The AR-15 has once again made headlines in the wake of the Orlando shooting. Democrats are calling for a ban; Republicans are arguing that we need to blame the person and his ideology, not his weapon. Whichever side of the argument you stand on, you need to hear the truth about the AR-15.

The media and many on the Left commonly, and wrongly, refer to the AR-15 as an "assault rifle." Assault rifles by definition are fully automatic weapons that can fire hundreds of rounds at a time, such as those used by the military. To obtain one of these weapons is almost impossible. One would have to get numerous permits, licenses, and be willing to spend at least $20,000 on the weapon.

The AR-15 we are hearing about now is a semiautomatic weapon. The media tries to make that sound like a scary word, but there are few modern firearms that are not semiautomatic. A semiautomatic weapon is one that fires one shot at a time without cocking the gun in between as one would for a BB/pellet gun or reloading in between shots, as one would with a single shot rifle. It also can only shoot however many rounds are in the magazine, usually no more than 30 per magazine.

The AR-15 is also wrongly referred to as an assault rifle because of its appearance. It has the look of a military or police style weapon, but that is the only thing that makes it similar to those much more powerful weapons. The AR-15 is actually banned for certain types of hunting in many places because it cannot kill large game quickly enough. In a hunting regard, an AR-15 is really a varmint rifle - one for shooting animals like coyotes and foxes, not elk and caribou.

Semiautomatic AR-15

Semiautomatic 30-06

Many rifles have more power than an AR-15 but are not feared because of their appearance. The 30-06, for example, uses a much larger bullet and is commonly used for shooting large game but lacks the military-style appearance.

In the photo above, the 30-06 bullet is clearly the largest one. The AR-15 shoots the .223 (the bullet to the left) which is clearly much smaller and capable of less damage than the 30-06.

I am very pro-gun and pro-Second Amendment, but regardless of your opinion on gun control, you should at least know the facts about what you are arguing about. To the Right, use these facts when you are put in a position where you need to defend our right to own AR-15s. To those who are firmly rooted to or even considering the ideas of the Left, if you are calling to ban something, at least be fully informed about what it is.