Slag, no, Loughner's weapon was not a semi-automatic. But it was a Glock with a 30-round chamber, and that allowed him to hit 20 people quickly without carefully taking aim. (I kind of doubt he deliberately shot the child.)   Had he not had to stop to reload, he probably would have shot twice as many. It was when he paused to reload that others in the crowd subdued him.

And, Olddude, if there were a lot of other gun-toters in that crowd, there's a good chance a lot more people might have been caught in the crossfire.   
I've known way too many otherwise "normal" people who behaved like maniacs (e.g., behind the wheel of a car or in violence towards family members) when they became angry, for me to want a lot of non-certifiably-insane non-felons to be "packing" when they're at political rallies, etc.

And, OldTimer, yes, McVeigh's weapon consisted of easily-obtained materials, but it was not at all quick or easy for him to set up the means of employing it and then to employ it. That was a helluva lot harder than carrying a handgun into a parking lot and opening fire on a crowd.


Slag, I don't like to see an event like this used for partisan advantage, but neither is it fair or responsible to assume that "both sides are equally culpable" in the use of "the language of annihilation" or to postulate that just for the sake of being non-biased.
I say we need to call out the individuals — political spokespeople, politicians, pundits, bloggers, talk show hosts, etc. — who are engaging in demonizing of those who disagree with them and whose language seems to call for violence. We need to hold them accountable for the aftermath.    It's not necessarily going to turn out that such people are evenly distributed across political parties or the political spectrum.

Q, it turns out Judge Rolls DID have extra security protection, ever since he'd received so many death threats following his decision to allow a lawsuit on behalf of some undocumented immigrants who claimed their rights were violated.   That didn't keep him from becoming a victim, even if he was not Loughner's intended target.