Debate about the AR-15 has raged for years; here's a Q&A about the gun

Tulsa World ^ | Bostian | Kelly

[DBCJR]

...The firearm used in the Orlando massacre was not an AR-15 but a Sig Sauer MCX...

They are a class of firearm the National Shooting Sports Foundation calls “Modern Sporting Rifles” or, causally, MSRs.

...

Is an AR an assault rifle or isn’t it?

“AR” stands for the original designer “ArmaLite Rifle,” which makes model numbers AR-5, AR-7, AR-10... you get the idea.

Civilian AR-platform rifles are not, in fact, “assault rifles” nor are they “automatic rifles” or “weapons of war.”

Only military selective-fire rifles designed for battleground use like the M16 and the AK-47 are accurately described as “assault rifles” — so referenced in Department of Defense literature.

Selective-fire means a rifle can be switched from semi-automatic to full automatic. Semi-auto fires one round with each pull of the trigger. Full-auto means it will continue firing until the trigger is released or the magazine is emptied, like a machine gun.

All civilian-use AR-platform firearms are semi-automatic only.

[G Larry]

A Corvette can go 150 mph.....Why would anyone want or need one?

[jospehm20]

I think the Germans did when they named the Sturmgeweher (StG) 44.

[Nacho Bidnith]

Good article. I wish more ignorant people would read it.

Did you also read the comments after it?

Based on what I saw there, I'm seriously reconsidering my opinion that Oklahoma is a conservative state.

Or, as is quite possible, there are a lot of paid, anti-gun commenters on staff waiting to spew their venom toward any article regarding firearms.

[farming pharmer]

A Corvette can go 150 mph.....Why would anyone want or need one?

To send it to Lingenfelter to make it do 190...

[joshua c]

Ok, I can’t have fully automatic but why not the 3 round burst?

[ripnbang]

Good point. They were, and still are, sold to civilians through the Civilian Marksmanship Program. Civilian, being the operative word.

[wrench]

Also, look at the standard military sniper rifle. If they get the semis banned, they will be after those “military style sniper rifles” next (aka deer rifles).

And I, too, qualified on the model 15 S&W while working for Uncle Sugar.(A real M16, as well).

[wrench]

“Ok, I can’t have fully automatic but why not the 3 round burst?”

Under Georgia, law you can, but not under federal law. Time for more states’ rights!

[Jane Long]

Weapon(s) of war....is their latest catchphrase.

All the libs are using it. Hellary must’ve sent the directive.

[Wildbill22]

The correct answer to the fear bait scare claim of “weapons of war” is to say that the second amendment is all about the responsible gun owning citizen (as opposed to the serf/subject) owning a “weapon of war” in order to prevent the possibility of tyranny.

The 2nd A has nothing to do with hunting.

[Aut Pax Aut Bellum]

The “sporting purpose” concept crept in with the 1968 gun control act. Now Liberals are so confused, they think it is in the constitution.

[aquila48]

“I read the article, the author is taking the liberal bait just like many here.”

This argument about whether it’s an assault or military rifle is simply a red herring. When the 2nd amendment was put in the constitution was there any difference between military rifles and civilian rifles?

I’m also curious could one own a cannon back then? What restrictions were there regarding the type of weapons one could privately own?

[BwanaNdege]

Everything you can imagine can be a weapon of war,

When you've been overrun and you are out of ammo (one of the unsung 'virtues' of full-auto fire!), an E-tool makes a suitable 'weapon of war'.

[Chuckster]

I think if one took the time to look they would find that Americans have ALWAYS owned the same kind of guns that their soldiers used when they were available to them. And if guns that were SUPERIOR to the ones used by the military, they owned those too.

[Wildbill22]

Was there not a point of time, civil war perhaps with repeating rifles or rifling or something else,, where civilians did own superior weapons to the army?

And I believe civilians could own cannons. In fact, civilians owned warships. “Letters of marque” allowed civilians to capture and sell enemy warships.

[frog in a pot]

Well, you are no doubt sincere with your response; however, your first sentence is so qualified as to have little value:
I think if one took the time to look they would find that Americans have ALWAYS owned the same kind of guns that their soldiers used when they were available to them.

There are two obvious qualifiers that are fatal:
"Always"?...perhaps, but not in recent decades.
"When available"?...perhaps, but not in recent decades.

Your second sentence -
And if guns that were SUPERIOR to the ones used by the military, they owned those too.
- is credible only if by "Superior" you mean in terms of quality.

Finally, when you state, "Americans have always owned..." you must be referring to the fact that some military-grade weapons are available for private ownership upon obtaining special permits and licenses and paying relatively exorbitant fees - rather than weapons readily available to the general public at market rates.

In the alternative, you perhaps mean "Americans have always owned" military-grade weapons on rare, illegal occasions.

But none of those thoughts seem pertinent to this thread.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Hard to believe it used to be conservative and endorsed Barry Goldwater.

Wish the Tulsa Trib was still around!

[LaRueLaDue]

Yeah... Ever since the Trib disappeared, the Whirled headed south... Or more appropriately, to the hard left.