Military-grade weapons should be kept out of our homes

By Ryan Brong
September 8, 2016

Military weapons should be kept to those using them in the armed forces. (Creative Commons)
Military weapons should be kept to those using them in the armed forces. (Creative Commons)

In the recent attacks in Orlando, a private security officer, Omer Mateen, pledged his allegiance to ISIS and proceeded to murder 49 people and injure 53 more at the Pulse Night Club. He wielded a legally purchased assault-style rifle and pistol.

The AR-15 is an American-made, military-grade automatic rifle. It was created in the 1950s as a replacement for the World War II model M-14 assault rifle to combat the then recently launched AK-47 in the Vietnam War.

Military weapons should be kept to those using them in the armed forces. (Creative Commons)
Military weapons should be kept to those using them in the armed forces. (Creative Commons)

Weapons such as these should not be available for purchase to citizens of the United States. A person does not need to own military-grade rifle whether it be for protection or just for fun. Measures need to be taken in order to stop the sale of heavy weapons such as the AR-15.

Alternatively, stricter holds need to be put on the access to any sort of firearm. According to CNN, the Director of the FBI stated that Pateen was twice run through the terror watch database, but was deemed, “not a threat.” A person who has been on the FBI’s radar for any sort of reason should not be allowed access to a firearm.

The 2nd Amendment states, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” I believe an American should be able to own a firearm whether it would be for hunting, protection or some other practical reasoning. However, I also believe a system that registers the amount of ammunition that is purchased should be put in place, as a way to spot potential red flags.

A gun cannot be fired without ammunition, and if someone, such as Omer Pateen, is purchasing 500 rounds of automatic rifle ammunition, questions should be asked immediately.

Another perspective on the issue of gun laws and safety is people’s protection from themselves. Though the mass shootings in Orlando, or places like Sandy Hook, San Bernardino and Aurora, Colorado, are tragic and need to be stopped, the majority of gun deaths in the United States comes from suicide.

According to Vox, 92 people die per day from guns. Of those 92, 30 of them are homicide, and about 58 of the deaths are suicide.

Vox states that from 2000-2013, guns were the cause of death to more Americans than AIDS, drugs, terrorism and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. There are 88.8 civilian-owned guns per 100 people in the United States. The numbers do not lie.

66 thoughts on “Military-grade weapons should be kept out of our homes”

  1. I would like to know if the author’s proctologist assisted in researching this article. It would appear so, given the steaming pile that it is.
    You really should understand that these “weapons of war”, as you refer to them, are what enables you to write tripe like this. Without the Second, the First is dead.
    If you are really interested in reducing crimes committed with guns, you should be looking to enforce laws already on the books, prosecuting criminals instead of making excuses for them and keeping those that commit violent crimes separated from society.

  2. The author of this article is nothing short of an idiot. Let’s put things into perspective.

    First, the AR type rifles sold to civilans are NOT fully automatic. They are SEMI-automatic. Which you can’t keep shooting just by holding the trigger down. You have to pull it every time for every shot.

    Second, the standard AR family of rifles fires what is essentially the .223 Remington round, which is among the SMALLEST of centerfire rifle rounds.

    It’s NOT a heavy caliber, not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, some states do not allow deer to be hunted with a .223 out of concerns that it’s not powerful enough to cleanly and reliably kill deer.

    Third, America is not about NEED. An American can have what he WANTS. If he can pay for it. If you want to live in a situation where people are restricted to only having what you NEED, then you should move to a communist country, one under which the communist principle “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” is the rule of the day. (Except for the leadership, they can have whatever they WANT, of course.)

    To the author: People like you who have no meaningful education or reasoning ability should be denied the opportunity to publish your idiotic maunderings where anybody can read them. Look in the mirror. An idiot looks back at you.

  3. This post is bad and you should feel bad. I am 87% more triggered and likely foing to fo ham because of this post.

    As previous posters have already pointed out, your history and tech knowledge is lacking. Try to do some research next time before shit-posting about how evil black rifles are.

  4. If any of you who feel the need to jump down the throat of someone’s opinion piece could show me your understanding of the drafting of the 2nd Amendment, its case law and further interpretation, then I could begin to respect your blanket, blind support of gun advocacy. Until then, I will consider your comments to be yet another expression of the NRA’s machine to belittle any opposition by name-calling and misrepresenting the truth of Constituonal Law.

  5. If you are going to make claims about the capability of a firearm, at least try to support your claim with a fact or two. In this case even an incorrect source with somewhat accurate information would be better than the drivel posted here.

  6. Any article that contains a statement regarding the “need” of someone to own something legal screams either immaturity or arrogance, and neither of them are terribly desirable. Beyond that, you screw up facts about the firearms you’re lambasting…facts 30 seconds of googling would correct…and then have the gall to cite a Vox article to support your stance. Another 30 seconds of googling would prevent the lowliest “journalist” to avoid citing Vox like the plague if your audience is anyone other than hipsters splayed out in a darkened living room passing a bong around and feeling righteous.

    Let me clue you into something that’ll REALLY help you in the future. It’s not easy and might be asking too much…but ANALYZE what you read. Be a cynic even for shit you hold near and dear to your heart. Case in point….the Vox article you cite features an ABC segment pitting a young kid (probably younger than yourself) whose experience with guns is air-soft and video games, gearing him up with equipment and a firearm he’s barely touched, and put him in a room with instructions to stop an active shooter. That “active shooter” is an expert police firearms instructor. Do you think “Hey, that’s like pitting the New England Patriots against a high school gym class…seems a little biased to me….” OR…do you swallow it hook, line and sinker because, HEY!…it supports your opinion! No need for any critical thought because it’s ABC News!!

    I could spend hours dismantling that dreadful article but now that you’ve learned how to analyze, I’ll leave that up to you. Critical thought…it’ll mess your head up more than bath salts, you just won’t strip naked and chew people’s faces off. Try it sometime!

    Everyone has an opinion. Those with an INFORMED opinion are much less likely to get the tarring and feathering you’re getting here by stepping up on your soap box so ill-prepared. If you look at gun forums, you will see the odd person spouting some pro-gun tidbit that’s flat-out false, and you know what? Other members quickly call him out on it. There is SO MUCH hard evidence that refutes gun control agendas we do not need buckets of bullshit to make our point. Over on your side of the fence, I see people from lowly forums up to the Oval Office parroting the gun-control line….the one that’s been debunked left and right and instead of having the dignity to acknowledge it, the line keeps getting force-fed to people in some vain hope doing so will make it fact like something out of Goebbels’ playbook.

    Anyway, I won’t say you NEED to not write articles on subjects you know nothing about, but you might try to avoid it in future.

  7. Author just needs this editorial to be picked up and quoted by other sources, who will never read your comments, and will just spread the lies. Hard to spread the communism far and wide when the people have firearms.

  8. The “author” of this piece of garbage “article” is one of the stupidest morons to ever live, and should be embarrassed beyond belief, crawl into a hole, and never show his face in public ever again.

    You got everything wrong, and your ignorance is more unbearable than nails on a chalk board. We are all so much dumber for having read it, I award you no points, and may not even God have mercy on your soul.

  9. Brong (lol)

    What a unique perspective that I’ve never heard before. You certainly are an independent thinker!

    I’m not going to argue with you; your mind has been made up for you. I would like to know one thing…

    Since this right is specifically listed in the constitution, what step should we take to curtail it? LEGAL steps mind you! What can we legally do, that would not violate the 2nd amendment, to ban possession of these weapons?

    …this ought to be good.

  10. Your ignorance is appalling but unfortunately Very Common.

    For starters the picture you started you start off with is a variant of the classic Thompson Machine gun, AKA; Tommy Gun, which hasn’t been produced in decades.

    The AR-15 is NOT an “Automatic Rife”. It is a Semi-Automatic rifle. If you cannot tell the differences between the two you shouldn’t say anything. It goes to show just how little you know about the subject.

    The AK-47 literally came out in 1947.
    The AR-15 more or less came into being around 1957, give or take. American involvement using the M16 rifle came around 7 years later. Like hell it was designed as a replacement for the M-14.
    I also notice that you aren’t calling for the civilian version of the M-14. As the M-14 shoots a Much More powerful cartridge than the AR-15 I wonder why you aren’t calling for ITS banning.

    What do you mean, “Heavy Weapons”? The cartridge the AR-15 is too weak to lawfully used to hunt most game animals. The 5.56 x 45 NATO /.223 Remington round is usually use in Varmint Hunting.

    Define Stricter. Go look up BATFE Form 4473. Fill it out and Know that lying on the Form is a Felony. Then remember you then have to pass a background check before being permitted to purchase ANY firearm.

    If you are talking about True Machine Guns, then Try to remember that lawful production Fully Automatic Firearms for Civilian use ENDED in May, 1986.
    Let me know if and when you can acquire about $25,000.00 to Lawfully Purchase an average condition M16.
    True Automatic Weapons are Title II Firearms.
    I Do NOT Believe You Have Clue One what it takes to Lawfully Purchase a Title II Weapon.
    Hint: It take a background check from the FBI before they give the OK to the BATFE. And that’s only One Step.

