In light of many recent stories done on the notorious AR-15 rifle, the debate has heated up on gun control in the US. However, there are many articles circulating which advocate for how the AR-15 is not nearly the death dealing murder machine that the "liberal media" claims it to be. You can read such an article here.
The problem is that the American public is generally uninformed about many portions of gun control legislation. When gun control opponents claim that the AR-15 is not an assault rifle or as dangerous, there are key issues with those arguments.
The assault rifle label argument relies on the fact that many Americans think AR stands for assault rifle. In this case, AR does not stand for assault rifle, rather AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifle design number 15. This was the prototype model sold to the gun manufacturer Colt where it became the infamous M-16 rifle. Today, the AR-15 is the civilian designated semi assault rifle sold by Colt to the general public.
An assault weapon is defined by the United States as semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed for rapid fire. The AR-15 is a semiautomatic firearm originally designed to fire both semi and fully automatic. Originally, the AR-15 was designed with a twenty round box magazine with future models coming with 30 round magazines. Civilian models generally come with 10-15 round mags, yet 100 round drum magazines are available to civilians.
While fitting the first two requirements of being labeled an assault weapon, the rapid fire portion was redefined in history by the AR-15. Before its development, most rifle designs had the stock of the weapon not in line with the barrel and firing mechanism. This forces the recoil to push the barrel of the weapon up in the air, requiring the user to realign their sights in order to shoot the next target. The AR-15 had the stock completely in line with every moving mechanism of the rifle. This means the recoil pushes back more than up, allowing the shooter to reobtain their aim and put more rounds on target. This revolutionary design pushes the AR-15 into the defined category of assault weapon and separates itself from other rifles.
The next portion of the debate has to do with the AR-15's effectiveness. The civilian version has a different bolt and receiver system internally to keep the weapon from being easily converted to fully automatic fire. However, it is still legal to sell templates, tooling and manuals to complete such conversion. Therefore, the volume of firepower is present with civilian AR-15s.
Next comes the cartridge. The AR-15 fires the 5.56x45mm NATO round. While the smaller round may have some trouble penetrating body armor, the bullet once entering the human body has a tendency to tumble and collapse inside the body. The result is a huge amount of internal damage and a much more dense array of damage compared to other cartridges.
In the end, gun control legislation is a must for the United States. The AR-15 is under scrutiny and immediately gun enthusiasts are fearing for their own selfish desires. There is historical and scientific proof of the effectiveness of the AR-15. It is a dangerous weapon.
