This short clip from CNBC explains why the AR-15 is so popular. It is relatively inexpensive. It is light. It doesn’t have much recoil. And it is very powerful.
The NRA would have us believe that any effort to ban it violates the Second Amendment. What they don’t admit is that such weapons were banned from 1994-2004 but the ban expired and was not renewed. The ban was supported by Presidents Reagan, Ford, and Carter.
The AR 15 and similar weapons are called sporting rifles but it hardly seems sporting to use such a powerful weapon to kill deer or squirrels or any other animal that prowls the woods.
It has become the favorite weapon of mass murderers.
Watch the video to see which corporations manufacture these weapons of death.
Make sure you are not invested in these funds, which are unwilling to withdraw their holdings in gun manufacturers.
Pension funds, especially teachers pensions and government workers funds, should divest their holdings in all these corporations. State pension funds could divest
Do not invest in weapons of war.
As it happens, some of the largest index funds are using their clout to demand that the gun manufacturers take affirmative steps, like producing so-called “smart guns,” which respond only to the fingerprint of their owner. But that’s not enough. It leaves millions of these killing machines on the loose.
How many more mass killings are necessary before we ban them and criminalize their possession?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The AR 15 was intended for the military, and it was not supposed to be used by civilians according the the son of the inventor, Eugene Stoner. The NRA and rabid conservatives got the guns unbanned in 1994, and along with the decline in access to mental health services, the rest is a sad history.http://time.com/4371452/orlando-shooting-ar-15-military-civilian-family/
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Remember Reagan. He got rid of mental health services.
https://www.salon.com/2013/09/29/ronald_reagans_shameful_legacy_violence_the_homeless_mental_illness/
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Some estimate that between a quarter and a third of prison inmates have untreated mental illness. What did we expect when we released the mentally ill to the streets without support?
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“How many more mass killings are necessary before we ban them and criminalize their possession?”
When someone with an AR-15, and also a grenade launcher, slips undetected into ALEC’s annual, private, secretive meetings where they plot how to subvert the U.S. Constitution and turn the United States into a kleptocracy, and that shooter blows away as many billionaires and millionaire members of the Kochtapus as possible before their private security army shoots the heavily armored shooter and ends the slaughter.
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AR15 is a 223 caliber semi automatic rifle and is not allowed to hunt deer and large game in many states. They require bigger ammunition for that. The military version is not allowed to the public, it’s different. The Army is using the M4, same ammo, but is looking into larger ammo as the old AK47 uses a 7.62; .308 caliber round and has better stopping power.
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Alpha,
What is the purpose of the AR 15?
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Hunters, real hunters, often fire one bullet at a target that is often hundreds of feet or years away because the wild game, a dear maybe, will run if it senses a human near them and hitting a moving target is much harder. Hunters (and military snipers) prefer a stationary target and once they fire, they have to cross rough terrain to reach the animal if it was killed. If it was wounded, they might end up spending hours following the blood trail to finish the animal off and then slaughter it for the meat. During that time, they usually aren’t firing off more rounds.
So, most hunters don’t need to have a weapon that spews rounds as fast as you can pull the trigger. I’ve read that an AR-15 is capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute but are limited to 90 up to 130 rounds when someone has to pull the trigger. Pulling the trigger for each round slows them down. The rate of fire goes up dramatically with a bump stock because you don’t have to pull the trigger. The bump-stock uses the recoil to fire the next round.
There is only one purpose for an AR-15. To fire into a crowd and hit as many people as possible because they are a crowd. An AR-15 is a lousy weapon for hunters to use on wild game.
“But the AR-15 is not ideal for the hunting and home-defense uses that the NRA’s Keene cited today. Though it can be used for hunting, the AR-15 isn’t really a hunting rifle. Its standard .223 caliber ammunition doesn’t offer much stopping power for anything other than small game. Hunters themselves find the rifle controversial, with some arguing AR-15-style rifles empower sloppy, ‘spray and pray’ hunters to waste ammunition. (The official Bushmaster XM15 manual lists the maximum effective rate of fire at 45 rounds per minute.)
As one hunter put it in the comments section of an article on americanhunter.org, “I served in the military and the M16A2/M4 was the weapon I used for 20 years. It is first and foremost designed as an assault weapon platform, no matter what the spin.
A hunter does not need a semi-automatic rifle to hunt, if he does he sucks, and should go play video games. I see more men running around the bush all cammo’d up with assault vests and face paint with tricked out AR’s. These are not hunters but wannabe weekend warriors.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/01/02/gun_control_ar_15_rifle_the_nra_claims_the_ar_15_rifle_is_for_hunting_and.html
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The purpose of any firearm, is to hurl projectiles at high speed. The weapon does not have a mind of its own, it is only a tool, that is subject to the direction of the operator.