    You then go and talk about “automatic rifle ammunition.”
    You really have No Clue, do you?

    9×19, AKA 9mm Luger. It is about the most popular handgun cartridge in The World. It is also used in many various carbine rifles.
    Sten family of submachine guns
    Sterling submachine
    MP-5 family of submachine guns
    …And literally dozens of other firearms.

    .45 ACP. Used in the Tommy Gun in your picture as well many other handguns in America. Only the 9mm Luger is more popular for Lawful Handguns.
    Do you really want me to name all the machine guns besides the Tommy Gun that uses this caliber?

    .223 Remington. Bench Rest (extremely accurate) Shooting as well as varmints: Wood chucks, gophers, ground hogs, etc. Varmint hunters use this caliber by the Hundreds when they go shooting. It is Too Weak to be used as a deer cartridge.
    M-16 Family
    M242 family of light machine guns
    British SA80 family of rifles
    Standard NATO cartridge

    .308 Winchester and 30-06 Springfield.
    Those are about the two most popular calibers in North America for hunting game in general. I may be wrong, but I believe more deer and other game has been taken by those two cartridges than any other.
    If you’re such a genius of what should be banned purely because of caliber, I start you off with the M60 Machine gun and the M1914 BAR. I’ll let you finish off the list that easily goes into the dozens.

    Continue to talk about sheer ignorance, when the 1994 to 2004 Federal “Assault Gun Ban” Ended a certain Senator Kerry tried to renew it with a ban on certain calibers, just like you are arguing for. The average hunter noticed that his definition of what should be banned would have banned nearly Every Lawful rifle caliber in existence. He later had a photo op where he claimed he hunted geese. Nobody believed his claim for an instant. Is it any wonder why he didn’t win the presidency some time later?

    Oh, yeah: The .22 Rimfire. It is the most produced firearm cartridge in The Entire World. Billions of this caliber is made every year.
    And you want to ban it because it is used in the American 180 submachine gun.

    Next time around do some research. Your ignorance is almost a joke,

  11. It is clear the author of this “article” knows nothing of the history of the AR15 and he also blindly regurgitates meaningless statistics without any analysis. I hope he has a day job that he better not quit.

  12. Doctors kill 250,000 people a year through malpractice.

    ://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/03/researchers-medical-errors-now-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-united-states/

    Using your logic we should not only ban doctors but we should probably kill them to protect the rest of us. How can we do that if we don’t have any guns?

  13. Sorry dude…the 2A was not about hunting or target practice…

    Try this on for size…

    “A well educated electorate being necessary for a free state, the right to keep and own books shall not be infringed”

    Your first reaction as a screaming ass liberal is…well a book never killed anyone…

    OK…tell that to 6 and a half million Jews holding a copy of Mein Kampf in your hand…

    The second is about defending freedom, my freedom…your freedom to me a left leaning weinie…

    Get over it…Hillary wins and you decide, a collective you, to ban weapons, assault weapons…you will start the next civil war and it will not be pretty…go work on keeping the Obama administration for arming Mexican Cartels and killing hundreds, maybe thousands of innocents all in the name of foisting more gun control on the US…try that…or try better records keeping anbd keeping guns out of the hands of the insane or drug addled liberals…you do realize they are the bulk of mass shooters right…it is not conservatives…but the media would tell you thats a lie…dont take my word for it…look it up man…do some due diligence…

  14. Also, “heavy weapons”? You are aware that both the AR15 it’s ammo is quite light…aren’t you? Depending on the configuration an AR15 can weigh under 5 pounds. “Heavy weapons” is sort of a military slang phase for guns that are 50 bmg / 12.7 and up… The kind of stuff that is mounted to a vehicle of some sort, not the type of guns that a person can just carry around.

  15. You clearly don’t know anything about guns in general or the ar15 specifically. Let’s break this down:

    1. “Military grade”. The military does have a list of specifications for weapons they acquire from manufacturers. These specifications have little to do with the lethality of a firearm. They are generally about durability and reliability. That said, on the civilian side of things, many manufacturers produce firearms that are higher quality than milspec. Why? Because civilians are willing to pay more for higher end features. Again, these rarely have anything to do with lethality, which is generally determined by the caliber selected than anything else, which is why noting that something is “military grade” has little meaning if your intent is to scare readers.

    2. The M14 was issued in 1959…that’s 14 years after WWII ended. It was chambered in 7.62x51mm…meaning it was much more powerful than the M16 rifle which is only 5.56x45mm. in spite of what the media often suggests, 5.56 is actually one of the weakest lowest powered rifle calibers you can buy. There are hundreds of calibers that are more powerful and just a handful that are lower powered. In the grand scheme it’s a very LOW powered cartridge. Just wikipedia some rifle calibers and read the muzzle energy stats, they are out there for anyone to see.

    3. “A person does not need…” Really? Says who? You don’t NEED freedom of speech either. Can we get rid of that? In 1930 you could order a real machine gun by mail order. No background check, no nothing. How many people were killed by machine guns in 1930? Do you know? Hardly any. Perhaps accessiblility isn’t the problem. We already have a background check system that law abiding people put up with. Criminals just get guns on the black market or through theft. A background check system stops violent gunman about as effectively as a background check on buying meth would. Criminals would not comply.

    In early America a private citizen could legally own rifles, cannons, war ships, and any other implement of war they wanted to own. Did they have semi auto rifles? No, but you could conquer nations with what they COULD own. No group of guys armed just with AR15s are going to conquer anything…so in relative terms were are armed with much less capable weaponry.

    4. The military M16 is fully automatic (hold the trigger down and the weapon fires until the entire mag is empty). The AR15, which has never been issued to any military anywhere, is semi automatic (hold the trigger down and 1 round fires). Big difference, both functionally and legally, which is why the guns have different names.

    5. Ammo tracking is a non-effective means of control. First of all, you can make it yourself. Second, almost all law abiding shooters buy ammo in bulk to save money. On a price per round basis, a 1000 round case of 5.56 will cost less than buying individual 20 round boxes. I know you’re not part of the gun owning culture, but if you were you’d know this is EXCEPTIONALLY common. Damn near every gun owner in America buys in bulk…and you want a formal investigation to occur every time that happens? Have a couple million investigators laying around to handle that workload?

    6. “On the FBIs radar for any sort of reason…” Two issues with this. First, it’s an obvious way to enact back door total gun control. All the gov has to do is put everyone on their “radar” and boom, no more guns. Second, we have this thing called innocent until proven guilty. We cannot be deprived of property or Rights unless we’ve been found guilty by a jury of our peers. So unless we’re going to amend the Constitution, what you are proposing is illegal.

    7. People are killed by other people using guns. This is an unfortunate side effect of their existence, to be sure, but there are other ways to resolve that issue that don’t involve attacking law abiding citizens or their Rights. The left has LONG opposed punishing violent criminals to the fullest extent of the law, maybe we could start there. Early release, parole, lenient sentencing, etc. are all beloved by liberals. Any idea how many murderers were previously convicted of a violent crime? Google it sometime. More importantly, living in a free society is always dangerous on some level. Look at how many people die in traffic accidents. Freedom isn’t free…and that isn’t just about the troops in wars. It applies to ALL of us. If you put the entire population in a robot-controlled prison with solitary confinement for everyone you could eliminate ALL crime. Anything short of that is going to result in some violence. Those of us that have seen totalitarian regimes in action know that as expensive as freedom is, and the price is indeed very high, it’s still infinitely superior “living” in a system where government controls every aspect of your life, including your right to defend yourself.

    8. Suicide by gun is no reason to stop the law abiding from owning them. Japan has a higher suicide rate and zero guns. If you want to kill yourself, pills, bridges, car exhaust, knives etc. can all get it done. Even a total gun ban wouldn’t stop suicide, so it’s a non-factor in the debate…is it not?

  16. So much misinformation in this article. Back in my day “journalists” used to do research before publishing an article.

  17. The M-14 was not fielded during WWII. Military Assistance Command Vietnam was not established in the 1950s. The rifle used in Orlando was not an AR-15.

  18. Did you do any research when you wrote this article? The M14 wasn’t used in WWII. It was in service after 1959, 14 years after WWII was over. It was modeled after the M1 which was used in WWII but a lot of changes were made to get to the M14. One of the noticible changes was caliber. M1 carbine uses 30 carbine ammunition and the m14 uses 7.62×51 NATO ammunition. Big difference.

    Another thing. How can the AR15 (civilian version of M16) be a replacement for the M14 when they were basically designed at the same time?

