{"id":574565,"date":"2023-05-14T18:00:40","date_gmt":"2023-05-14T15:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-united-states-obsession-with-ar-15-rifles-explained\/"},"modified":"2023-05-14T18:00:40","modified_gmt":"2023-05-14T15:00:40","slug":"the-united-states-obsession-with-ar-15-rifles-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-united-states-obsession-with-ar-15-rifles-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"#The United States\u2019 obsession with AR-15 rifles, explained"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The AR-15 semi-automatic rifle is one of the most popular guns in the U.S., and one of the most reviled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is an emblem of America\u2019s political divisions, beloved by firearm enthusiasts for its versatility and cachet and targeted for bans by gun control advocates who blame it for a rise in mass shootings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every time there is a massacre involving an AR-15-style weapon \u2014 such as the May 6 shopping mall shooting in Allen, Texas, that killed eight people \u2014 the gun draws a new flood of media<\/a> coverage and public discussion. The stakes, and rhetoric, escalate \u2014\u00a0and sales, according to the gun industry, remain brisk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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With the frequency of mass shootings increasing, so have calls to restrict sales of semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15,\u00a0a design originally created for the military that is now copied by a variety of manufacturers under different names. Washington state<\/a> and Illinois<\/a> passed bans this year, joining seven other states and Washington, D.C., that prohibit semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15. President Joe Biden says<\/a> he wants to reinstate a nationwide ban that expired in 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a weapon of war that is really only suitable for soldiers in a combat zone,\u201d said Lindsay Nichols, policy director for the Giffords Law Center, which pushes for gun regulations. \u201cIts ability to kill a lot of people quickly is the reason why we want it banned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compared to handguns, AR-15s inflict much more damage to human tissue because of the faster speed at which the rifles fire bullets. Those projectiles are also more likely to break apart as they pass through the body, inflicting more damage. That makes victims more likely to have more serious injuries and more blood loss and more likely to die than with guns that fire with lower velocities.<\/p>\n

AR-15s are popular in part because they are relatively easy to use. They have comparatively little recoil and can be customized with accessories, such as optics, scopes and pistol grips that improve comfort and accuracy.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Gun-rights advocates say bans are an infringement on their constitutional right, upheld repeatedly by the Supreme Court, to keep and bear arms<\/a> and won\u2019t do much to curb gun violence. They point out that data shows semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 represent a minority of the weapons used in murders, including mass shootings<\/a>, with handguns used more often.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a wedge for banning as many firearms as possible,\u201d said Dave Kopel, a gun-rights advocate and research director at the Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank in Denver. \u201cThe people who are behind this are perfectly aware that this isn\u2019t about banning a few types of unusual guns. It\u2019s about guns in general<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The issue has split the nation.<\/p>\n

Public opinion polls show Americans just about evenly divided<\/a> on bans of guns like the AR-15, with recent surveys<\/a> showing that support for prohibition has slightly eroded<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very emotional and polarizing,\u201d said Jacquelyn Clark, a co-owner of Bristlecone Shooting, Training & Retail Center in Lakewood, Colorado.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Clark doesn\u2019t just sell AR-15s; her business also offers classes on how to use the weapons for target competitions and home defense, and how to customize them with accessories that will optimize their performance.<\/p>\n

She also owns many hats and T-shirts bearing the image of an AR-15, a gun that she acknowledges can look \u201cmean and nasty.\u201d That is why, when she drops off her children at school, she is careful not to wear them. \u201cI don\u2019t want someone to yell at me in the parking lot,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

Clark is deeply troubled by mass shootings and says she isn\u2019t sure of a solution. But banning the AR-15 isn\u2019t the answer, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it is used in mass killing situations, it\u2019s easy to say that is the cause, let\u2019s go after that and it will stop. I just don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case,\u201d Clark said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very difficult and horrible problem we have, and I don\u2019t think we can go after any one thing. If we make it illegal, the bad guys will still get them and the good guys won\u2019t be able to, and they will have fewer choices to defend themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effects of bans on mass shootings are difficult to determine. Researchers have found that the number of victims decreased<\/a> when a nationwide ban on certain kinds of semi-automatic guns, including AR-15s, was in effect from 1994 to 2004. Researchers also say the number of mass shootings rose after the ban ended. But they acknowledge that it is difficult to prove cause and effect. Researchers with Rand, a policy-analysis nonprofit, looked at several studies of state and federal bans and found the evidence inconclusive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many officials have blamed untreated mental illness for mass shootings and have called for more investment in mental health services as a solution. But experts say<\/a> mental illness is not a key factor<\/a> in most mass shootings, and claiming a link unfairly stigmatizes people who live with mental illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is impossible to know for sure how many people own AR-15s because the federal government is prohibited from maintaining a national registry of gun ownership. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade group, examined three decades of manufacturing, import and export data and estimated that in 2020 there were 24.4 million AR-15s in private circulation<\/a> in the U.S. (the foundation calls the gun a \u201cmodern sporting rifle\u201d). A 2021 Georgetown University survey<\/a> of U.S. gun owners projected that 24.6 million have owned an AR-15 or similar rifle.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Gun owners have said in surveys that they use AR-15s for personal protection, recreational shooting, competitive shooting and hunting. Sales often increase when gun owners perceive that politicians will seek stricter gun regulations, which typically happ<\/a>ens after high-profile mass shootings, researchers say. Gun buying also spiked<\/a> during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Gun buyers have become more diverse in recent years, with particular growth in women and Black customers, retailers say<\/a>. That trend likely applies to the AR-15, although data doesn\u2019t get that specific, said Matt Manda, the National Shooting Sports Foundation\u2019s manager of public affairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The gun industry\u2019s marketing techniques have been scrutinized by Congress. A 2022 investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, led by Democrats, said<\/a>\u00a0gun companies \u201ctout assault rifles\u2019 military pedigree, make covert references to violent white supremacists like the Boogaloo Boys, and prey on young men\u2019s insecurities by claiming their weapons will put them \u2018at the top of the testosterone food chain.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives of two top gun-makers testified at a July 2022 committee hearing that blame should be focused on the people who used the guns to kill people, not the guns themselves. \u201cI believe that these murders are local problems that have to be solved locally,\u201d Marty Daniel, the then-CEO of Daniel Defense, said.<\/p>\n

At that hearing, and many others around the country in which new gun restrictions have been debated, families of people killed in mass shootings joined advocates in pressing for new regulations on semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kimberly Rubio, whose 10-year-old daughter, Lexi Rubio, was killed in a 2022 attack on an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, has been one of them.<\/p>\n

In May, she showed up at the Texas Capitol to press a state legislative committee to back a bill that would raise the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. The committee voted in favor of it, but the bill\u2019s chances of becoming law are remote because it is not supported by Gov. Greg Abbott.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of every day, I\u2019m just a mom who wants my daughter back,\u201d Rubio said. \u201cAnd a mom who doesn\u2019t want another mom to know my pain.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The AR-15 semi-automatic rifle is one of the most popular guns in the U.S., and one of the most reviled.\u00a0 It is an emblem of America\u2019s political divisions, beloved by firearm enthusiasts for its versatility and cachet and targeted for bans by gun control advocates who blame it for a rise in mass shootings.\u00a0 Every…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":574566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2023-05\/230511-art-15-data-cs-1a6310.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-574565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}