theyre highly ergonomic. come in a multitude of calibers (including stuff that can be used for hunting like 6.5creed and 300blackout and changing the barrels out to use them is immensely easy), can be highly customized (as well as come in "pistol" variants), different ammo is varied including stuff that wont penetrate highly. the .223/556 specifically tends to tumble and actually penetrate less than a higher powered 9mm making for less collateral damage. they are more compact than a standard rifle or shotgun making close quarters easier to manage. they have hardly any recoil so anyone can use them including a 5' woman, 12 year old and an 80 year old grandma. they can hold a lot of ammo so a lot of firepower if need be. while i wouldnt say they are the best at certain things they can fill multiple roles including target shooting, hunting, home defense ect. they are probably the most versatile weapon in the world which is why its as popular as it is not just in the US but the whole world.
i do understand that they are quite nice guns in general and have a considerable degree of convenience. To be clear, this topic is more about semi-automatic weapons on the whole than specifically the AR-15 but I was running out of room in the title. I do think banning specifically the AR-15 and nothing else is the most pointless thing you could do and its not what Im proposing. ---
