In the 10 years since the Brady Bill and the federal assault weapons ban expired, the market for semiautomatic rifles has exploded in the United States. Among the most popular rifles on the market is the AR-15.
The demand has been so large that Joe Morrell, owner of Big D’s Gun and Pawn in Pocatello, is finishing the construction of a special room in his shop to display his collection of semiautomatic rifles for sale. He said they were taking up too much space where his shotguns were displayed.
Like an iPhone, there is no shortage of accessories and modifications on the market for AR-15 enthusiasts.
Most brick-and-mortar and online gun shops offer a variety of modification options to choose from. These include new barrels, larger magazines and suppressors, as well as hand grips, laser sights and scopes, along with bolt-carrier groups and trigger assemblies.
There are even a large variety of pink-colored accessories for female shooters.
“If you look at a regular bolt action rifle, you can’t really change the configuration of it,” said Morrell. “The AR-15 is a basic, simple gun that you can easily change around and play with.”
Sam Laoboonmi, the owner of Sam’s Guns in Pocatello, said that compared with other semiautomatic rifles, the AR-15 is among the most accurate.
“The AR-15s are like those old Volkswagen Beetles from the 1960s, you can easily find and change out parts,” said Laoboonmi. “The ammo is reasonably priced and readily available.”
The AR-15 is a sort of an anomaly compared with the other firearms available on the market. Though many use it for self-defense purposes, its size makes it difficult to conceal. Suited for small varmints and coyotes, it’s not designed to hunt large game with, unless its .223 stock caliber is converted to shoot larger rounds.
Morrell says its popularity lies with the enjoyment of firing it.
“The No. 1 reason people buy this gun is because it is so much fun to shoot,” he said. “Compared to the other semiautomatic rifles on the market, the AR-15’s are America’s gun.”
Despite its popularity as an affordable and adaptable rifle, AR-15’s have been involved in numerous high-profile mass shooting incidents in recent years. In response, pro-gun control advocates have tried to push legislation to ban semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15.
However, Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen says his department has not seen an increase in the number of semi-automatic rifles used in violent crimes. In fact, his department’s officers store AR-15 in their squad cars.
“In the old days, we used to have a shotgun and a rifle in each of our cars,” he said. “Now we carry shotguns with non-lethal bean bag ammunition and AR-15’s. The AR-15’s are not as heavy to carry, it’s easier to clean, and it’s overall a superior weapon. I think a lot of our officers are glad to have them.”
Nielsen also said that most police personnel in the state of Idaho are issued a semi-automatic rifle of some kind.
(12) comments
Skeptic,
Get out of here with your pesky statistics. haha.
Continuing on:
The simple truth is that AR15 rifles account for very few of the firearm related injuries. They have a physical safety and still have a trigger, it's tough to mess that up. A 22 is simply not an effective stopping round. It travels rather slow and fires very light/small bullets. I'm not much of a fan of the AR15 for home defense either, I think pistols (.40, .45, 9mm and similar) are more effective as the rounds do more than simply pass through targets.
Everyone gets up in arms about the "mass killings" but when compared to other crimes, the rate of death due to mass killings is very small. Obviously everyone would like to not see them, but in the overall view of things there are far bigger problems facing the country.
Mike you continue to write commentaries about the evils of ARs (and what now appears is to be about any gun) and seemingly how likely it is to be killed by an accidental discharge. It would seem you think they are too powerful to allow anyone to own. He says he fears for his children and grand children's safety because people own ARs so they must be banned.
So let us look at some statistics. From 2005 to 2009 there were approximately 28 accidental deaths due to firearms. Note these were people of all ages. http://www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/Portals/0/Health/Statistics/Misc%20Reports/Firearm%20Fact%20Sheet%20March%202011.pdf
In the same period of time there were 179 fatalities of drivers age 19 and under. http://itd.idaho.gov/ohs/2009Data/09Youth.pdf Just drivers under 19, not all drivers.
Mike are your grandchildren teenagers and do they drive? If yes, are you aware that they are much more likely to be injured or killed by an auto accident than by a firearm accident? Are you taking steps to ban them and other teen drivers? If not, why not? Isn't their safety more important than the convenience of them being able to drive themselves?
Problem is when people want to ban something they don't like and don't own it is easy to say how much safer everyone would be without it. Yet driving a car is statistically more dangerous than firearms yet I have yet to read any commentary from Mike about how we need to ban autos or have more restrictions on their use so fewer people are injured or killed. Why is that Mike?
