Deputy fired 30 shots from rifle in killing 6, officials say - CNN.com

First off, this is a tragedy beyond words, make no mistake. Here's a young man who apparently didn't have the tools to cope with stress, and was in a position to inflict great harm. 'Nuff said.

Here's what I want you to see in this article:

An off-duty sheriff's deputy used a police-style AR-15 rifle to kill six people at an early morning party in a small Wisconsin town, officials said Monday.

I think you know where I'm going with this.

Had this crime been perpetrated by anyone other than a law-enforcment officer, that rifle would've been decried as one of those damned "assault" rifles. Yet here we have all the elements of such a story: a high-powered rifle, with a 30-round magazine, wielded by a psychopath is usually fodder for all manner of hysteria about how this wouldn't have happened had the Clinton ban still been in effect, and all other sorts of nonsense.

None of that here. Why?

There was an incident here in Dallas late last week where a 20-year-old armed security guard fought off 3 teenagers intent on robbing him with an SKS rifle - a $139 curio and relic piece. Guess what that rifle was classified as? Bingo - "assault rifle." What makes this 20-year-old young man any different? It's not an assault rifle, it's a "police-style AR-15 rifle," which for some reason doesn't garner the same criticism had the weapon been borne by a "civilian." Because he was a "law-enforcement officer?"

I don't get it.