[Zeroisanumber]

Perhaps I have my terminology mixed up here. I admit that I'm no expert on military hardware, but when I say "recoilless rifle" I'm thinking of this:

The reason that I oppose private ownership of ordinance of that caliber is out of concern for the damage that an accidental discharge or mishandled explosives can do. Mess up with even the most powerful handgun or rifle and the collateral damage is limited, mess up with a beast like the one pictured above and you'll level a storefront.

With your line of thinking, you must be a proponent of assault weapon bans, or an opponent of conceal and carry.

Not at all. I think that "assault weapon bans" are unconstitutional, and concealed carry solves far more problems than it causes. My opposition to private citizens owning crew serviced weapons is the "oops" factor. Even well `trained professionals in the military screw up with that type of dangerous equipment from time to time, and the potential for even a well trained armature to do major damage in a population center is just too high. That's not to mention what criminals and terrorists could do with that sort of equipment if it was more readily accessible.

[mountn man]

I tottally understand what you're saying about the oops factor. And I agree with you.

But playing devils advocate again.

The Ooops factor is exactly why we need to ban all guns everywhere.
"What if" a child gets a gun, and takes it to school.
"What if" a child finds a gun in his Daddy's drawers and accidentally shoots his buddy.
"What if" someone breaks into a house and steals the guns.
"What if" someone breaks into the house and takes the gun from the owner, and then shoots him.
"What if" someone hears a noise in the house, grabs a gun, and shoots the shadow they see, finding out its there spouse.
"What if"...Ooops.

[mountn man]

"What if" a child finds a gun in his Daddy's drawers and accidentally shoots his buddy.

What was the kid doing in his daddys drawers?

And how did his daddy manage to keep a gun in there? :)

[mountn man]

Is that Rummy in that picture?

[Atlas Sneezed]

The reason that I oppose private ownership of ordinance of that caliber is out of concern for the damage that an accidental discharge or mishandled explosives can do.

---

Consider the time before these were banned to private owners. Was there a rash of grenade explosions? In the few examples that are in private hands, are there ongoing problems?

Do you remember when (in the 20th century) one could order 20mm cannons by mail order, with no government paperwork?

No, the point of allowing these arms is to be sure that the citizens can overwhelmingly defeat any effort by a tyrannical government. RPGs are handy for that.