By now we all know that America’s most popular rifle, the AR-15, is not the killing machine that the left wants its acolytes to believe it is. It is a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle. It has capabilities comparable to the types of rifles that tend to be given to 11-year-olds as their first introduction to guns. The only thing that’s true about the AR-15 is that it was invented toward the end of World War II as a military weapon (at first). Its purpose was to give soldiers a light weapon with low recoil.
But the AR’s that are on the market today are not automatic machine guns. Those are illegal. And the term ‘assault rifle’ doesn’t mean anything. That’s Hollywood-ese for ‘really cool looking gun.’
But this aspect of the gun debate is not going to get us anywhere because even if leftists manage to ban the AR-15, the next big killing will be done with shotguns, (which are much more deadly by the way). And the killing after that will be done with pistols. This process will continue until they eventually get to all firearms.
The point is, against an unarmed crowd, even a kitchen knife can cause mass casualties. And that’s exactly what the left wants- unarmed populations of people who can be terrorized by the weakest possible weapons.
So it would behoove us to look at something more meaningful in our efforts to stop mass violence. We should look at people and the cultures they live in.
Of course, we know that Canada has more guns than the U.S. They have more restrictions on smaller weapons like handguns, but they have many more rifles. This is largely due to the fact that Canada has a fairly recent frontier culture, like the US. Canada also has large swaths of open land and is a fairly harsh environment. It’s a place where rifles make a lot of sense for recreation, hunting, and for protecting cattle populations from predators. But Canada has seven times fewer gun-related acts of violence than the US.
Anti-Second Amendment people will tell you that Canada still has higher rates of gun violence than countries that have strict gun bans. That is true- but in countries without guns acid attacks, knife attacks, and attacks on crowds of people using automobiles make up for what those populations lack in weapons access.
It might be useful to take a moment to reflect on the horror of being attacked by a person flinging a jar of acid and having nothing to defend yourself with. If we did away with the 2nd Amendment, you could start the countdown to the acid attacks.
In 1945, the United States had only a few laws on the books intended to control gun sales. There was a national registry and a prohibition against selling guns to violent criminals. Short of that anyone could purchase and use guns.
Rifle safety training and competitions were held at high schools, and it was common to see teenagers with rifles slung over their shoulders walking to, from, and around schools.
Imagine seeing that today. People would be sent into a blind panic. By 1950 there had been only one mass shooting. It took place in 1949 in Camden New Jersey. The shooter was a mentally disturbed person who shot and killed 13 people after his front gate was stolen. It was a rare event that was many years in the making and was later referred to in the media as the “Walk of Death.”
Other than the Camden shooting the crime spree of Al Capone’s gang in the 1930s was the only major spate of gun violence the country had experienced. Defined as a shooting of four or more persons by a single individual, mass shootings were practically unheard of.
Today, in America, there are roughly 1.5 mass shootings every day, and this has been the case since at least the mid-2000s. What’s the difference between our culture now and then?
For one thing, there are more people than ever. History has long shown that wherever people live in close proximity, more violence occurs. Another thing the media rarely makes note of is the fact that mass shooters are overwhelmingly prescribed either anti-depression or antipsychotic medication. In fact, more killers are on pharmaceuticals than use guns. So, if you’re looking to blame killings on technology, guns are not the only viable target.
~ American Gun News
All of the lefts basic lies and half truths will be more devastating to our country than all of our guns.The military and all of it’s soldiers below the age of 21 will have to disarm themselves because they are not old enough to handle the rifles of our own military. So thank you all for protecting our country but the stupid people that never was in the military says your to young to have them in your hands and protect us all in what you have given us of yourselves.
Are you crazy you are telling the true facts the liberals are going to tell you that you have distorted the facts and they have the true facts (minus true research) so you are wrong about what you say. You do not hear them saying get the cars off the roads because they kill more people then all the mass murders put together in one year. Let’s get hammers off tool benches be they too cause more deaths then guns. This is what happens when you are too stupid to do your own research and let some idiot tell you how bad guns are.
I understand that the FBI defines a ‘mass shooting ‘ as a shooting of 4 or more persons. I question the statement that there are 1.5 mass shootings per day in the U.S.. What is the basis for this comment?
I have the same issue with this article. I read that statement 3 times to try and figure out how I miss-read it. I can only assume it was meant to be per year, not day.
Lets us understand the drug culture in the USA. Big pharma and doctors have a drug or vaccine for everything, mentality. They want everyone to be on drugs or receive vaccine yearly. The simple problem these drugs or vaccines were never tested in combinations or long term use, plus many contain small amounts of toxins. In 2015 there 91800000 people on opioids. Its time to study the drug culture problem in this country, if we want to change what is happening daily or in mass shootings.
Why won’t your SHARE button ever work?? It registers every time I Click on it but it NEVER actually shares !!! SO WHAT IS THE POINT of not n=being able to share??
You have hit on a major issue here, “mass shooters are overwhelmingly prescribed either anti-depression or antipsychotic medication” the big issue and the reason why the media places all the blame on the NRA, “Big Pharma” spends Billions on advertising, the NRA spends Millions. The networks are not going to stir up the cash cow, one must set their priorities, profits or lives.
