I've been trying to anticipate the discussions that will arise when Washington starts talking about banning ARs. There's so much misinformation given to non-gun owners that I thought it might be best to start educating people now, before the hubbub starts in Washington. So I wrote the piece designed to send to non-gun people that all they know is what the media tells them. Take this and share it on facebook and all the other social media, email, message boards, etc. Maybe if we get active first and stay ahead of the discussion, we can head off some of the gun bans. Again, this is aimed at people who know nothing about guns and get scared when the media feeds misinformation. I'm sure many of you guys can correct some generality I made, but consider the audience it's written for.




Sooner or later the present administration will get around to trying to ban AR guns. So before all that starts, I thought I’d do a bit of basic background.

First, the AR in AR-15 does NOT stand for assault rifle. The first of this style rifle was made by the Armalite company, and they just gave it the two letters so people would remember Armalite. It must not have worked, since so many people don’t know that.

Second, most of what happens in Washington is political theater, and (I hope this isn’t a surprise to you) some of the things they say just aren’t true. One false idea floating around is that AR guns are more powerful than other style rifles. Not so. I can bore you with energy calculations and velocities, so if you don’t believe me, let me know. Otherwise just trust me: most AR guns deliver less power than more than half the rifles in existence.

Third, AR rifles aren’t machine guns. Pull the trigger once, one bullet comes out. Just like many other style guns, including pistols. The old cowboy rifles of the 1870s could shoot 15 rounds per minute without reloading. So nothing special about ARs.

Next, the legal actions in the 1990s proved that if you try to write a legal definition of “assault rifle” it ends up being arbitrary. Very similar guns end up being allowed. Legal definitions of a machine is difficult. So we know from past experience that AR bans don’t achieve what people think they will.

So, what makes ARs the most popular gun sold today? Tens of millions of them have been sold in the last 40 years and they are extremely popular to the target shooters and hunters who mind their own business. Why would they buy so many as to make them the most popular rifle? No one in Washington will explain that to you.

The AR style gun is like the lego blocks of the gun world. You can change out parts, put on a different upper, lower, front end, back end, hang toys from the side. You can video what you’re shooting at, exchange parts with friends, change different sized barrels on the same gun.

Plus they’re just a blast to shoot. They don’t kick a whole lot and they’re light enough to carry places and for smaller people to hold.

Another criticism is that “no one needs an AR.” Well, no one needs $200 shoes or $50,000 cars, but that’s not my decision to tell others what they need or don’t need. But for those of us who have a feral hog problem on our property, sem-automatic rifles with large capacity magazines are a valuable tool. Please tell me what else I’m supposed to use?

In any case, I’m sure the disinformation about ARs will increase. The hunters and gun people have been laughing for years at the silliness and total inaccuracies that are floated around. Whatever your views are, please do some homework before you take away a legal product from honest people.

Well said HS2.

But the President just signed an order allowing boys in drag to play girls' sports (and be in the girls' locker room). Logic left the building a while back. It's a Ship of Fools over there.

I'll keep up the good fight, but it's more on principle than any hope of winning.

I originally thought the AR's were an ugly looking rifle, who would want one? BUT...I didn't realize there was all this aftermarket stuff to fix them up and a friend let me shoot his. Changed my opinion. To have something as accurate as a bolt and in semi-auto is a plenty plus, especially coyote hunting. etc.
When this ban stuff started a million year's ago they asked the police commissioner in NEW YORK CITY of all places. Okay guy. He said they were a non material factor in law enforcement, almost never encountered and when they were, any other firearm would have represented a comparable threat. So....a purely emotional issue by the liberals.
I am very worry about the future, not just on firearms but a lot of other liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights. I mention this whenever possible, the 9th and 10th grandfathered in all liberties enjoyed at the signing of the Constitution. Don't forget that.