Mike will continue to talk about the ballistics of the 223 round in the hopes that he can convince people that no one should have a rifle in this caliber. Even though Don points out Mike's lack of logic about how powerful a 223 is compared to a big game round such as a 30-06 (based on a ballistic calculation used by all ammo manufacturers) , Mike continues on with his skewed commentary. Even the article states the 223 round is best suited for varmints and coyotes but not big game. Is that because big game rounds are more powerful than than a 223? Yes they are.
If Mike's concern is about an accidental discharge of a firearm, you are more at risk from a hunting rifle than an AR. Of course he doesn't want people to know that as he is taking the tact that most gun control proponents use, focus on banning one type of gun and then expand the ban from there. Considering AR type rifles make on only 3% of the rifles in the US (per Mike in a previous commentary) it seems your chance of accidentally being shot by a big game rifle is much more likely than an AR.
He made the decision to remove firearms from his home due to his children. My wife and I have raised 4 children in a home with 15+ firearms. My oldest son was shooting with help at age 4. We taught them safe gun handling practices and instilled in them the responsibility that goes along with using a gun. Never had any safety issue with our children and firearms, and it wasn't luck, it was teaching them proper skills. Not really any different than teaching them how to use power tools or to drive a vehicle.
Mike1234,
You really need to read more, and think more, before passing yourself off as knowledgeable about ballistics.
Here's a ballistics table for you:
http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/ballistics/ballistics_charts.pdf
A .30-06 round for the M1 Garand, the main battle rifle of the U.S. Army in WWII.
Muzzle velocity: 2710 ft/s
Muzzle energy: 2739 ft-lb
The .223 round for the AR-15 (using the fastest round in the chart since you seem to think velocity determines lethality)
Muzzle velocity: 3800 ft/s
Muzzle energy: 1282 ft-lb
Notice the .223 has less than half the energy of the .30-06.
Why aren't you calling for bans of the 204 ruger (4225 ft/s), 22-250 Remington (4150 ft/s), 220 swift (3850 ft/s), all faster than the .223?
AR-15 Specs
3200 ft/second muzzle velocity, faster than 30-06 you stated
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR-15
I am not an expert, just read a lot and THINK
If you have a gun in your home, the risk of someone being hurt by the gun is about 40%. So the choice is "Having a gun or not having a gun and thanks to the Second Amendment, our choice".
So, choose wisely. That is why I chose 22 caliber vs 223 or 7.62 AR-15 that I consider a Financial Risk to my family.
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-kellermann.htm
FYI, when I served my country in the Military, we were Not allowed to have guns in the barracks or in the on base housing, the guns were locked up in Armories and gun clubs on the base.
In Switzerland, everyone has a Military weapon in their home but the ammunition is limited in the home (sealed with a special binder that if broken is subject to a fine) to be used to fight their way with the few rounds to the community armory that stores community ammunition in a national emergency.
If the killings continue, our country might adopt such a law. I guess the message is "Keep your guns locked up and safe".
Accidental discharge is the event of a firearm discharging (firing) at a time not intended by the user. Perhaps most commonly, accidental discharges (sometimes called ADs by military and police personnel and referred to as negligent discharges by several armies) occur when the trigger of the firearm is deliberately pulled for a purpose other than shooting—dry-fire practice, demonstration, or function testing—but ammunition is negligently left in the chamber.
Almost every veteran cop has either experienced an accidental discharge or been around when one happened to a fellow officer. Accidental discharges happen. And most of the time they result in no more damage than red faces and ringing ears. But any time a firearm goes off accidentally it can lead to tragedy.
http://www.policemag.com/channel/weapons/articles/2004/12/stop-accidental-discharges.aspx
When I was raising my kids, we only had a single shot 22 rifle. I made the decision to remove the risk of someone getting hurt in my home with multiple weapons. Facts support the chance of getting injured with a weapon and increased risk with multiple weapons.
How about 557 yards?
Sometimes individual gunmen attack, other times dozens. Once Wilson shot an insurgent who was "turkey peeking" — Marine slang for stealing glances at U.S. positions from behind a corner. Later, the distance was measured at 514 meters — 557 yards.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-07-29-iraq-sniper_x.htm
The point is 5,000 meter kill range, not suitable for "Home defense" unless you are paranoid and in that case, you should not own any weapon.
Maybe you might find this interesting
http://www.military.com/video/specialties-and-personnel/snipers/marine-sniper-headshot-at-625-yards/1524793339001/
Mike1234,
You really should learn something about ballistics before presenting yourself as an expert.
