AR-15 Myths and Misconceptions
If there is anything that annoys me more than legislators passing laws about guns, it has to be the average person that also has absolutely no idea how guns work. Legislators don’t seem to even try to learn about the subject before they jump in and try to pass laws that violate the rights of the citizens they purport to represent. In this quick post, I will try to hit the main misconceptions and provide some facts.
Assault Rifle and/or Machinegun
The AR-15 is NOT an assault rifle and it isn’t a machinegun. The AR in AR-15 stands for ArmaLite RIfle, the company that designed and built the AR-15 before all of the rights were sold to Colt.
An assault rifle refers to a rifle that is selective fire, meaning it can fire in semiautomatic mode or in fully automatic mode. The AR-15 is only capable of firing in semiautomatic mode.
The U.S. Army defines assault rifles as “short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachine gun and rifle cartridges”.
Calling an AR-15 a weapon of war is ridiculous because it isn’t used by any militaries. Militaries around the world use the M-16 and M-4 which are based on the AR-15, but they have select fire capabilities.
AR-15s can be Easily Converted to Automatic Fire
This is another lie often stated by gun control enthusiasts and ignorant people. The problem, again, is that our legislators are either ignorant or choose to lie to their constituents.
Converting an AR-15 to fully automatic is illegal in the United States. To convert an AR=15 to fully automatic requires significant modifications to internal components, such as the trigger mechanism and bolt carrier group. These modifications are complex and the parts are not available for sale to the public. Converting to automatic violates the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934, the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, and the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986.
Self Defense
One of the biggest benefits to owning an AR-15 is its ease of use. It is easy to fire, it is light, and it is accurate.
Because the AR-15 has very little recoil, it is the perfect firearm for self defense for most people.
Power
The biggest misconception is that the AR-15 is some kind of super powerful rifle. In fact, the AR-15 uses a small bullet, either 5.56mm or .223 caliber (same size), and the bullet is much smaller than the average hunting rifle.
In fact, most states won’t allow the use of an AR-15 because the bullet is so small and it doesn’t lead to an ethical dispatch of a game animals. Much larger hunting cartridges are required for hunting.
The best way to compare the power of different cartridges is to look at the energy. Please note the chart, below. It clearly shows that pretty much every rifle round is more powerful than the AR-15. The AR-15 is in blue, below. Click on the bar chart to make it easier to read.
You might also note that the next lowest rifle rounds, when it comes to their energy, include the 7.62×39 round, which is used in AK-47’s, and then the 7.62×35, which is a newer round called the 300 AAC Blackout and is also used in AR-15’s, even though it is rare.
Mass Casualties
The media, as well as our super intelligent legislators like to say that the AR-15 is the firearm of choice for mass shootings. It just isn’t true and the the government’s own research proves it. Check out the CDC’s database on causes of death. You might find some interesting fact like I did.
More people die from falling off of chairs. What is more interesting is that sunstroke kills three times as many people as mass shootings. Don’t believe it? Check the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Violent Death Reporting System.
Yes, life is precious. However, we need to realize that just because certain incidents make great news stories, and are vivid, does not necessarily mean the issue is a big as the news and politicians make it, and you can’t blame a gun for evil and mentally unbalanced people going off the deep end.