliber (.22) which is different from cartridge (ex .22LR) [..]

To stay away from legalistic arguments I agree and appreciate the problems of categorising firearms. I would say the test case is how dangerous is the weapon - can it be used to kill many people very quickly?

An AR-15 in 5.56 is far more dangerous than a .22.

A semi-auto is far more dangerous than a bolt action.

A gun with a magazine of 30 bullets is more dangerous that one with 8.

A semi-auto shotgun is somewhat more dangerous than a pump action which is far more dangerous than an over and under.

A pistol is far more dangerous than a rifle (can be concealed).

Agree these are not simple checkbox decisions, but a framework of danger to the community can be used to identify weapons that should have more restrictions.

> The .22. I love this gun. It is one of the best guns to learn on. It was the gun I learn to load, shoot, dismantle and clean when I was 4 y/o. It's extremely user friendly. I really hope you don't think a .22 should be used for hunting anything other than rabbits or the like.

Agreed, and yes .22 is not suitable for shooting anything too large. Above that you will need the right caliber, e.g. we use .308 often over here for pigs, deer etc. But if you need a semi-auto to hunt deer you are doing something wrong - a bolt action is enough.

> An untrained shooter with be able to handle a .22 far more accurately, with a greater rate of fire, than the types of "AR-15" guns you are thinking of.

It's hard to respond to this, you could be right? But if some deranged individual breaks into my place of work with a gun I personally would much rather they had a .22 than a .308 or 5.56. Overwhelming them with force with 2 or 3 people I feel would be far more feasible even if you take some bullets in the act.

> People are scared of large bullet-holes and think AR-15s look like it will leave large holes, so let's ban them. I think many people that actually shoot guns would pick being shot with a gun that quickly blows a large hole through them and it ends there - than by a .22 that will most likely not exit. Instead, it will ricochet shattering bones with the shards ripping through other organs as they slowly, painfully bleed to death from the inside, leaving surgeons helpless to fix that many problems in time.

I thinks it's uncontroversial that an AR-15 in 5.56 is far more deadly than one in .22.

> For completeness, by saying you are okay with a low powered semi-auto .22 (such as a .22 Long Rifle), that is approving of: American-80 submachine gun [3] Colt M4 .22LR [4]

Yes, that looks a zany and fun little weapon and personally I think it is OK and I would love to shoot one. I don't see any difference between any of the form factors for .22 semi-auto (unless it's very small and allows concealment).