  19. The “Author” of this document needs to do a little fact finding before making such baseless statements.
    Define “Military Grade” please.
    Is your Uncle Freds bolt action deer rifle in chambered in 30/06 “Military Grade”?
    Well it sure must be because up until the United States entered NATO the 30/06 was the standard military rifle round.
    Fact- The M-14 was NOT a WWII weapon, the M1 Garand was and it was chambered in 30/06- “Military Grade” right?
    The M14 was the successor to the M1 Garand and was utilized very briefly post Korea. It was chambered in 308 Winchester, which is the standard NATO rifle round.
    Uncle Freds bolt action deer rifle may very well be chambered in 308 Winchester, does that make it “Military Grade?”
    Fact of the matter since WWII rifle cartridges have become LESS powerful.

    You state in closing that the numbers do not lie, however you lie with your numbers.
    Rifles of any sort are used in very few homicides: https://www.quandl.com/data/FBI/WEAPONS11-US-Murders-by-Weapon-Type

    Fact- the majority of homicides are commited with handguns and out of those, they are typically criminal on criminal homicides.

    Another lie of your numbers- last year more than 47,000 people died from drug overdoses: http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p1218-drug-overdose.html

    33,000 deaths were attributed to firearms.

    Attempting to place blame of a humans actions on a mechanical object is an exercise in ignorance, something which the “Anti-Gun” crowd seems to excel at on a regular basis.
    If you are going to blame a firearm for killing somebody, then the next time you make a mathematical error- blame your pencil.
    The next time your kid fails a spelling test dont you dare say a single word to your child about his failure in spelling.
    Blame the pad of Big Chief paper….

  20. “The AR-15 is an American-made, military-grade automatic rifle. It was created in the 1950s as a replacement for the World War II model M-14 assault rifle to combat the then recently launched AK-47 in the Vietnam War.”

    The AR-15 is SEMI-AUTO (semi-autos date back as early as 1893) and was marketed to civilians ONLY starting in 1964. The M-16 is a military-grade automatic rifle. Civilians cannot buy or own an M-16.

    The WWII-era and Korean War-era rifle was the semi-auto M1 Garand and semi-auto M1 Carbine. They were replaced in the early 1960s by the semi-auto M-14 (same as the civilian version M1A1).

    Millions and millions of semi-auto M1 Garands and Carbines were no longer needed, so the U.S. Government sold them cheap… to U.S. citizens… via mail order.

    “Measures need to be taken in order to stop the sale of heavy weapons such as the AR-15.”

    The AR-15 is a lightweight, intermediate caliber rifle.

    “A person who has been on the FBI’s radar for any sort of reason should not be allowed access to a firearm.”

    As a general rule, that’s how it already works. I’ve never been on their radar and have never failed their background checks required to purchase a firearm, which is why they don’t have a problem with me owning three AR-15’s.

    “A gun cannot be fired without ammunition, and if someone, such as Omer Pateen, is purchasing 500 rounds of automatic rifle ammunition, questions should be asked immediately.”

    I compete in formal, sanctioned target matches (with an AR-15, just like everyone else). I easily go through 500 rounds in a month. I keep about 3,000 on hand. It’s much cheaper to buy in bulk.

    You fail on so many counts. Thanks for the humorous essay.

  21. You are clearly a moron that does not understand what the 2A is all about. It’s not about hunting, sportshooting or even self defense. It about removing a tyrannical govt. that is out of control. Just like the one we have now.
    This is why retards like you and politicians want to change that. As for your crap argument about violence, the Orlando shooting was done by a democrat Muslim and every shooting for the last 8 years has been done by a democrat and another Muslim in Paris killed way over 100 people with a truck. We going to ban those too?

  22. Liberals are idiots

    Chicago’s death toll is almost equal to that of both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined.

    There have been almost as many deaths in one American city as there have been in the two major wars carried out by the U.S. military this century.

    Chicago’s death toll from 2001–November, 26 2015 stands at 7,401. The combined total deaths during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2015: 4,815) and Operation Enduring Freedom/Afghanistan (2001-2015: 3,506), total 8,321.

    In a place that is the most restrictive on guns in the country……

  23. So the FBI, you know the Federal agency with the power to investigate, arrest, and bring formal charges against people for all sorts of crimes, investigated the shooter twice and decided he wasn’t a threat.

    What, exactly, do you want to change that would have altered that situation? Either the FBI has evidence to support criminal charges for an arrest and conviction or they do not.

    Or do you wish to grant the FBI the power to deny American citizens their civil liberties without due process of law?

    You do realize Islamic terrorists are using the internet to recruit and to plan, organize, and carry out attacks that are killing people, right?

    You don’t need a blog or really any access to the Internet (the internet didn’t exist when the first amendment was ratified after all) and well, if it saves just one life, right?

    I mean “the pen is mightier than the sword” after all.

    On firearms: why stop at rifles? Those people killed in the statistics you cited? Yeah the vast majority of them were killed by criminals using hand guns.

    The 1911 pistol (the M1911) was the official sidearm of the US military from 1911 until it was replaced with the Beretta 92 (M9) in the 1980’s. There are still 1911 pistols (or variants of this pistol) in service in the US Military.

    Is the 1911 a military-grade weapon that needs to be kept out of American homes?

    How about the Beretta M9?

    Glock is used by military units across the globe as well as some US Military units in some circumstances.

    Are Glock pistols military-grade weapons that need to be kept out of American homes?

    How about the Colt Single-Action-Army Revolver?

    The vast majority of criminals who use firearms to kill people use handguns.

    To be fair you did say “military grade rifles” so what about the M-14? That was a military-grade weapon, right? M-14’s are still in service with the US military.

    What about the M1 Garand? That was the military-grade service weapon of WWII, right?
    How about the M1 Carbine?
    How about bolt action rifles such as the Remington 700 or the M1903 Springfield?

    How about the Springfield Model 1863 .58-cal Musket? You can still buy muskets today and while they are antiquated by modern standards, they are still effective at hunting and killing large animals (including humans).

    All of those weapons were used by the US Military at one time or another. Should those be banned as well?

    Inquiring minds and what not.

  24. What is this “Need” you’re talking about? No where in the Bill of RIGHTS does it say anything about needs.

  25. It would be nice if these articles actually fact checked before publication. There is so much false information in this article that it is not even funny. Automatic, wrong, Heavy Weapon, Wrong. Buying 500 rounds, a red flag? Wrong, Keeping people that have not been convicted of a crime, Wrong, in order to take a right away, you have to have been judged and convicted of committing a crime which warrants such action. You can’t just arbitrarily take away constitutional rights!

  26. I think at the time the Constitution was written, they never Imagined 400 Million People owner weapons. The more weapons, the more percentages go up that someone is going to be killed period.
    Weapons of War are for War. Not for Fun. We have not examined the fact and Reality of millions of people living in close approximation of each other. The percentages of people with mental problems go up exponentially. So think about this. Some people want everyone to be able to have a gun, and 1 in Ten of your Neighbors could be mentally unstable and have a gun. Think about that.

  27. News flash, EVERY firearm is Military Grade, from the flintlock musket, percussion cap rifle, lever action rifle, revolver, etc. every firearm type was used by the military forces of the period.

  28. Cherry picking statistics and data. January-June 2015, there were 18,630 vehicle related deaths in the United States. Data came from National Safety Council 37,630 in that year alone. By the way, that amounts to 103 per day. (http://www.nsc.org/NewsDocuments/2015/6-month-fatality-increase.pdf)

    Also, this statement “The AR-15 is an American-made, military-grade automatic rifle. It was created in the 1950s as a replacement for the World War II model M-14 assault rifle to combat the then recently launched AK-47 in the Vietnam War.” Is so historically incorrect it isn’t even funny, its sad. Go back and read the Wikipedia page where you got this information again.

  29. I think you are thinking of the M16. An Ar15 is neither military issue or fully automatic. An Ar15 is made to look like an M16 (or M4). It is semi automatic just like any other rifle sold to the public. It is just black instead of wood, so the color secretly scares people. It uses the same (rather small) ammo as the M16 and the same magazines, but it is not a “heavy weapon”. Please do some research before making commentary again. Your lack of journalism is showing.

  30. Who are you to tell me what I should and should not have. It’s a free country. Golf Foxtrot Yankee. If you want to live in a country where only police and military have guns, go to Cuba, China, or north Korea.

  31. How does it feel to be such a beta-male Brong? It seems your feminist indoctrination is complete. I have over 30 ARs. Come and take them.

  32. You seem like a smart kid Ryan.

    Think real hard now. Do you know what the second amendment is REALLY about? Hint: It’s not hunting.

    Also, where does one purchase “automatic rifle ammunition”? All my boolitz make my rifles shoot semi auto 🙁

  33. WOW.. where to start when you have so much fail in 1 article….

    “military-grade automatic rifle”
    how about you define that uselessly vague made up term….

    “92 people die per day from guns. Of those 92, 30 of them are homicide, .”

    and how many involve “”military-grade automatic rifle”s????

    let me help you with that, LESS then 1%

    so, whats the problem again??

