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What is it like to fire an AR-15? It’s horrifying, menacing and very very loud
Daily News ^ | June 14, 2016 | GERSH KUNTZMAN

Posted on 06/14/2016 6:35:59 PM PDT by digger48

It feels like a bazooka — and sounds like a cannon.

One day after 49 people were killed in the Orlando shooting, I traveled to Philadelphia to better understand the firepower of military-style assault weapons and, hopefully, explain their appeal to gun lovers.

But mostly, I was just terrified.

Many gun shops turned down our request to fire and discuss the AR-15, a style of semi-automatic rifle popular with mass killers such as San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook and similar to the Sig Sauer MCX rifle used by Orlando terrorist Omar Mateen.

Killers in mass shootings used AR-15, thanks to NRA But Frank Stelmach of Double Tap Shooting Range and Gun Shop invited me, videographer Michael Sheridan and reporter Adam Shrier to come down. Stelmach is not like many gun lovers. He admires his weaponry, yes, and has difficulty explaining why law-abiding citizens need a gun that can empty a 40-round clip in less than five seconds. But he also hates the idea that “bad people” get a hold of a gun like this and use it to kill without difficulty.

“There should be expanded background checks — extending into your family, friends and associates,” he said. “And there should be a mental health screening. In Europe, if you want to buy a gun, you have to see a doctor (for a psychiatric examination) to see if something’s not right.”

Gersh Kuntzman works with gun ghop owner Frank Stelmach on how to handle the AR-15. Gersh Kuntzman works with gun ghop owner Frank Stelmach on how to handle the AR-15. Stelmach, who opened his shop six years ago after a career in law enforcement in Europe, even calls for government officials to take away guns from some owners — something very few gun advocates support.

He also said he never sells a gun to someone who “looks a little bit funny,” and he claimed he had prevented many guns from getting into the wrong hands because the would-be purchaser “asked stupid questions” like, “What happens to me if the gun is stolen?”

But very few gun shop owners do anything close to Stelmach’s sniff test — and he acknowledged how easy it is to find another gun shop owner willing to make the sale.

Very easy. In fact, as Philadelphia Daily News columnist Helen Ubinas showed today, you can get a military weapon in seven minutes in this country.

Richard Cohen: American insanity: Assault rifles for all Stelmach doesn’t think it should be easy. But he thinks it should be allowed.

He loves the AR-15 for cops, soldiers, hunters and target shooters. “It’s fun to shoot something like that,” he said.

Not in my hands. I’ve shot pistols before, but never something like an AR-15. Squeeze lightly on the trigger and the resulting explosion of firepower is humbling and deafening (even with ear protection).

The recoil bruised my shoulder. The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick. The explosions — loud like a bomb — gave me a temporary case of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.

Even in semi-automatic mode, it is very simple to squeeze off two dozen rounds before you even know what has happened. In fully automatic mode, it doesn’t take any imagination to see dozens of bodies falling in front of your barrel.

All it takes is the will to do it.

Forty nine people can be gone in 60 seconds.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; US: Florida; US: New York; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2016election; 2ndamendment; ar15; banglist; clueless; demagogicparty; election2016; gershkuntzman; guncontrol; memebuilding; metrosexual; newyork; newyorkdailynews; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; secondamendment; trump
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To: CAluvdubya
For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.


61 posted on 06/14/2016 7:16:33 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: The Continental Op

From Wiki:

Gersh Kuntzman The dork who thinks a 5.56 round gave him PTSD.....a 5.56mm round kicks no more than a .22lr that can barely kill a squirrel what a baby

LOL!


62 posted on 06/14/2016 7:16:55 PM PDT by Redcitizen
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To: vetvetdoug

First big bore rifle I ever fired was a 45-70 Trapdoor Springfield made in the 1870s. Yeah, it kicked all right, but I did fire 5 rounds through it. I was 14.


63 posted on 06/14/2016 7:18:13 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono
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To: Covenantor
He is now a bona fide gun expert in the world in which he lives.

Until one of his friends decides to try the horror for himself because he wants to feel the brass casing generated wind in his hair!

