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Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV-The gun problem in the US is a gun culture and education issue and demonizing or banning guns of certain types (semiautomatic military style AR rifles, high capacity mags, etc.) will not solve that problem.

*note: I am not touching on large caliber military rifles, fully automatic firearms, or other war specific artillery. I am speaking only to the calibers and semiautomatic small arms already popular in the hunting and sporting sectors of civilian use. 

To clarify my position, firstly there is certainly a very real gun problem in the US. 

Comparing guns and gun violence to other countries, it’s very clear that gun violence throughout the developed world predominantly occurs in the US. A simple google search shows that one of the highest rates of gun violence in the developed world is in the US. Factors often cited for this are the large quantity of guns themselves, as well as the high population in the country. I argue that the US is a vast and sparse country despite the total population, and it’s mostly in the more rural areas that the loudest of the pro-gun culture is located. And yet the majority of gun violence occurs in highly populated areas. Other countries with high amounts of guns have fewer incidents of gun violence altogether. 

Secondly, the most prevalent opinion of the anti-gun side is that AR style rifles have no practical use in the hands of a citizen, and therefore should be banned altogether. 

A lot of anti-gun people do not realize that the “kill rate” of a semiautomatic hunting rifle and a semiautomatic AR style military rifle are essentially the exact same in the hands of a trained shooter. The biggest difference between the two is one looks and sounds scarier. They can both be chambered in the same caliber, they both fire only one round per trigger pull which loads the next round for the next trigger pull. You can replace the wooden stock on a hunting rifle with a composite pistol grip that resembles the AR platform. And you can use high capacity mags in both. From a “kill rate” point of view, there is no real difference between the two besides the AR is scary. Alternatively, an SKS for example is considered an assault rifle, but looks very much like a hunting rifle. To the laymen, you couldn’t tell the difference. 

Sport shooting is a great and safe pastime as far as I’m concerned, and target shooting with an AR is incredibly fun. Organized target shooting also reinforces the safe use of firearms, and the respect and discipline a shooter needs to have when in the range. Anyone who has actually shot an AR next to a hunting semiautomatic would likely choose the AR simply because of how stable it shoots. The barrel stays far flatter after the shot which maintains your sight picture. I would argue that in some hunting scenarios, it can even be more humane for harvesting the animal if there needs to be a second shot. 

Lastly, the gun culture in the US seems to be “I am entitled to own a gun simply because I’m an American.”

This is the crux of my argument because the culture of guns in the US gives the uneducated both the entitlement to own a gun, and the ignorance to not know exactly what they’re against. 

In Canada, it’s quite possible to own multiple firearms, but you cant just get a gun because you have a pulse. You have to PROVE you’re a safe individual and EARN your ability to own, possess, and operate a firearm. We grow up knowing this, and those who choose to own them have to be educated in there safe use, storage, and transport. 

To simply possess a firearm in Canada, you must take a course, pass a test, apply for a license where they do criminal checks and character references, and then reapply every 5 years. Also, every single day you have that license, your name is run in the national criminal record database. If you are convicted of a violent crime, your license is revoked and any firearms you have are seized. Without that license, you may never be in possession of a firearm without being within arms reach of a person with a valid license. 

This all being said, I am absolutely in favor of gun OWNERSHIP control in that it can change the culture from “I am entitled to a gun” to “one needs to earn it”. Everyone agrees that not everyone should be allowed to own one, but because it’s seen as an inalienable right in the US, it propagates the culture that any restrictions imposed must be the government trying to take MY guns. The pro-gun public get their backs up and feel the need to defend their position. 

With a public that understands they need to EARN the privilege of owning a firearm, you will also have educated and safe gun owners.
gpt
If you have to earn something then it's not a right. Privileges are things we must prove we are capable of using responsibly, but rights are things that the **state** must prove we are **not** capable of using responsibly.

Gun ownership is a right, ergo (short of a change to or repeal of the 2nd Amendment) what you are advising isn't permissible. Whether you feel it should or shouldn't is largely irrelevant to the issue at hand; it **is** a right, currently, and if you allow licensure of some Constitutional Rights, then you realistically allow licensure of **all** Constitutional Rights.

On another note;

>Alternatively, **an SKS for example is considered an assault rifle**, but looks very much like a hunting rifle. To the laymen, you couldn’t tell the difference.

An SKS is semi-automatic, and thus is not an assault rifle.