  34. Ms. Brong, while you are entitled you your opinion, if you want to make a valid argument, you should fact check your work. Pretty much every thing you said is historically inaccurate. it invalidates your argument and makes it very hard to take you serious. Your points are all emotionally driven and,frankly, silly.

  35. I understand and respect the fact that you’re allowed to have your opinions and share them with the world. Thousands of America’s finest have fought and died to preserve that right for you. I don’t agree with you, but I respect your right to share your opinions.

    What I can’t abide or respect is the promulgation of flagrant ignorance. Your post is rife with mistakes and misstatements that only serve to weaken your arguments and demonstrate your inability to research.

    (1) The AR-15 rifle available to the public today is not an automatic rifle. It is a semi-automatic rifle, which fires only one shot when the trigger is pulled. This is no different from the majority of other modern rifles or handguns sold to the public today.

    (2) The U.S. military rifles in WWII were the M1 Garand and the Thompson (shown in your illustration). The M14 was not used on the battlefields of WWII. The M1 was a semi-automatic 8 shot rifle, while the Thompson was a sub-machine gun firing the .45 caliber pistol cartridge.

    (3) The AR-15 is certainly not a “heavy weapon.” In its normal configuration, the AR-15 fires the .223 cartridge, which is a small and (arguably) under powered round. There are many other semi-automatic hunting/sporting rifles available to the public which fire substantially large and more powerful cartridges.

    (4) Application of the Bill of Rights is not a need-based system. For instance, imagine if the government could sidestep the First Amendment at will and declare that “Civilians don’t need to publish blogs on the Internet. The Internet didn’t exist at the time of the founding fathers and there is no way they could have foreseen the power and impact of instantaneous global communication. Ordinary people don’t need blogs. They may exercise their free speech by standing on streets and handing out printed handbills. Giving amateur publishers a wide audience has only served to foment hatred and unrest in the masses, as inaccurate and controversial misinformation spreads unchecked. Starting today, only professional journalists that have been vetted and licensed by the Government will be allowed to use electronic publishing. In order to ensure compliance with this new directive, we will also be suspending protections against unlawful search and seizure. Innocent people have nothing to fear from warrentless searches of the homes and persons.”

    Sounds scary, huh?

    Thankfully, the same laws that provide me with the rights to own and enjoy the firearms of my choice are the same ones that protect your rights to state your opinions. Neither of us are required to demonstrate a need.

    Keep enjoying your rights, and I will do the same.

  36. The author of this article apparently has a very poor understanding of firearms – how they operate (the AR-15, as sold to civilians, is not an automatic weapon), how they’re used (500 rounds of ammunition likely wouldn’t be enough for someone participating in a weekend shooting sports event like IDPA or USPSA), nor their history (the M14 was not a WWII model, as it was developed after the war as a replacement for the Garand). It’s unfortunate that someone with such a poor understanding of something would advocate for banning it.

    Finally, the idea that we can protect people from themselves is ludicrous. While suicide in the US is a problem, it ranks only #50 in suicide rate by country. A significant number of the countries with higher suicide rates ban civilian ownership of most, if not all, firearms. These facts fly in the face of the notion that banning a certain type of firearm would have any effect on suicide rates.

  37. Unfortunately, there are several factual errors in this opinion piece, as well as many objectionable arguments.

    First, let us point out the factual problems. The AR-15 is a semi-automatic version of the military M16. It is not fully automatic. That is an important distinction that is often misunderstood within discussions of gun control. Semi-automatic firearms have been in civilian hands for over a century; they are not new or unusual.

    The M14 (which was replaced by the M16) was not a World War II weapon. In fact, it was adopted by the Army after the Korean War. That is a minor point, but relevant in that the transition from the M14, which fires the 7.62X51mm cartridge (roughly equivalent to the .308 round), to the M16 (which uses a 5.56X45mm cartridge) meant the adoption of a shorter and lighter firearm that fired a smaller caliber cartridge. The author of this article describes the AR-15 as a “heavy weapon,” when in fact the M16 series of 5.56mm rifles is smaller in both size and caliber that its predecessors.

    While these technical nitpicks may seem minor, they indicate that the author is unfamiliar with the technology and facts behind a topic in which he attempts to offer public policy advice. Worse, he uses the technical errors to justify restrictions against American rights and privileges.

    This leads us to the significant problem of the author’s desire to restrict rights without due process–a fundamental element of our legal system. He writes that, “A person who has been on the FBI’s radar for any sort of reason should not be allowed access to a firearm.” Does the author support the denial of other rights based upon mere suspicion? For instance, why not just arrest terror suspects? Or why not suspend the 4th Amendment and simply search and seize the property from terror suspects at will? Those are not rhetorical comments, but sincere questions. If the author wants to pick and choose which rights he will infringe upon suspicion, how does he make that choice?

    Finally, the author discusses questioning people who purchase certain amounts of ammunition and a concern of reducing suicide–none of which have anything to do with AR-15s and military weapons. In fact, suicides are most often committed with handguns. Regarding ammunition, the author again reveals that he is not familiar with firearms or recreational shooting. He believes the purchase of 500 rounds should be a “red flag” to law enforcement. In fact, ammunition is frequently sold in 500 round and 1000 round packages. A standard ammo box of five hundred rounds of 5.56 cartridges is smaller than a cereal box (although, obviously it weighs more). Recreational shooters typically fire between 200-500 rounds at a single hour-long range visit.

    It is good to discuss concerns about firearms and public safety. But these discussions must be accurate in their technical characterizations of firearms, and must be open about how proposed restrictions meet American principles of law, due process, and rights.

  38. The M16 is the replacement for the M14. M16 is fully automatic and has a 3 round burst function. The AR-15 is a civilian designed platform that is semi automatic.

    Stop perpetuating LIES.

    The second amendment was placed to arm civilians as well as a regular infantry soldier. Please show me hunting or sport shooting in the entire amendment. It clearly states “the people” have a right to form a militia to bring security and maintain a free state.

    It’s written in plain English.

    I’m a competition shooter. So by your logic I should be interrogated every time I exercise my second amendment rights and purchase ammunition?

    Unreal, the twisted logic you follow.

    I guess you don’t care about the 96 people a day who are killed by cars. For something not designed to kill it sure does a better job of it than firearms.

  39. And the majority of deaths involving a firearm do NOT involve “military-style” firearms. I wonder why that was left out of this propaganda? We know that the majority of firearm related deaths involve handguns, why aren’t they going after handguns? The anti-guns strategy is to divide and conquer, they want to pit firearm owners against one another. Their goal is not just to outlaw “military-style” firearms, but all firearms. Firearm owners must stand united and realize what the proponents of gun control are doing.

  40. So much fail in one post.

    The M14 was not invented until after WWII. IT was not an assault rifle, but a main battle rifle (the primary difference is that it fired a high-power 30.06 cartridge not the intermediate powered assault rifle cartridge and yes, “assault rifles” are actually less powerful than most hunting rifles. It was not used in WWII

    The AR-15 was developed in the 1950’s–BEFORE Vietnam and the AK-47 wasn’t known at the time so it was not “in response to the AK-47.”

    You “gun deaths” numbers are misleading. According to the FBI, ALL rifles of ALL types, including AR-15s but also include bolt action, lever action, single shot, hunting, and target rifles account to only 248 deaths per year–about half that of blunt objects.
    https://www.quandl.com/data/FBI/WEAPONS11-US-Murders-by-Weapon-Type
    You are statistically more likely to be killed by a hammer or a baseball bat than an AR-15.

  41. I’m a cop. I have been for twenty years. I’m also a trained armorer, former SRT member, and CSI. I’m well- educated, including time in grad school. I’m intimately familiar with statistics on violent crime.

    Because of this background, I know for an absolute fact that the statistics Ryan Brong is using are meaningless. deceptive. He is using one set of numbers for an unrelated argument. He is LYING. As Benjamin Disraeli one said, “Lies, damn lies, and statistics!”

    In truth, so-called “military-grade weapons” (and no, what can be bought at the local gun shop is NOT “military grade”, Ryan!) account for less than 400 deaths per year….. including use by police.

    Regarding violent crime, government statistics show firearms as a factor in around 5% of violent crimes. Compare that with alcohol at a little over 40%. Which is REALLY more of a danger to society? Oh, and even the FBI recognizes that Ryan’s “military grade” weapons are statistically insignificant. Ryan, that means the use of those firearms is so low as to be almost unmeasurable. Go figure.

    In fact, drunk driving ALONE results in more deaths than all uses of all types of firearms. Add in the deaths resulting from automobile use not involving alcohol, and cars are far more dangerous than firearms.

    My job is to investigate crimes, most importantly crimes where people are injured or killed. A thorough understanding of both the mechanics and psychology/ sociology of crime are a REQUIREMENT for me. Because of this, I know you are wrong, Ryan. I’m still trying to figure out if you are just lacking knowledge and understanding, or if you have some nefarious purpose behind leaving the average citizen helpless.

