The AR15 semiautomatic civilian rifle is the target of those who want to ban guns; it was used in part in some high-profile horrific crimes, although it is one of the fireams least used by criminals. It you wonder why it has become the target of gun-ban efforts, it is simple; if gun-banners can get this rifle banned, they will have outlawed the most popular multipurpose gun in America, while setting a precedent for banning virtually any others. Before blindly lending your support to the effort to ban those rifles that have been called military-style assault weaons in order to defame them in the eyes of those who don't know any better, please take time to educate yourself about them.
In 1959, shortly after Armalite Corporation presented the winning design for the military rifle bound to replace several other battle rifles in the US military arsenal, well-known military arms manufacturer Colt, aquired manufacture rights for the fully automatic version of the AR15. This new rifle would be known in the military as the M16. Armalite retained production rights for the semi-automatic version of this refile and retained the designation AR15. After a somewhat tenuous beginning the M16 was embraced by the US military and and became one of the most produced military rifles in the history of the world. Meanwhile the AR15 became one of the most popular and copied sporting rifle designs in the history of the world.
http://www.assaultweapon.info/
The AR15 is the most popular all around sporting rifle in America with many millions having been sold since its inception. Although some of the same features that made the M16 and its later variants such a popular military rifle--also made the AR15 such a popular sporting rifle--one major difference makes them radically different. The AR15 is semi-automatic, while the M16 is a fully-automatic machine-gun. This one difference is the difference between a military rifle and a civilian rifle. It has been this way from the beginning and it is still.
Although the rfiles look alike, it is the fully-automatic featue that has made one legal only for military use from the beginning, while the other has been legal for civilan use since the beginning. Civilians have not been able to legally purchase or own new machine guns since the National Firearms Act was passed in 1933. The NFA was passed in the heat of the fight against prohibition gangland America and such colorful characters as John Dillenger and Pretty Boy Floyd--who made the distinctive-looking Thompson Sub-machine-gun, with its .45 caliber drum magazine, a famous picture of Chicago's early firearms infamy.
Prior to the misbehavior of these criminals in Chicago, any law-abiding citizen could legally own any military weapon including the Thompson sub-machine-gun. Not only did the high-profile prosecution of these prohibition-era organized crime figures reslut in the formation and progression of the FBI as a respected national law-enforecment agency, it also resulted in the Illinoise State Legislature passing the most restrictive gun laws in America and the restrictive provisions of the National Firearms Act becoming law. New York City, with its history of organized crime also followed similar legislation that actually had begun in 1911 as it was proposed by a popular senator of the day, Timothy Sullivan.
While some some historical sources have written that the legislation was born of Senator Sullivans heart-felt concern for reducing violent crime, while at least one recent biographers maintains that taking pistols out of the hands of ordinary citizens was motivated by gangland complaints that some of their victims were shooting back. Regardless, the NY Gun Laws dating from 1911 were among the earliest and strictest. These laws were only strengthened by the later Federal Legislation and the resulting National Firearms Act essentially sponsored by the FBI crackdowns on organized crime. 1933 was the earmark year for this event. Thus, in these areas, firearms and crime long ago became indelibly linked in the eyes of the local citizens who so abhored the open terror of organized crime.
There are certainly other factors that made Chicago and NYC the exceptions to American support of private gun-ownership--such as the large population of Irish imigrants and their almost stereo-typical gratitation to police and law-enfrocement professions. Ireland has a long history of preventing its citizens from privately owning guns. All of these conditions have made for a citizen mind-set in those particular locales that depart from those in the remainder of America. That esidents of these areas generally embrace such measures as right nad normal neither makes them so for the rest of the nation, nor does it prove them in any way superior to less restrictive laws in the rest of the nation. to the contrary, these specific locales that have the most restrictive gun-control laws continue to have higher violent crime rates than those with less restrictive gun laws.
http://www.assaultweapon.info/
Although even in the rest of the United States, since the passage of the NFA in 1933, it has been illegal for ordinary citizens to own machineguns--except by special control provisions of the act and by paying a special excise tax. The net effect has been that private citizens seldom own machine guns and other weapons of war. Subseqent legislation has absolutely forbidden private citizens from owning newly manufactured machine-guns and other such weapons of war. This is yet another reason to help casual observers to understand that no one who truly know firearms really considers those semi-automatic rifles now being eroneously dubbed as assault weapons--as real weapons of war.
