When it gets down to details, how would we ban assault weapons, anyway?

Following every mass shooting, Democrats demand some type of assault-weapon ban, and Republicans refuse to enact such a thing, falling back on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

This has gotten to the point where histrionics ("for God's sake, do something") have become semi-automatic and extremely frustrating.

Whether it's the guns, mental health issues or school security, it's obvious something is needed. Our children's lives are too precious to do nothing. But is banning assault rifles the answer? Sometimes it seems that those speaking the loudest don't really know what they're asking for.

So, what is an assault rifle, and how does it differ from a semi-automatic hunting rifle, of which there are hundreds of thousands in homes of gun-loving hunters already?

An "assault-style weapon" designed for police or military use has a selector switch that can allow the rifle to fire in three different modes: totally automatic, meaning it will continue to fire rounds when the trigger is activated until the finger-pressure is removed from the trigger; three-round bursts; or last, in semi-automatic mode, meaning that one round is fired each time the trigger is activated.

A semi-automatic hunting rife, which often looks almost identical to a fully automatic assault-style rifle, fires only in semi-automatic mode, one bullet per trigger pull. If a civilian walks into a gun store and wants to buy an AR-15 or an AK-47, he can only buy this gun in a semi-automatic. He cannot buy a fully automatic rifle.

So, how much of a difference does it make for a mass shooter to use an automatic "assault rifle" vs. a semi-automatic hunting rifle? Unfortunately, not much. With a semi-automatic AR-15 or an assortment of the many similar semi-automatic hunting rifles, rounds can be fired in the semi-automatic mode as quickly as the shooter can squeeze the trigger.

So, if that's not confusing enough, imagine Congress trying to write a bill that banned "assault weapons." What is an assault weapon, and what guns would be included in that ban? Banning only true automatic military-style assault weapons would really be a waste of time, since one cannot buy them in a "gun shop" and mass shooters have killed way too many innocent victims using semi-automatic "hunting rifles."

So then do you ban all semi-automatic rifles? That would include hundreds of models of rifles presently sold in hunting stores across the land. Most small-game hunters and many deer hunters use some form of semi-automatic rifle for their hunting excursions. Upland bird hunters and waterfowlers use semi-automatic shotguns that deliver simple ease of firing three rounds much quicker than a pump or lever-action shotgun. (Yes, sadly, this is the only way I am able to score a hit on a wily pheasant.) I am very doubtful Congress could ever pass a bill that outlawed all semi-automatic rifles, and if it can't do that, why ban only the ones with the worst reputation, which advocates of a ban rely on, mainly the AR-style rifles?

New Zealand enacted a bill that banned all weapons that were designed as "assault-style semi-automatic weapons" and enacted a buyback program for ones already in possession by civilians. Can you imagine the futility of our government attempting to buy back semi-automatic hunting rifles from hunters?

No, so what realistically can Congress do about mass shooters? There are common-sense protections we could enact.

We could raise the age of purchase from 18 to 21. This would have prevented the Uvalde shooter, not to mention Kyle Rittenhouse among others, from legally purchasing a rifle.

We could expand background checks and plug loopholes, and we could enact red-flag legislation which, while rife for potential abuse, could be fine-tuned to save lives as well.

Then we could work on plans for making our schools more secure.

It's sad to say that a weapons ban is futile, but if a potential mass shooter is prevented from buying a semi-automatic weapon, he can either borrow (read: steal) one from his uncle, his grandpa, his cousin, his neighbor — you get the idea — or he can steal one from millions of hunters across the nation who have them in their houses. And if he's unable to do that, he can walk into any gun store and buy an old-fashioned lever-action rifle, as seen in the midcentury TV show "The Rifleman," used with devastating effect. The lever's magazine is smaller and the delivery slower depending on the lever's design and the ability of the operator, but the gun is still very deadly, as the show's protagonist, Lucas McCain, showed us.

While the banning of assault weapons always sounds like a good "cure" following one of these horrendous events, it may not be the answer. We are a gun-loving nation, and most gun owners are responsible citizens who would never dream of harming another human with their rifle.

That doesn't mean we can't do everything else in our power to prevent the next one. Our children's lives our definitely worth it.