  42. The AR-15 is not an automatic rifle. It is a semi-automatic rife. Your facts are completely false and misleading, so perhaps you should learn a little more about the topic before you publish non-sense.

    During the revolutionary war, a musket was military grade and every farmer had one.

  43. The AR-15 is not a ‘heavy weapon’, in fact it fires a round much smaller than most hunting rifles. The .223/5.56mm is not necessarily capable enough even for hunting, that round is also not limited in any way to that weapon platform.

    On another note, your stock photo is horribly inaccurate. The Thompson has not been in use in the US Army for decades.

  44. Wow. And I thought Huffpost, CNN, and MSLSD were the only networks that allowed the publishing of stories without fact-checking and verification.

  45. Guy That Can Google

    Google, dipshit. Top answer: …an AR-15, which is a semi-automatic rifle allowed for civilian ownership…It doesn’t. In fact, it doesn’t mean “automatic rifle” either, as many might think. AR actually stands for ArmaLite rifle, which is the company that first developed it in the 1950s.

    Get your facts straight.

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Ryan Brong

66 thoughts on “Military-grade weapons should be kept out of our homes”

  1. I would like to know if the author’s proctologist assisted in researching this article. It would appear so, given the steaming pile that it is.
    You really should understand that these “weapons of war”, as you refer to them, are what enables you to write tripe like this. Without the Second, the First is dead.
    If you are really interested in reducing crimes committed with guns, you should be looking to enforce laws already on the books, prosecuting criminals instead of making excuses for them and keeping those that commit violent crimes separated from society.

  2. The author of this article is nothing short of an idiot. Let’s put things into perspective.

    First, the AR type rifles sold to civilans are NOT fully automatic. They are SEMI-automatic. Which you can’t keep shooting just by holding the trigger down. You have to pull it every time for every shot.

    Second, the standard AR family of rifles fires what is essentially the .223 Remington round, which is among the SMALLEST of centerfire rifle rounds.

    It’s NOT a heavy caliber, not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, some states do not allow deer to be hunted with a .223 out of concerns that it’s not powerful enough to cleanly and reliably kill deer.

    Third, America is not about NEED. An American can have what he WANTS. If he can pay for it. If you want to live in a situation where people are restricted to only having what you NEED, then you should move to a communist country, one under which the communist principle “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” is the rule of the day. (Except for the leadership, they can have whatever they WANT, of course.)

    To the author: People like you who have no meaningful education or reasoning ability should be denied the opportunity to publish your idiotic maunderings where anybody can read them. Look in the mirror. An idiot looks back at you.

  3. This post is bad and you should feel bad. I am 87% more triggered and likely foing to fo ham because of this post.

    As previous posters have already pointed out, your history and tech knowledge is lacking. Try to do some research next time before shit-posting about how evil black rifles are.

  4. If any of you who feel the need to jump down the throat of someone’s opinion piece could show me your understanding of the drafting of the 2nd Amendment, its case law and further interpretation, then I could begin to respect your blanket, blind support of gun advocacy. Until then, I will consider your comments to be yet another expression of the NRA’s machine to belittle any opposition by name-calling and misrepresenting the truth of Constituonal Law.

  5. If you are going to make claims about the capability of a firearm, at least try to support your claim with a fact or two. In this case even an incorrect source with somewhat accurate information would be better than the drivel posted here.

  6. Any article that contains a statement regarding the “need” of someone to own something legal screams either immaturity or arrogance, and neither of them are terribly desirable. Beyond that, you screw up facts about the firearms you’re lambasting…facts 30 seconds of googling would correct…and then have the gall to cite a Vox article to support your stance. Another 30 seconds of googling would prevent the lowliest “journalist” to avoid citing Vox like the plague if your audience is anyone other than hipsters splayed out in a darkened living room passing a bong around and feeling righteous.

    Let me clue you into something that’ll REALLY help you in the future. It’s not easy and might be asking too much…but ANALYZE what you read. Be a cynic even for shit you hold near and dear to your heart. Case in point….the Vox article you cite features an ABC segment pitting a young kid (probably younger than yourself) whose experience with guns is air-soft and video games, gearing him up with equipment and a firearm he’s barely touched, and put him in a room with instructions to stop an active shooter. That “active shooter” is an expert police firearms instructor. Do you think “Hey, that’s like pitting the New England Patriots against a high school gym class…seems a little biased to me….” OR…do you swallow it hook, line and sinker because, HEY!…it supports your opinion! No need for any critical thought because it’s ABC News!!

    I could spend hours dismantling that dreadful article but now that you’ve learned how to analyze, I’ll leave that up to you. Critical thought…it’ll mess your head up more than bath salts, you just won’t strip naked and chew people’s faces off. Try it sometime!

    Everyone has an opinion. Those with an INFORMED opinion are much less likely to get the tarring and feathering you’re getting here by stepping up on your soap box so ill-prepared. If you look at gun forums, you will see the odd person spouting some pro-gun tidbit that’s flat-out false, and you know what? Other members quickly call him out on it. There is SO MUCH hard evidence that refutes gun control agendas we do not need buckets of bullshit to make our point. Over on your side of the fence, I see people from lowly forums up to the Oval Office parroting the gun-control line….the one that’s been debunked left and right and instead of having the dignity to acknowledge it, the line keeps getting force-fed to people in some vain hope doing so will make it fact like something out of Goebbels’ playbook.

    Anyway, I won’t say you NEED to not write articles on subjects you know nothing about, but you might try to avoid it in future.

  7. Author just needs this editorial to be picked up and quoted by other sources, who will never read your comments, and will just spread the lies. Hard to spread the communism far and wide when the people have firearms.

  8. The “author” of this piece of garbage “article” is one of the stupidest morons to ever live, and should be embarrassed beyond belief, crawl into a hole, and never show his face in public ever again.

    You got everything wrong, and your ignorance is more unbearable than nails on a chalk board. We are all so much dumber for having read it, I award you no points, and may not even God have mercy on your soul.

  9. Brong (lol)

    What a unique perspective that I’ve never heard before. You certainly are an independent thinker!

    I’m not going to argue with you; your mind has been made up for you. I would like to know one thing…

    Since this right is specifically listed in the constitution, what step should we take to curtail it? LEGAL steps mind you! What can we legally do, that would not violate the 2nd amendment, to ban possession of these weapons?

    …this ought to be good.

  10. Your ignorance is appalling but unfortunately Very Common.

    For starters the picture you started you start off with is a variant of the classic Thompson Machine gun, AKA; Tommy Gun, which hasn’t been produced in decades.

    The AR-15 is NOT an “Automatic Rife”. It is a Semi-Automatic rifle. If you cannot tell the differences between the two you shouldn’t say anything. It goes to show just how little you know about the subject.

    The AK-47 literally came out in 1947.
    The AR-15 more or less came into being around 1957, give or take. American involvement using the M16 rifle came around 7 years later. Like hell it was designed as a replacement for the M-14.
    I also notice that you aren’t calling for the civilian version of the M-14. As the M-14 shoots a Much More powerful cartridge than the AR-15 I wonder why you aren’t calling for ITS banning.

    What do you mean, “Heavy Weapons”? The cartridge the AR-15 is too weak to lawfully used to hunt most game animals. The 5.56 x 45 NATO /.223 Remington round is usually use in Varmint Hunting.

    Define Stricter. Go look up BATFE Form 4473. Fill it out and Know that lying on the Form is a Felony. Then remember you then have to pass a background check before being permitted to purchase ANY firearm.

    If you are talking about True Machine Guns, then Try to remember that lawful production Fully Automatic Firearms for Civilian use ENDED in May, 1986.
    Let me know if and when you can acquire about $25,000.00 to Lawfully Purchase an average condition M16.
    True Automatic Weapons are Title II Firearms.
    I Do NOT Believe You Have Clue One what it takes to Lawfully Purchase a Title II Weapon.
    Hint: It take a background check from the FBI before they give the OK to the BATFE. And that’s only One Step.

    You then go and talk about “automatic rifle ammunition.”
    You really have No Clue, do you?

    9×19, AKA 9mm Luger. It is about the most popular handgun cartridge in The World. It is also used in many various carbine rifles.
    Sten family of submachine guns
    Sterling submachine
    MP-5 family of submachine guns
    …And literally dozens of other firearms.

    .45 ACP. Used in the Tommy Gun in your picture as well many other handguns in America. Only the 9mm Luger is more popular for Lawful Handguns.
    Do you really want me to name all the machine guns besides the Tommy Gun that uses this caliber?