Some firearms are designed for target shooting, and are used primarily for this purpose. Nevertheless, a target pistol can certainly hurl a projectile at a speed high enough to do serious damage to living tissue.
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What is the purpose of an AR 15? It is not a hunting rifle. You can’t conceal carry for self defense. What is its purpose?
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The AR15 is a firearm like any firearm. It is a long gun, and virtually impossible to conceal on an individual. I am not satisfied that it can serve any legitimate self-defense or sporting purpose (for a private citizen). Weapons of this nature have been banned for private use in the past.
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Thanks. Charles. I know what an AR 15 is. I have seen many photos and videos of an AR 15.
I asked you what its purpose is. I still don’t know. It surely is not for hunting. It is not for concealed carry. What is its purpose?
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What is the purpose of an AR-15?
There are only three purposes for an AR-15:
an expensive toy for men who never grow up and/or men who want-to-be warriors that will never be warriors. Once they buy an AR-15, along with camouflaged military-style clothing, tattoos that make them look tough, and darkening face paint, they think they automatically become an alpha male, a hot stud, to be admired and feared.
a weapon for mass murderers
both 1 & 2
Did you know that former military combat vets with a 100-percent PTSD rating by the VA are not allowed to own firearms of any kind?
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Lloyd,
Your last point. I did not know that. Neither does Trump.
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I belong to a PTSD support group at a local vet center that is part of the VA. These vet centers operate outside of the mainstream VA medical system, and focus on the mental health of combat vets and also act as support for the family of combat vets.
A few of the combat vets I know that have PTSD rated by the VA at 100 percent are not allowed to own firearms because that PTSD from combat makes them very dangerous.
When a combat vet is rated at 100-percent, they are almost always ready to fight at all times as their brain is flooded with cortisol to the extreme. Many POWs that came back are rated at 100-percent. The vet centers help them learn how to manage their PTSD so it does not manage them. Just walking down a street in a shopping area, they are assessing the possible risks all the time and planning how they will respond if something happens.
There were 21.8 million veterans of the U.S. armed forces as of 2014, according to the Census Bureau, approximately 10 percent of whom are women. To put that in context there are 319.2 million Americans, according to the bureau.
The United States has been at war almost nonstop since World War II.
The Korean War went from June 1950 to July 1953.
It is now widely accepted that the Vietnam War started on November 1, 1955, and lasted until April 30, 1975, which is roughly 20 years, or 19 years, 180 days to be precise.
The 1st Gulf War ran from August 1990 to February 1991
The Iraq War was from March 2003 to December 2011, but we still have troops in that region with no end in sight.
The war in Afghanistan from 2001 to present with no end in sight.
That is not the complete list. There are 14 conflicts on the complete list.
https://www.infoplease.com/timelines/major-military-operations-world-war-ii
A friend who served for 14 years and was in special forces says special forces operate annually in about 130 countries and most of those countries don’t even know our special forces troops came in, did their job, and left. These are called black ops and are not made public. My friend says he can’t talk about what he did on operations like those or he could go to a military prison for life.
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Here is a description of the purpose and functionality of the AR-15:
https://www.ar15goa.com/about/the-ar-15-rifle/
“AR” stands for “Armalite Rifle”, the firm that invented the rifle.
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Charles,
It is called a “sporting rifle.”
What is the sport?
Who or what is the target?
Is it for target practice or killing?
Killing what or whom?
How many more children will die before we once again ban this killing machine?
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Q It is called a “sporting rifle.”
What is the sport?
Who or what is the target?
Is it for target practice or killing?
Killing what or whom?
How many more children will die before we once again ban this killing machine? END Q
“Sport” has many definitions. Some consider hunting a sport. Some consider target shooting a sport, etc.
The target that a shooter shoots at, is up to the shooter. This could range from a paper “bull’s eye” to a clay pigeon, to a deer,etc.
Here again, a rifle is indifferent to the purpose in the mind of the operator(shooter). A rifle can be used for a number of purposes, including the taking of human and/or animal life.
Any firearm can be employed in the practice of shooting. Smoothbore muskets, pistols, rifles, etc. all hurl projectiles with lethal speed.
Do not ask me to predict the future. A child was killed and another one critically injured in Birmingham on Wednesday. The alleged perpetrator used a pistol. see
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/security-lax-birmingham-school-where-girl-was-shot-dead-superintendent-n854986
The school had metal detectors, but they were not in use on the day of the shooting. There have not been calls to ban pistols.
I personally, cannot see a legitimate sporting or self-defense use for a weapon like an AR-15. I have no objection to re-instating the ban on this type of weapon.
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Readers should note that THEY can divest as well… there are several mutual funds that do not include any corporations that manufacture weapons and/or increase the use of fossil fuels… they do not promise the same return on investment in the short run but can provide sufficient returns to keep up with inflation…
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