A .30-06 round has muzzle velocity of 3000 ft/s. Are you seriously saying the medium power 5.56 round is more powerful than .30-06?
I can buy a new .30-06 rifle for $450. Is that less dangerous than a new AR-15 costing $1000?
"Marines know that they are consistently affective at 800 meters, 2500 feet." No they don't. The effective range of the M-4 rifle is 440 meters.
Modern guns are not "subject to accidental discharge". A finger on the trigger may cause negligent discharge.
Four safety rules:
All guns are always loaded.
Never point the gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
Know your target and know what is between you and the target and beyond.
Now if you violate those rules, pointing the gun 30 degrees into the air, pulling the trigger without knowing where the round will go, and not carrying what you may hit 3 miles away, you are a dangerous fool. That applies whether you're shooting a .22 or M198 howitzer.
Apparently you believe that the AR-15 leads people to act irresponsibly, that a particular style of gun takes control of a man's mind. You should stay away from all guns.
I grew up with guns, had the family 22 rifle above my bed when I was a kid(I built a gun rack in school) and woke every morning with that 22 Savage pump 22. staring at me.
I am a Veteran, trained on Military tactics since I was in High School ROTC, the army taught us how to survive and kill as a soldier and I became very aware of the killing ability of military weapons.
The AR-15 is a Military Weapon and can kill at great distance with accuracy. The price is incredibly low for such a weapon, $1,000 for a basic AR-15 that can be bought at Wal-Mart.
I recently attended a Gun Show and bought a book devoted to the AR-15 to decide whether I wanted to buy one since there seems to be some sort of "AR-15 mania" going on.
As I read about the AR-15 technical specs, with the 3200 foot muzzle velocity, accessories including a 100 round magazine that can be bought on line for $150 and the one bit of information that stood out was its "Killing Range".
My father in law had a 22 short revolver that was his primary home defense hand gun. I asked him why he had such a low caliber gun, (He was an Iwo Jima and Korean War Marine Veteran) and his answer was 'If I miss what I am shooting at, I do not want to kill my neighbor's kid or a passerby".
I knew the "Killing range" of a 22 Long Rifle was about 300 yards(1,000 feet) which is kind of scary. But when I read the AR-15, with a 30 degree rise has a "Killing Range of 5,000 meters - 15,000 feet or about 3 miles. Holy Cow.
Do I want to have something with a killing range of 15,000 feet?
When I hear customers in gun shops wanting to buy an AR-15 with a 7.62 round for "Home Protection", I wonder if they really know the "killing range" of the AR-15 and just how powerful the weapon is.
Marines know that they are consistently affective at 800 meters, 2500 feet. The marines were accused of shooting the bad guys in the head after capture because so many bad guys were killed with head shots but after investigation, the accuracy and killing power of the AR-15 type was confirmed. The Marine Sharpshooters were killing with head shots at long range.
So, the decision I had to make was "Do I want a weapon that kills at a 15,000 foot range or follow the example of my Father In Law former Iwo Jima Marine, a 22 short?
I opted for the 22. I do Not want a weapon that can put me at Financial Risk with killing an innocent either in my neighborhood or within 15,000 feet. I chose the Shotgun as a primary.
Having been around guns all my life, I know that guns are subject to "accidental discharge". I just don't want something that powerful and range in my home.
Be advised, if any bullet runs astray from an accidental discharge and hits anything or anyone at my residence, the person who discharged the weapon, more likely than not, will be SUED for endangerment.
You can bet on that.
I suggest anyone who has "Ar-15 Mania" be aware that their Assets, their property, retirement, savings, and future is at risk having such a powerful weapon in their homes.
Good article except except Mr. Ashby needs to do a better job of searching the laws he references. The Brady Bill has not expired (enacted in 1993) and has no connection to the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (enacted in 1994).
The article is misleading about expiration of the "assault weapons ban" as under this law guns such as AR 15s were not banned outright, just certain configurations that were not allowed.
Basically if you had a semi auto rifle with a detachable magazine, the rifle could not have a collapsible stock, flash hider or bayonet lug. Otherwise it was exactly the same gun and operating system as guns that can be purchased "post ban".
I appreciate the the intent of the article to present these rifles in a positive manner as they are a lot of fun to shoot. However I would hope in future articles more research would be conducted to give accurate information on the laws being referenced.
Welcome to the discussion.
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