    .223 Remington. Bench Rest (extremely accurate) Shooting as well as varmints: Wood chucks, gophers, ground hogs, etc. Varmint hunters use this caliber by the Hundreds when they go shooting. It is Too Weak to be used as a deer cartridge.
    M-16 Family
    M242 family of light machine guns
    British SA80 family of rifles
    Standard NATO cartridge

    .308 Winchester and 30-06 Springfield.
    Those are about the two most popular calibers in North America for hunting game in general. I may be wrong, but I believe more deer and other game has been taken by those two cartridges than any other.
    If you’re such a genius of what should be banned purely because of caliber, I start you off with the M60 Machine gun and the M1914 BAR. I’ll let you finish off the list that easily goes into the dozens.

    Continue to talk about sheer ignorance, when the 1994 to 2004 Federal “Assault Gun Ban” Ended a certain Senator Kerry tried to renew it with a ban on certain calibers, just like you are arguing for. The average hunter noticed that his definition of what should be banned would have banned nearly Every Lawful rifle caliber in existence. He later had a photo op where he claimed he hunted geese. Nobody believed his claim for an instant. Is it any wonder why he didn’t win the presidency some time later?

    Oh, yeah: The .22 Rimfire. It is the most produced firearm cartridge in The Entire World. Billions of this caliber is made every year.
    And you want to ban it because it is used in the American 180 submachine gun.

    Next time around do some research. Your ignorance is almost a joke,

  11. It is clear the author of this “article” knows nothing of the history of the AR15 and he also blindly regurgitates meaningless statistics without any analysis. I hope he has a day job that he better not quit.

  12. Doctors kill 250,000 people a year through malpractice.

    ://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/03/researchers-medical-errors-now-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-united-states/

    Using your logic we should not only ban doctors but we should probably kill them to protect the rest of us. How can we do that if we don’t have any guns?

  13. Sorry dude…the 2A was not about hunting or target practice…

    Try this on for size…

    “A well educated electorate being necessary for a free state, the right to keep and own books shall not be infringed”

    Your first reaction as a screaming ass liberal is…well a book never killed anyone…

    OK…tell that to 6 and a half million Jews holding a copy of Mein Kampf in your hand…

    The second is about defending freedom, my freedom…your freedom to me a left leaning weinie…

    Get over it…Hillary wins and you decide, a collective you, to ban weapons, assault weapons…you will start the next civil war and it will not be pretty…go work on keeping the Obama administration for arming Mexican Cartels and killing hundreds, maybe thousands of innocents all in the name of foisting more gun control on the US…try that…or try better records keeping anbd keeping guns out of the hands of the insane or drug addled liberals…you do realize they are the bulk of mass shooters right…it is not conservatives…but the media would tell you thats a lie…dont take my word for it…look it up man…do some due diligence…

  14. Also, “heavy weapons”? You are aware that both the AR15 it’s ammo is quite light…aren’t you? Depending on the configuration an AR15 can weigh under 5 pounds. “Heavy weapons” is sort of a military slang phase for guns that are 50 bmg / 12.7 and up… The kind of stuff that is mounted to a vehicle of some sort, not the type of guns that a person can just carry around.

  15. You clearly don’t know anything about guns in general or the ar15 specifically. Let’s break this down:

    1. “Military grade”. The military does have a list of specifications for weapons they acquire from manufacturers. These specifications have little to do with the lethality of a firearm. They are generally about durability and reliability. That said, on the civilian side of things, many manufacturers produce firearms that are higher quality than milspec. Why? Because civilians are willing to pay more for higher end features. Again, these rarely have anything to do with lethality, which is generally determined by the caliber selected than anything else, which is why noting that something is “military grade” has little meaning if your intent is to scare readers.

    2. The M14 was issued in 1959…that’s 14 years after WWII ended. It was chambered in 7.62x51mm…meaning it was much more powerful than the M16 rifle which is only 5.56x45mm. in spite of what the media often suggests, 5.56 is actually one of the weakest lowest powered rifle calibers you can buy. There are hundreds of calibers that are more powerful and just a handful that are lower powered. In the grand scheme it’s a very LOW powered cartridge. Just wikipedia some rifle calibers and read the muzzle energy stats, they are out there for anyone to see.

    3. “A person does not need…” Really? Says who? You don’t NEED freedom of speech either. Can we get rid of that? In 1930 you could order a real machine gun by mail order. No background check, no nothing. How many people were killed by machine guns in 1930? Do you know? Hardly any. Perhaps accessiblility isn’t the problem. We already have a background check system that law abiding people put up with. Criminals just get guns on the black market or through theft. A background check system stops violent gunman about as effectively as a background check on buying meth would. Criminals would not comply.

    In early America a private citizen could legally own rifles, cannons, war ships, and any other implement of war they wanted to own. Did they have semi auto rifles? No, but you could conquer nations with what they COULD own. No group of guys armed just with AR15s are going to conquer anything…so in relative terms were are armed with much less capable weaponry.

    4. The military M16 is fully automatic (hold the trigger down and the weapon fires until the entire mag is empty). The AR15, which has never been issued to any military anywhere, is semi automatic (hold the trigger down and 1 round fires). Big difference, both functionally and legally, which is why the guns have different names.

    5. Ammo tracking is a non-effective means of control. First of all, you can make it yourself. Second, almost all law abiding shooters buy ammo in bulk to save money. On a price per round basis, a 1000 round case of 5.56 will cost less than buying individual 20 round boxes. I know you’re not part of the gun owning culture, but if you were you’d know this is EXCEPTIONALLY common. Damn near every gun owner in America buys in bulk…and you want a formal investigation to occur every time that happens? Have a couple million investigators laying around to handle that workload?

    6. “On the FBIs radar for any sort of reason…” Two issues with this. First, it’s an obvious way to enact back door total gun control. All the gov has to do is put everyone on their “radar” and boom, no more guns. Second, we have this thing called innocent until proven guilty. We cannot be deprived of property or Rights unless we’ve been found guilty by a jury of our peers. So unless we’re going to amend the Constitution, what you are proposing is illegal.

    7. People are killed by other people using guns. This is an unfortunate side effect of their existence, to be sure, but there are other ways to resolve that issue that don’t involve attacking law abiding citizens or their Rights. The left has LONG opposed punishing violent criminals to the fullest extent of the law, maybe we could start there. Early release, parole, lenient sentencing, etc. are all beloved by liberals. Any idea how many murderers were previously convicted of a violent crime? Google it sometime. More importantly, living in a free society is always dangerous on some level. Look at how many people die in traffic accidents. Freedom isn’t free…and that isn’t just about the troops in wars. It applies to ALL of us. If you put the entire population in a robot-controlled prison with solitary confinement for everyone you could eliminate ALL crime. Anything short of that is going to result in some violence. Those of us that have seen totalitarian regimes in action know that as expensive as freedom is, and the price is indeed very high, it’s still infinitely superior “living” in a system where government controls every aspect of your life, including your right to defend yourself.

    8. Suicide by gun is no reason to stop the law abiding from owning them. Japan has a higher suicide rate and zero guns. If you want to kill yourself, pills, bridges, car exhaust, knives etc. can all get it done. Even a total gun ban wouldn’t stop suicide, so it’s a non-factor in the debate…is it not?

  16. So much misinformation in this article. Back in my day “journalists” used to do research before publishing an article.

  17. The M-14 was not fielded during WWII. Military Assistance Command Vietnam was not established in the 1950s. The rifle used in Orlando was not an AR-15.

  18. Did you do any research when you wrote this article? The M14 wasn’t used in WWII. It was in service after 1959, 14 years after WWII was over. It was modeled after the M1 which was used in WWII but a lot of changes were made to get to the M14. One of the noticible changes was caliber. M1 carbine uses 30 carbine ammunition and the m14 uses 7.62×51 NATO ammunition. Big difference.

    Another thing. How can the AR15 (civilian version of M16) be a replacement for the M14 when they were basically designed at the same time?

  19. The “Author” of this document needs to do a little fact finding before making such baseless statements.
    Define “Military Grade” please.
    Is your Uncle Freds bolt action deer rifle in chambered in 30/06 “Military Grade”?
    Well it sure must be because up until the United States entered NATO the 30/06 was the standard military rifle round.
    Fact- The M-14 was NOT a WWII weapon, the M1 Garand was and it was chambered in 30/06- “Military Grade” right?
    The M14 was the successor to the M1 Garand and was utilized very briefly post Korea. It was chambered in 308 Winchester, which is the standard NATO rifle round.
    Uncle Freds bolt action deer rifle may very well be chambered in 308 Winchester, does that make it “Military Grade?”
    Fact of the matter since WWII rifle cartridges have become LESS powerful.

    You state in closing that the numbers do not lie, however you lie with your numbers.
    Rifles of any sort are used in very few homicides: https://www.quandl.com/data/FBI/WEAPONS11-US-Murders-by-Weapon-Type

    Fact- the majority of homicides are commited with handguns and out of those, they are typically criminal on criminal homicides.

    Another lie of your numbers- last year more than 47,000 people died from drug overdoses: http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p1218-drug-overdose.html

    33,000 deaths were attributed to firearms.