To begin with, you may find that many teacher’s will refuse to carry a gun,RIGHT??? A suggestion? Since most of these shooting’s involve an AR-15 OR similar multi shot weapon, a LAW that anyone carrying a{ LOADED ] military type weapon ,in public , will be immediately , inducted into military service , for the minimum term of enlistment after being examined by a Psychiatrist to determine their mental stability and adaptability for such service,RIGHT??? They will still have their RIGHT to own a gun but will be restricted to use it only in the place where it was intended to be used as designed, RIGHT??? This would also apply to street GANG’S who carry loaded guns with the [ INTENT to KILL ] and they might just end up doing a good service for our country,RIGHT??? Or die trying, RIGHT??? To use any gun to shoot anything, it must be loaded and cocked Before the trigger can be pulled to make it shoot, RIGHT??? So, that would meet the requirement to arrest and induct the holder into the military or PRISON, IF THEY CAB’T PASS [ MUSTER ], RIGHT??? The fact that they would then be assigned to a unit where other armed individuals could shoot back might deter them from ever considering use their weapon’s in a mass shooting, RIGHT???
There are two points in this article that I must take issue with. First, though, If we fail to get our facts straight before writing pro gun articles, we play into the hands of the anti-gunners,
My first issue is with the statement that tha AR-15 was developed during WWII as a military weapon. early assault rifles were developed then, but they were fully automatic weapons firing larger caliber cartridges. The AR-15 merely resembles military weapons developed inthe 1960s and later.
My second issue is with the statement that there are 1½ mass shootings a day in the US. That is a fake news claim by the gun grabbers.
I started to read your article until I got to the part where the AR15 was invented at the end of WW11 as a military rifle. That is totally false. The AK47 was invented by Mikhail Kalashnikov and accepted by the Russian army in 1947. It was designated the Automatic Kalashnikov of 1947, AK47. The AR 15 was invented by Eugene Stoner in 1959 as a sporting rifle for the American hunter. He was an engineer at the Armalite Weapons factory hinse the name AR 15. It stands for Armalite Rifle model 15. It was a semi-automatic sporting rifle. The paten was sold to Colt Firearms who redesigned it to a select fire rifle and sold it to the US Military as the M 16 which could be full or semi Automatic. The AR 15 was never originally designed to be a Military rifle.
I missed your comments but added mine in agreement. It’s worth noting that the AR-15 (which was invented in 1956) has NEVER been used on the battlefield – hence, it is patently false to call it a “weapon of war” as the ignorant anti-gun nuts do.
I agree whole heartedly. Young men and women of 18 years old or older have been serving in the military fighting for and protecting the free dos oh our country, and suddenly they are not old enough to be responsible. I got my first rifle when I was 9 years old, but my parents taught me gun safety and respect for other people. I spent over 30 years teaching hunter safety and 4-h shooting sports and to my knowledge not a one of the young people I taught has ever shot anyone. It is not the gun that is the problem. It is a minute percentage of gun owners causing the problem, and most of them have a mental problem and likely been on a mind altering drug.
All of the so called Liberal Media fail to discuss the real issue which has caused these mass shootings. Number 1 is the 1000 foot killing zone created by the Federal government which prevents any legally qualified Conceal Carry Licensee to enter that zone without being subject to having their CCW license lost. Every state has the power to override the 1000 foot killing zone and allow properly trained and licensed individual to legally carry within the zone. If the states would override the federal statute more protection would be available and be a deterrrent to anyone illegally bring a weapon into the zone.
The laws have to be more stricter on the people that do the shootings. The shooter gets caught and ask that they do not get the death penalty and the lawyers say ok only if you plead guilty. But the people they kill are running and hiding for there life and get killed by the shooter. Why should the shooter get to live. The shooter should automatically get death penalty if all of evadance show they did it ,or people saw them do it, or finger prints. When they are found guilty there should not be any appeals, and not let them seat in prison for years before put to death ( carry it out asap). To show other people who want to do this, to think before they do it. If the the government wants to take gun rights away there will be moe gun violence .
Also when someone is going to be executed you get all these pro-life people out there they do not think of the VICTOMS they are the true innocent
Gennerally a good article with way too many typos. What is not a typo but a distortion of fact is saying that “The only thing that’s true about the AR-15 is that it was invented toward the end of World War II as a military weapon (at first).”
WRONG! WRONG WRONG!
The AR-15 was FIRST invented and marketed as a CIVILIAN SPORTING RIFLE (1959) at least four years before it was submitted to the military (1963) as a replacement for the M1 carbine and M4 machine gun.
What the author has carelessly done by not researching the history of Eugene Stoner’s invention is to repeat a common lie among the gun-grabbing groups and the media.
A correction is therefore respectfully requested.
Just go to “heyjackass dot com” and see how well gun bans work. BLM never will look at the statistics that show about 90% of victims of shooting are colored or hispanics. Only 2 “White/other” shooters in over 3,500 shootings? We are now being told all the “Don’t” when it comes to food, but as I told my doctor, “I’m eating what is good for me, and still don’t get close to 100% of what I need”. Why, because most fast food is not good for you! One Big Mac super sized meal has 700 grams of carbohydrates!
I live in Alabama where “Open Carry” is legal. The blood was supposed to be running in the streets according to the anti-gunners.
Well it isn’t happening. Gun control is six in the bullseye!