Gun Control & RKBA

Yes, the .223 Rem ammuntion an AR-15 typically fires is somewhat faster than the much larger .30-caliber bullets, but it is not that much higher. The .30-06 launches at about 2,800 fps, the .223 Rem at about 3,100 fps.

It's faster, but maybe 10% faster. And there are other, even faster .223 cartridges out there that push bullets to 3,400 fps or higher, such as the .22-250, the .220 Swift, and the .223 WSSM.

And of course, hunting and self-defense cartridges are going to be designed to deliver maximum damage to their target. They are hollowpoints or otherwise expanding bullets; they generally triple their frontal area and often parts of them break off in the person they hit. The wound ballistics you describe are from the military-issue non-expanding ammunition, which does tend to tumble and fragment when it hits a person at close range (less than 100 yards) more so than the heavier and somewhat slower bullets fired by larger-caliber guns. But the effects you describe are what other ammunition, rifle or pistol, is designed to achieve similar effects. The police carry some form of expanding ammunition in their pistols, and the much slower 9mm or .40 S&W or .45 ACP bullets their handguns fire will also expand to nearly 2x their diameter, tumble, and might even fragment when they hit someone.

Any rifle that shoots the .223 is going to be mild; the cartridge is not particularly powerful. The guy who designed the AR-15 put the sights up high so the recoil is delivered square to the shoulder, but even more traditional firearms have very little recoil due the mildness of the cartridge.

You seem to want two contradictory things: a gun that has a very heavy recoil but that also does not cause much wounding.

I don't know how to accomplish those two goals.

I know that handguns are used to kill 20x the number of people that are killed with rifles, and I know that if you're really concerned about mass shootings with rifles, the only sensible, loophole-free way to at least tangentally address the problem would be to ban ALL semi-automatic rifles.

I doubt it will do much, but at least there's no loophole to exploit.