    Attempting to place blame of a humans actions on a mechanical object is an exercise in ignorance, something which the “Anti-Gun” crowd seems to excel at on a regular basis.
    If you are going to blame a firearm for killing somebody, then the next time you make a mathematical error- blame your pencil.
    The next time your kid fails a spelling test dont you dare say a single word to your child about his failure in spelling.
    Blame the pad of Big Chief paper….

  20. “The AR-15 is an American-made, military-grade automatic rifle. It was created in the 1950s as a replacement for the World War II model M-14 assault rifle to combat the then recently launched AK-47 in the Vietnam War.”

    The AR-15 is SEMI-AUTO (semi-autos date back as early as 1893) and was marketed to civilians ONLY starting in 1964. The M-16 is a military-grade automatic rifle. Civilians cannot buy or own an M-16.

    The WWII-era and Korean War-era rifle was the semi-auto M1 Garand and semi-auto M1 Carbine. They were replaced in the early 1960s by the semi-auto M-14 (same as the civilian version M1A1).

    Millions and millions of semi-auto M1 Garands and Carbines were no longer needed, so the U.S. Government sold them cheap… to U.S. citizens… via mail order.

    “Measures need to be taken in order to stop the sale of heavy weapons such as the AR-15.”

    The AR-15 is a lightweight, intermediate caliber rifle.

    “A person who has been on the FBI’s radar for any sort of reason should not be allowed access to a firearm.”

    As a general rule, that’s how it already works. I’ve never been on their radar and have never failed their background checks required to purchase a firearm, which is why they don’t have a problem with me owning three AR-15’s.

    “A gun cannot be fired without ammunition, and if someone, such as Omer Pateen, is purchasing 500 rounds of automatic rifle ammunition, questions should be asked immediately.”

    I compete in formal, sanctioned target matches (with an AR-15, just like everyone else). I easily go through 500 rounds in a month. I keep about 3,000 on hand. It’s much cheaper to buy in bulk.

    You fail on so many counts. Thanks for the humorous essay.

  21. You are clearly a moron that does not understand what the 2A is all about. It’s not about hunting, sportshooting or even self defense. It about removing a tyrannical govt. that is out of control. Just like the one we have now.
    This is why retards like you and politicians want to change that. As for your crap argument about violence, the Orlando shooting was done by a democrat Muslim and every shooting for the last 8 years has been done by a democrat and another Muslim in Paris killed way over 100 people with a truck. We going to ban those too?

  22. Liberals are idiots

    Chicago’s death toll is almost equal to that of both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined.

    There have been almost as many deaths in one American city as there have been in the two major wars carried out by the U.S. military this century.

    Chicago’s death toll from 2001–November, 26 2015 stands at 7,401. The combined total deaths during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2015: 4,815) and Operation Enduring Freedom/Afghanistan (2001-2015: 3,506), total 8,321.

    In a place that is the most restrictive on guns in the country……

  23. So the FBI, you know the Federal agency with the power to investigate, arrest, and bring formal charges against people for all sorts of crimes, investigated the shooter twice and decided he wasn’t a threat.

    What, exactly, do you want to change that would have altered that situation? Either the FBI has evidence to support criminal charges for an arrest and conviction or they do not.

    Or do you wish to grant the FBI the power to deny American citizens their civil liberties without due process of law?

    You do realize Islamic terrorists are using the internet to recruit and to plan, organize, and carry out attacks that are killing people, right?

    You don’t need a blog or really any access to the Internet (the internet didn’t exist when the first amendment was ratified after all) and well, if it saves just one life, right?

    I mean “the pen is mightier than the sword” after all.

    On firearms: why stop at rifles? Those people killed in the statistics you cited? Yeah the vast majority of them were killed by criminals using hand guns.

    The 1911 pistol (the M1911) was the official sidearm of the US military from 1911 until it was replaced with the Beretta 92 (M9) in the 1980’s. There are still 1911 pistols (or variants of this pistol) in service in the US Military.

    Is the 1911 a military-grade weapon that needs to be kept out of American homes?

    How about the Beretta M9?

    Glock is used by military units across the globe as well as some US Military units in some circumstances.

    Are Glock pistols military-grade weapons that need to be kept out of American homes?

    How about the Colt Single-Action-Army Revolver?

    The vast majority of criminals who use firearms to kill people use handguns.

    To be fair you did say “military grade rifles” so what about the M-14? That was a military-grade weapon, right? M-14’s are still in service with the US military.

    What about the M1 Garand? That was the military-grade service weapon of WWII, right?
    How about the M1 Carbine?
    How about bolt action rifles such as the Remington 700 or the M1903 Springfield?

    How about the Springfield Model 1863 .58-cal Musket? You can still buy muskets today and while they are antiquated by modern standards, they are still effective at hunting and killing large animals (including humans).

    All of those weapons were used by the US Military at one time or another. Should those be banned as well?

    Inquiring minds and what not.

  24. What is this “Need” you’re talking about? No where in the Bill of RIGHTS does it say anything about needs.

  25. It would be nice if these articles actually fact checked before publication. There is so much false information in this article that it is not even funny. Automatic, wrong, Heavy Weapon, Wrong. Buying 500 rounds, a red flag? Wrong, Keeping people that have not been convicted of a crime, Wrong, in order to take a right away, you have to have been judged and convicted of committing a crime which warrants such action. You can’t just arbitrarily take away constitutional rights!

  26. I think at the time the Constitution was written, they never Imagined 400 Million People owner weapons. The more weapons, the more percentages go up that someone is going to be killed period.
    Weapons of War are for War. Not for Fun. We have not examined the fact and Reality of millions of people living in close approximation of each other. The percentages of people with mental problems go up exponentially. So think about this. Some people want everyone to be able to have a gun, and 1 in Ten of your Neighbors could be mentally unstable and have a gun. Think about that.

  27. News flash, EVERY firearm is Military Grade, from the flintlock musket, percussion cap rifle, lever action rifle, revolver, etc. every firearm type was used by the military forces of the period.

  28. Cherry picking statistics and data. January-June 2015, there were 18,630 vehicle related deaths in the United States. Data came from National Safety Council 37,630 in that year alone. By the way, that amounts to 103 per day. (http://www.nsc.org/NewsDocuments/2015/6-month-fatality-increase.pdf)

    Also, this statement “The AR-15 is an American-made, military-grade automatic rifle. It was created in the 1950s as a replacement for the World War II model M-14 assault rifle to combat the then recently launched AK-47 in the Vietnam War.” Is so historically incorrect it isn’t even funny, its sad. Go back and read the Wikipedia page where you got this information again.

  29. I think you are thinking of the M16. An Ar15 is neither military issue or fully automatic. An Ar15 is made to look like an M16 (or M4). It is semi automatic just like any other rifle sold to the public. It is just black instead of wood, so the color secretly scares people. It uses the same (rather small) ammo as the M16 and the same magazines, but it is not a “heavy weapon”. Please do some research before making commentary again. Your lack of journalism is showing.

  30. Who are you to tell me what I should and should not have. It’s a free country. Golf Foxtrot Yankee. If you want to live in a country where only police and military have guns, go to Cuba, China, or north Korea.

  31. How does it feel to be such a beta-male Brong? It seems your feminist indoctrination is complete. I have over 30 ARs. Come and take them.

  32. You seem like a smart kid Ryan.

    Think real hard now. Do you know what the second amendment is REALLY about? Hint: It’s not hunting.

    Also, where does one purchase “automatic rifle ammunition”? All my boolitz make my rifles shoot semi auto 🙁

  33. WOW.. where to start when you have so much fail in 1 article….

    “military-grade automatic rifle”
    how about you define that uselessly vague made up term….

    “92 people die per day from guns. Of those 92, 30 of them are homicide, .”

    and how many involve “”military-grade automatic rifle”s????

    let me help you with that, LESS then 1%

    so, whats the problem again??

  34. Ms. Brong, while you are entitled you your opinion, if you want to make a valid argument, you should fact check your work. Pretty much every thing you said is historically inaccurate. it invalidates your argument and makes it very hard to take you serious. Your points are all emotionally driven and,frankly, silly.

  35. I understand and respect the fact that you’re allowed to have your opinions and share them with the world. Thousands of America’s finest have fought and died to preserve that right for you. I don’t agree with you, but I respect your right to share your opinions.

    What I can’t abide or respect is the promulgation of flagrant ignorance. Your post is rife with mistakes and misstatements that only serve to weaken your arguments and demonstrate your inability to research.

    (1) The AR-15 rifle available to the public today is not an automatic rifle. It is a semi-automatic rifle, which fires only one shot when the trigger is pulled. This is no different from the majority of other modern rifles or handguns sold to the public today.

    (2) The U.S. military rifles in WWII were the M1 Garand and the Thompson (shown in your illustration). The M14 was not used on the battlefields of WWII. The M1 was a semi-automatic 8 shot rifle, while the Thompson was a sub-machine gun firing the .45 caliber pistol cartridge.