Nearly ten years before WWII, the semi-automatic M1 Garand Rifle was beginning to replace previous bolt-action 30.06 rifles in the US military. It was the first military infantry rifle that offered semi-automatic repeating fire. This rifle is thought by some to have decided the outcome of WWII; it was credited with providing the edge the American forces needed to help swing the tide toward victory. Although much of this edge may have been psycohological, General George Patton, always quick to seize upon any real or perceived edge in combat, called the M1 Garand 30.06 rifle the greatest battle instrument in history.
The M1 Carbine came into service during the end of WWII. It was a much smaller rifle that was intended to meet the needs of jungle warfare and as used by special forces such as paratroopers who required a more compact rifle than the M1 Garand. Although the M1 Carbine used a much smaller 30 caliber cartidge, it provided more knock-down at short ranges than did the the alterantive 1911 .45 military pistol. The M2 and M3 variants of this carbine offered full-auto operation. Used during Korea and early Viet Nam, the M1 Carbine co-existed with the M14 Rifle that essentially replaced the M1 Garand rifle.
The M14 was a fully-automatic rifle intended to replace the M1 Garand rifle, but due to the scaled down 30.06 308 cartridge, it was too hard to control to be very effective in combat when used in fully-automatic fire. It did prove to be an excellent longer range battle weapon where a heavy bullet was desired to cut through jungle branches and twigs in the line of fire. The rifle was also highly accurate. The M14 was both revered and cursed by troops using it, who were up against enemies wieilding SKS's and AK47's, which was more ideally suited to jungle warfare.
The M1 Garand was also effectively used in Korea. An updated semi-automatic battle rifle, called the M14 was commissioned during the time over-lapping Korea and Viet Nam. The M14 increased the semi-automatic capacity from the M1 Garands 8 rounds, to X rounds. During this same time, field requests began to see an increased demand for a lighter infantry rifle that was shorter and easier to carry. With this came the demand for a smaller rifle that was more conducive to close-in jungle combat in smaller calibers in order to facilitate each soldier carrying more rounds with reduced weight and space reqirements.
During this time, the Chinese had adopted the popular Soviet Kolishnikov fully-automatic infantry machine-gun carbine rifle--the AK-47 as well as the semi-automatic SKS left over from WWII. The stage was set for a new American answer to the Kolishnikov. The Kolishnikov AK-47 and all of its variantsand the earlier Soviet designed SKS rifle used the very potent but shorter 30 caliber (7.62x39) round. cartidge. Previous wars were fought using longer 30 caliber cartridges such as those used by the M1 Garand and the M14 (7.62x51 and 7.62x54). These cartridges had remarkable distance capabilities and were accurate out to 1000 yeards or more in the hands of a trained sniper using a finely tuned rifle. There was a much greater case for this capacity during the open warfare seen during the first two world wars.
But in the jungles of Viet Nam distance became less important than mobility and rate of fire heaters. During competitive presentations to the US military apparatus, a configuration of carbine with a more compact synthetic stock was rolled out by Armorlite Corp. The original configuation was the AR10 in the heavier 308 cartridge. An alternative offerein ga much smaller though potent cartridge was presented as well. This was the AR15 in a completely new cartridge 5.56x45. The caliber is .22 (223) but it was much longer and pointed than a common 22 caliber rimfire cartridge, and it was backed by a powdered load that was able to propell it to previously unheard of battlefield velocities. Muzzle velocity is one measure of a round's destructive power.
