AM radio show “Shooting the Infamous AR15”

[CLT65]

I think the show I heard it on is generally libertarian/conservative. I really got the feeling they weren't trying to be anti-gun, just wanting to see what all the hype was about. I think he went into it with serious preconceived notions.

A few years ago I was talking to a former coworker who was going off about guns, and particularly ARs. He was a super arrogant liberal, but it was clear he didn't know guns at all. I made the comment that an AR15 is just a gun. "JUST A GUN!?! How can you say it's JUST A GUN?!?"
That was my first experience with this kind of thing, and in the last few years I've come to realize that the majority of Americans have been conditioned to believe that the AR is some kind of super-weapon.

I think this has been a deliberate mis-characterization, an extremely successful bit of propaganda that gun owners in general have completely missed.

If the innocuous old WWII M1 Carbine would be just as lethal in the type of shootings perpetrated by these average psycho-mass-shooters, then you might have to focus on mental health and protection from psychos, but if you can portray a certain rifle in it's own special category of super-weapon-death-ray, then it's much easier to put a "face" on these shootings and work up a tizzy of support for gun control.

I've posted this before and it is humor, but there's a huge amount of truth to it- Here's what the average non-gun American thinks an AR-15 is:

 

[solv3nt]

Accuracy is typically very good, but this guy on the radio was bragging about saucer sized groups at 75 feet. My old M1 Carbine can do that.

Ha! I consistently ring my 8" gong with my Ruger MKIV Hunter at 30 yards.

 

[Boboclown]

I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning, Armstrong and Getty, I think. One of them starts talking about how a friend took him to the range to shoot the dreaded AR15.

What is it with non-gun people shooting the AR15, and going on about how special it is. I remember some journalist a while back saying he was traumatized or something, just from shooting one. This guy on the radio didn't say that, but he went on about how loud and powerful it was, how light, accurate, and easy to shoot, and how he couldn't help but think of school kids gunned down when he looked at it.

He said his buddy, who he hinted was LE or military, was a "second amendment guy" but even he wasn't quite comfortable with just anybody having the mighty AR.

My question is: when did the AR become so special? So different, superior, and more lethal than all other rifles? The public as a whole has seemingly bought into this lie.

In reality, it's a good rifle platform, the 60 year evolution of an excellent design, but otherwise it's really nothing special. The 5.56 cartridge is powerful compared to pistols and .22s, but downright wimpy compared to the average deer rifle. Accuracy is typically very good, but this guy on the radio was bragging about saucer sized groups at 75 feet. My old M1 Carbine can do that.

I don't mean to denigrate the AR or upset AR fans; that's not my intent at all. I'm not talking about the finer points of firearm superiority that an experienced rifleman or professional soldier would notice. Is there something in a general sense that somehow sets the AR apart from other rifles? Only in the minds of people who don't know guns.

Because for some reason mass murderers used it to shoot up schools even when they were expensive. And the media focuses on it because it looks evil and similar to the M4 in appearance. Really no other reason.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Lets not forget the clear reasoning for GCA of 1968.... "ze scary blacks with scary guns!" A mentality that STILL EXISTS. (Look at all the recent cops who killed unarmed dudes)
Granted they show m1 carbines but this was 1969 and m1 carbines were cheap then

 

[po18guy]

Ah, for the good old days - when the AK47 was the menace...

 

[etrain16]

I own an AR15...its fun , shoots well and I like that the fact that I put it together myself...
( Do need a new picture of it as it now , I have changed the stock , grips , handguards and sights... )
Mine is indeed , a light , handy and accurate Carbine....
For me , what is special about my AR Carbine is , who made it possible for me to own one and his generosity.

What makes the AR15 "special" to me in general is that I owned a Colt SP-1 at one time...then traded it off for a Flintlock Rifle....after awhile some folks got to saying just what guns I should be able to have and what guns I shouldn't be able to have....

Well that kinda got my dander up ...as I have always thought of the AR series as just rifles of the Semi-Auto variety...no different than say a Remington model 8 or 742...
And to tell me ...Just what I can own and even at times give me their version "why" it needs to be this way...
Just sits with me wrong...so now I have a AR again.

It should be simple....
You don't want a gun or a particular type of gun...then don't buy one , or one of that type.
Nothing says that you have to own a gun...
But don't go and try to force your choices on me.
Andy

Pretty much the same reason I bought my first AR. For a long time I thought AR's were cool, I liked the looks, but never really thought much about buying one. But I'm a sucker for a good salesman, in fact, when they present a good sales pitch, I cave easily. That's what Barack Obama did when he sold me on the AR by telling me I shouldn't be able to have one. Well, I know he was using reverse psychology on my, the sly little fox, but I fell for it anyway and bought that first AR. Of course, once you get one, you know how awesome they really are and just have to have another, and so on.

So I would like to personally thank the top AR salesman out there - Barack Obama, and to a lesser extent, his padawan, Hillary Clinton, for helping me realize that my life wasn't truly fulfilled until I had an AR in my safe. They really understand the American consumer. Tell them they can't have something, and they snap it up. Brilliant sales tactics on the part of an obviously pro-gun president. I would also like to thank people like Bloomberg, Pelosi, Schumer, Prozanski, Brown, and many, many others, including the entire DNC for using the brilliant tactic of attacking the 2nd amendment in order to drive up gun sales across this great nation!

