The point is that I think the increase in the number of ARs is based more on social/cultural issues such as a growing fear of our own government and of our neighbors combined with the low price and versatility of the rifle. If we ban ARs (which is proving to be really hard to do because of how easy it is to modify them) people will just stock up on another rifle. There are plenty of good carbine style rifles out there that would still be completely unrestricted. I bet you could kill a bunch of people with one of these too.