    (3) The AR-15 is certainly not a “heavy weapon.” In its normal configuration, the AR-15 fires the .223 cartridge, which is a small and (arguably) under powered round. There are many other semi-automatic hunting/sporting rifles available to the public which fire substantially large and more powerful cartridges.

    (4) Application of the Bill of Rights is not a need-based system. For instance, imagine if the government could sidestep the First Amendment at will and declare that “Civilians don’t need to publish blogs on the Internet. The Internet didn’t exist at the time of the founding fathers and there is no way they could have foreseen the power and impact of instantaneous global communication. Ordinary people don’t need blogs. They may exercise their free speech by standing on streets and handing out printed handbills. Giving amateur publishers a wide audience has only served to foment hatred and unrest in the masses, as inaccurate and controversial misinformation spreads unchecked. Starting today, only professional journalists that have been vetted and licensed by the Government will be allowed to use electronic publishing. In order to ensure compliance with this new directive, we will also be suspending protections against unlawful search and seizure. Innocent people have nothing to fear from warrentless searches of the homes and persons.”

    Sounds scary, huh?

    Thankfully, the same laws that provide me with the rights to own and enjoy the firearms of my choice are the same ones that protect your rights to state your opinions. Neither of us are required to demonstrate a need.

    Keep enjoying your rights, and I will do the same.

  36. The author of this article apparently has a very poor understanding of firearms – how they operate (the AR-15, as sold to civilians, is not an automatic weapon), how they’re used (500 rounds of ammunition likely wouldn’t be enough for someone participating in a weekend shooting sports event like IDPA or USPSA), nor their history (the M14 was not a WWII model, as it was developed after the war as a replacement for the Garand). It’s unfortunate that someone with such a poor understanding of something would advocate for banning it.

    Finally, the idea that we can protect people from themselves is ludicrous. While suicide in the US is a problem, it ranks only #50 in suicide rate by country. A significant number of the countries with higher suicide rates ban civilian ownership of most, if not all, firearms. These facts fly in the face of the notion that banning a certain type of firearm would have any effect on suicide rates.

  37. Unfortunately, there are several factual errors in this opinion piece, as well as many objectionable arguments.

    First, let us point out the factual problems. The AR-15 is a semi-automatic version of the military M16. It is not fully automatic. That is an important distinction that is often misunderstood within discussions of gun control. Semi-automatic firearms have been in civilian hands for over a century; they are not new or unusual.

    The M14 (which was replaced by the M16) was not a World War II weapon. In fact, it was adopted by the Army after the Korean War. That is a minor point, but relevant in that the transition from the M14, which fires the 7.62X51mm cartridge (roughly equivalent to the .308 round), to the M16 (which uses a 5.56X45mm cartridge) meant the adoption of a shorter and lighter firearm that fired a smaller caliber cartridge. The author of this article describes the AR-15 as a “heavy weapon,” when in fact the M16 series of 5.56mm rifles is smaller in both size and caliber that its predecessors.

    While these technical nitpicks may seem minor, they indicate that the author is unfamiliar with the technology and facts behind a topic in which he attempts to offer public policy advice. Worse, he uses the technical errors to justify restrictions against American rights and privileges.

    This leads us to the significant problem of the author’s desire to restrict rights without due process–a fundamental element of our legal system. He writes that, “A person who has been on the FBI’s radar for any sort of reason should not be allowed access to a firearm.” Does the author support the denial of other rights based upon mere suspicion? For instance, why not just arrest terror suspects? Or why not suspend the 4th Amendment and simply search and seize the property from terror suspects at will? Those are not rhetorical comments, but sincere questions. If the author wants to pick and choose which rights he will infringe upon suspicion, how does he make that choice?

    Finally, the author discusses questioning people who purchase certain amounts of ammunition and a concern of reducing suicide–none of which have anything to do with AR-15s and military weapons. In fact, suicides are most often committed with handguns. Regarding ammunition, the author again reveals that he is not familiar with firearms or recreational shooting. He believes the purchase of 500 rounds should be a “red flag” to law enforcement. In fact, ammunition is frequently sold in 500 round and 1000 round packages. A standard ammo box of five hundred rounds of 5.56 cartridges is smaller than a cereal box (although, obviously it weighs more). Recreational shooters typically fire between 200-500 rounds at a single hour-long range visit.

    It is good to discuss concerns about firearms and public safety. But these discussions must be accurate in their technical characterizations of firearms, and must be open about how proposed restrictions meet American principles of law, due process, and rights.

  38. The M16 is the replacement for the M14. M16 is fully automatic and has a 3 round burst function. The AR-15 is a civilian designed platform that is semi automatic.

    Stop perpetuating LIES.

    The second amendment was placed to arm civilians as well as a regular infantry soldier. Please show me hunting or sport shooting in the entire amendment. It clearly states “the people” have a right to form a militia to bring security and maintain a free state.

    It’s written in plain English.

    I’m a competition shooter. So by your logic I should be interrogated every time I exercise my second amendment rights and purchase ammunition?

    Unreal, the twisted logic you follow.

    I guess you don’t care about the 96 people a day who are killed by cars. For something not designed to kill it sure does a better job of it than firearms.

  39. And the majority of deaths involving a firearm do NOT involve “military-style” firearms. I wonder why that was left out of this propaganda? We know that the majority of firearm related deaths involve handguns, why aren’t they going after handguns? The anti-guns strategy is to divide and conquer, they want to pit firearm owners against one another. Their goal is not just to outlaw “military-style” firearms, but all firearms. Firearm owners must stand united and realize what the proponents of gun control are doing.

  40. So much fail in one post.

    The M14 was not invented until after WWII. IT was not an assault rifle, but a main battle rifle (the primary difference is that it fired a high-power 30.06 cartridge not the intermediate powered assault rifle cartridge and yes, “assault rifles” are actually less powerful than most hunting rifles. It was not used in WWII

    The AR-15 was developed in the 1950’s–BEFORE Vietnam and the AK-47 wasn’t known at the time so it was not “in response to the AK-47.”

    You “gun deaths” numbers are misleading. According to the FBI, ALL rifles of ALL types, including AR-15s but also include bolt action, lever action, single shot, hunting, and target rifles account to only 248 deaths per year–about half that of blunt objects.
    https://www.quandl.com/data/FBI/WEAPONS11-US-Murders-by-Weapon-Type
    You are statistically more likely to be killed by a hammer or a baseball bat than an AR-15.

  41. I’m a cop. I have been for twenty years. I’m also a trained armorer, former SRT member, and CSI. I’m well- educated, including time in grad school. I’m intimately familiar with statistics on violent crime.

    Because of this background, I know for an absolute fact that the statistics Ryan Brong is using are meaningless. deceptive. He is using one set of numbers for an unrelated argument. He is LYING. As Benjamin Disraeli one said, “Lies, damn lies, and statistics!”

    In truth, so-called “military-grade weapons” (and no, what can be bought at the local gun shop is NOT “military grade”, Ryan!) account for less than 400 deaths per year….. including use by police.

    Regarding violent crime, government statistics show firearms as a factor in around 5% of violent crimes. Compare that with alcohol at a little over 40%. Which is REALLY more of a danger to society? Oh, and even the FBI recognizes that Ryan’s “military grade” weapons are statistically insignificant. Ryan, that means the use of those firearms is so low as to be almost unmeasurable. Go figure.

    In fact, drunk driving ALONE results in more deaths than all uses of all types of firearms. Add in the deaths resulting from automobile use not involving alcohol, and cars are far more dangerous than firearms.

    My job is to investigate crimes, most importantly crimes where people are injured or killed. A thorough understanding of both the mechanics and psychology/ sociology of crime are a REQUIREMENT for me. Because of this, I know you are wrong, Ryan. I’m still trying to figure out if you are just lacking knowledge and understanding, or if you have some nefarious purpose behind leaving the average citizen helpless.

  42. The AR-15 is not an automatic rifle. It is a semi-automatic rife. Your facts are completely false and misleading, so perhaps you should learn a little more about the topic before you publish non-sense.

    During the revolutionary war, a musket was military grade and every farmer had one.

  43. The AR-15 is not a ‘heavy weapon’, in fact it fires a round much smaller than most hunting rifles. The .223/5.56mm is not necessarily capable enough even for hunting, that round is also not limited in any way to that weapon platform.

    On another note, your stock photo is horribly inaccurate. The Thompson has not been in use in the US Army for decades.

  44. Wow. And I thought Huffpost, CNN, and MSLSD were the only networks that allowed the publishing of stories without fact-checking and verification.

  45. Guy That Can Google

    Google, dipshit. Top answer: …an AR-15, which is a semi-automatic rifle allowed for civilian ownership…It doesn’t. In fact, it doesn’t mean “automatic rifle” either, as many might think. AR actually stands for ArmaLite rifle, which is the company that first developed it in the 1950s.

    Get your facts straight.

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