The main reason that made the civilian counterpart to the M16 popular among American sportsmen is the rifle's versatility. Firearms can be expensive. There are many different kinds of firearms that were designed for specific purposes. But few firearms fit the bill for all of them. As it turns out, the AR15 comes about as close to a universa rifle firearm as doe any. The composite (plastic) black furniture (stock and forearm) is relatively light, durable, and inexpenisve to make. while hunting the rifle with its pistol grip is easy to carry long distances while held at the ready tracking game or still-hunting.
Although not every sportsman's ideal, the rifle's cartridge is not too big for medium-sized or even small game. It is potent enough for hunting virtually any large game--especially given the capacity of multiple detachable magazines and semi-automatic fire. The AR15 shoots long enough and accurate enough that it is often the first choice of muance predators and varments. It can easily accommodate a scope for such distances as well. The AR15 is often recommended as a home defense weapon. The types of bullets available can be chosen specifically for any of these variable tasks. The standard AR15 rifle is very accurate, but it can be accuratized further for competitive shooting. I has become the standard for many competitive shooting sports, including some in the Olympics. Oh, and with all of this, the aammunnition is plentiful and cheap.
It is no wonder that this weapon has been used in some of the recent tragedies, due to its wide availability and popularity. They are everywhere. Even so, FBI facts and statstics indicate that fewer than 6% of all gun crimes commited in the USA involved the use of AR15's and similarly designed rifles. Given their huge numbers, these rifles are amon gthose least used to commit violent crime. Those few highly visible and publicized tradgedies nothwithstanding, these rifles are not very often misused--this as determined by the FBI's numbers. They just are not.
http://www.wnd.com/2007/06/41950/
It is no wonder that those who wnat to ban guns, want to target AR15 and similarly styled rifles. But it is not for the reasons they so often present. If one wants to erode the rights of individuals to own guns in America, it makes sense to target those firarms that are most popular. If those who detest the rights as offered by the Second Amendement to the Constitution want to make a dent in private firearm ownership--it is a good plan to try to villify and malign those rifles that are the most used, most owned, most versatile, and most popular to the most American citizens.
Although it appears unlikely to succeed at this time, the willingness of these people to exploit tragic news events--allowing no crisis to go to waste--and to play upon our love of innocent children, and to use textbook techniques of propaganda such as making up ugly names and terms for the express purpose of misleading people into thinking that these most popular types of firearms are somehow only useful to the military--these people may eventually be able to have their way in disarming law-abiding American citizens. They have certainly succeded in perpetuating these lies in dividing well-meaning people who, because of the geography in wheich they live, or ofther group affiliation, from those who merely want to quietly remain safe in their homes in a time when law-enforcement cannot defend them against armed bully predators.
Who was Senator Timmothy Sulivan? How did his actions a hundred years ago lead to NY being the first and most fanatical gun-control jurisdiction in the nation? This is aninteresting, though oft ignored part of American history.
This is not objective, but it is one view: http://www.sunray22b.net/sullivan_act.htm
OR http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7932
Here is another which is a little nicer: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/justice-story/1911-shooting-led-ny-gun-law-article-1.1240721
I beleive that many of those who would ban guns and destroy the Second Amendment and what it has come to stand for even in the rulings throughout American history --even by the most recent Supreme Court cases--are victims themselves. They are victims of propaganda as were decent German people during Hitler's reign of propaganda-driven terror and death. Good people are the victims of distorted facts, half truths, and outright lies when it comes to the wide campaing to disarm Americans. Though many of those whe perpetuate these lies do so unwittingly, there are those ideologs who feel that any means justifies the end-- of America as we know it.
The following link provides additional historical context to what is and what is not a military-style assault weapon.
http://www.awbinfo.com/?gclid=CMPo4pjJ9bQCFQ4EnQodAgYAlw
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