Gotta second that, and props for a pretty clear explanation for someone who doesn't really get gun culture and usage, and doesn't have an axe to grind. While some people like to tell the story of the one that got away, because they were using some kind of sporting rifle, for other people that could represent a $1000 increase in their grocery bill, if not more when the cost of an unsuccessful hunt is factored in. And that's for maybe one or two unsuccessful tags, depending on what you're after.
I don't think it takes away from the importance of somehow solving the issue of kids getting killed with them in classrooms, but that solution can only be found by taking into consideration what is important to both sides of the gun control debate. If the goal is to get rid of AR-15's, then there is far more justification to getting rid of handguns, which account for a vast majority of gun deaths in the states. Next on the list are shotguns. There's far more to solving the issue of why people are inclined to walk into public places to commit mass murder than picking a particular brand of gun to ban, and washing your hands of it.
I haven't seen any solutions put forward that will solve that from either side of the debate, frankly, and that's because everyone is too busy pointing fingers and trying to be right. We need to talk to each other and understand the problem before we knee jerk into yet another "solution" that ends in more dead kids.