The gun shop owner is a bigger dipstick than the writer for filling the writer’s head with dreck about more stringent background checks and declining sales just because somebody “didn’t look right” to him.
And I’d be glad to have any rifle with recoil “like a bazooka” since the other name for that weapon is “recoilless rifle”. And yes, I have to admit my age by saying I actually have fired a bazooka. This writer needs a padded room and a diet of soft foods because I don’t think he’s actually capable of handling life in a world of sharp-edged reality.
And like many others have noted on this thread - the AR shoots like a .22, with a LOT more muzzle blast. So does an AK. They're meant to be pea shooters with knock down power so that they're more effective CQB weapons. I'm sure the author would think CQB has to do with the orientation of the poor souls who were just mass murdered.