64 posted on 06/14/2016 7:19:23 PM PDT by CAluvdubya (<---has now left CA for NV, where God/guns have not been outlawed! Prayers for Trump and family)
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To: digger48
Never mind that the cultist of Islam who did the deed should never have been allowed to settle in among the general public of this country in the first place, and on top of that, he had a number of incidences of higher scrutiny from the feds but guilt was dismissed because of his protected status as a cultist of Islam. Can I run on some more?

These cultists must go.

65 posted on 06/14/2016 7:19:57 PM PDT by right way right (May we remain sober over mere men, for God really is our one and only true hope.)
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To: digger48

“The recoil bruised my shoulder...”

I simply don’t believe that.


66 posted on 06/14/2016 7:20:04 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: Yogafist

*** Or a Mosin Nagant. My guess is he doesn’t have the upper body strength to lift one of those. ***

I’m a girl, and love mosin-nagants. This guy has to be the world’s biggest liar or the world’s biggest P*$$y, if he cowers from shooting an ar-15.


67 posted on 06/14/2016 7:20:12 PM PDT by sockmonkey (Donald Trump will ban auto-correct with an Executive Order. Go Trump!)
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To: Inyo-Mono

I forgot to add that I fired a friend’s AR 15 and the recoil wasn’t much more than that of my .22 mag rifle.


68 posted on 06/14/2016 7:21:04 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono
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To: vladimir998
The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face.

Well, this leftist must also be a southpaw. But "disoriented me?" OH PLEASE!!!

I used to have an original version of Colt's commercial CAR-15, pre-A1, so it didn't have the little case deflector "nub." I wear glasses, so it was a bit annoying when the ejected shells would hit the frame of my glasses, but while a bit distracting, certainly NOT disorienting!

All it took was move to an A2 and the problem magically disappeared!

Mark

69 posted on 06/14/2016 7:21:41 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: MortMan
If the sound was too loud, why didn't he use a sound suppressor ?

(source: www.thefirearmblog.com)

70 posted on 06/14/2016 7:22:00 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: 04-Bravo

LOL! Yup. That’ll leave a mark.


71 posted on 06/14/2016 7:25:07 PM PDT by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?!)
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To: AFreeBird
Too many damn snowflakes.

And every snowflake that lands on him leaves a bruise!

Mark

72 posted on 06/14/2016 7:25:41 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: sauropod

“What is it with the NY Daily News?”

Suitable for lining dog kennels, nothing more.


73 posted on 06/14/2016 7:26:22 PM PDT by Señor Presidente
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He also said he never sells a gun to someone who “looks a little bit funny,”

I'd love to see this false-flag anti-gunner get sued into bankruptcy if he refused to sell to a Black guy in baggy pants because he looked "a little bit funny." Like a gang-banger?

Mark

74 posted on 06/14/2016 7:29:08 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: digger48

Women love the AR-15 because it is so manageable.

This wuss .... probably has pencil-thin arms.


75 posted on 06/14/2016 7:29:57 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (This posting is a microaggression.)
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To: Inyo-Mono
First big bore rifle I ever fired was a 45-70 Trapdoor Springfield made in the 1870s. Yeah, it kicked all right, but I did fire 5 rounds through it. I was 14.

Same here. Cut my teeth on a 45-70 trapdoor 1873 Springfield. My brother still has it. We get it out every couple of years.

76 posted on 06/14/2016 7:30:36 PM PDT by digger48
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To: wastoute
His problem is that nowadays NO ONE is THAT stupid.

The problem is that the readers of the rag that publishes his drivel ARE that stupid, and more!

Mark

77 posted on 06/14/2016 7:31:02 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: digger48

A liar and a wuss.


78 posted on 06/14/2016 7:32:45 PM PDT by umgud (ban muslims, not guns)
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To: right way right
"You did not see that red flag."

"And I was never here"

 photo The-Hunt-for-Red-October-James-Earl-Jones.jpg

79 posted on 06/14/2016 7:33:26 PM PDT by digger48
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To: 04-Bravo
I’d like to let this sissy fire my 1903 Springfield.

Or a .44Mag lever action carbine with a "JD Jones" load - "Fill the case with W/W 296, and jam a 300gr bullet on top!"

Mark

80 posted on 06/14/2016 7:34:17 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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