Yep, brilliant tactics. Tell Americans they can't do something or can't own something and of course everyone knows they'll do just the opposite. Cheeky monkeys.

 

[fredball]

I got wood as a teenager whenever I saw pics of the AR platform....and it was a life goal to own one of them hot black babes!

I haven't heard that term in years much less had that term in years

 

[nwslopoke]

The AR15 is light, accurate and reliable. What do they expect a popular gun to be? My understanding is Honda Accords are affordable, reliable and good on gas. Go figure those are one of the best selling cars in the US.

 

[Boats]

Ah, for the good old days - when the AK47 was the menace...

And what's funny about that is the AR in 5.56 yips whereas the 7.62x39 AK barks.

 

[po18guy]

And what's funny about that is the AR in 5.56 yips whereas the 7.62x39 AK barks.

When your business is to demonize inanimate objects, you occasionally need a breath of fresh air. Thus, the evil gun of the week, month, or year. Good thing that Eugene Stoner has passed to his reward, or else angry antis (should they be government regulated?) would be picketing his house.

 

[Boboclown]

Ah, for the good old days - when the AK47 was the menace...

For me, the good ol' days when AKs were cheap.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Never been a "good ol days" time for me where ARs were cheaper than they are currently. AKs/SKS though....

 

[Boboclown]

I have a love/hate relationship with the AK... I love the side rail since it returns to zero all the time, and the simplicity of the AK. But don't like the right side charging handle.

 

[arakboss]

I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning, Armstrong and Getty, I think. One of them starts talking about how a friend took him to the range to shoot the dreaded AR15.

What is it with non-gun people shooting the AR15, and going on about how special it is. I remember some journalist a while back saying he was traumatized or something, just from shooting one. This guy on the radio didn't say that, but he went on about how loud and powerful it was, how light, accurate, and easy to shoot, and how he couldn't help but think of school kids gunned down when he looked at it.

He said his buddy, who he hinted was LE or military, was a "second amendment guy" but even he wasn't quite comfortable with just anybody having the mighty AR.

My question is: when did the AR become so special? So different, superior, and more lethal than all other rifles? The public as a whole has seemingly bought into this lie.

In reality, it's a good rifle platform, the 60 year evolution of an excellent design, but otherwise it's really nothing special. The 5.56 cartridge is powerful compared to pistols and .22s, but downright wimpy compared to the average deer rifle. Accuracy is typically very good, but this guy on the radio was bragging about saucer sized groups at 75 feet. My old M1 Carbine can do that.

I don't mean to denigrate the AR or upset AR fans; that's not my intent at all. I'm not talking about the finer points of firearm superiority that an experienced rifleman or professional soldier would notice. Is there something in a general sense that somehow sets the AR apart from other rifles? Only in the minds of people who don't know guns.

It happened when the media started harping on it. The rifle should have been named the "AQTHJXW459823" , then we probably would have been spared some of the constant media bashing of the rifle. Same goes for the AK47. Short model names are not our friend And who was the genius who came up with the term assault weapon to describe the rifles, grrrrrrr

I like to listen to A&G but they missed the mark on this one, at least Jack did.

 

[CamoDeafie]

The geniuses who came up with that term, got the idea from "historians" who are Subject Matter Experts on the history of intermediate cartridge carbines starting with the STG-44?

I mean... honestly.. I can find no official literature describing the semiautomatic AR-15/Armalite Rifle Model 15s as "assault weapons" before the 1990s?

Only the description for the M16 and M4 rifles/carbines and the CAR-15 submachine gun models (XM177 series for one), but otherwise.... only as Assault Rifles?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

And who was the genius who came up with the term assault weapon to describe the rifles, grrrrrrr

According to "accepted wisdom"...
Adolf Hitler coined the term when he pushed for / re-named the MP44 to STG44 ( Sturmgewhr 44 )
Strum being Assault or storm... Gewhwr being Rifle in German.
( loosely translated here )

The term really caught on and gained ground during the 1980's onward...
Andy

 

[CamoDeafie]

Yeah but practically every company ad for the semi auto ARs had this word set in it; "Sporter/Sporting rifle"?? At least during the 80s and 90s, from my memory. There was always a distinction between that and the Assault Rifle M16s

 

[arakboss]

Yeah but practically every company ad for the semi auto ARs had this word set in it; "Sporter/Sporting rifle"?? At least during the 80s and 90s, from my memory. There was always a distinction between that and the Assault Rifle M16s

And there are still many today that think AR stands for assault rifle, go figure.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Yeah but practically every company ad for the semi auto ARs had this word set in it; "Sporter/Sporting rifle"?? At least during the 80s and 90s, from my memory. There was always a distinction between that and the Assault Rifle M16s

If you look back at old Colt Ads for the AR15 rifle... ( from the 1960's and 1980's )
you see the words :
Semi-Auto
Sporting
Sporter

I think the the term Assault Rife was mostly used by writers and the press for dramatic effect...that said when I was in the Army , at times , the term was used to describe the M16 series and the military used AK-47 / 74 rifles...
Andy
Edit to add:
I just remembered that I have seen "Shooters Bible" catalogs with the term Assault rifles as a "header" to a section.... these are from the late 1980's and early 1990's

 

[Ralgha]

Are you sure that's not a young Hilary in that video

Oh, no, this is a young Hillary,

She loves guns, she just doesn't want us to have them.