Current estimates put the number of AR-15s owned by Americans at 19.8 million. In comparison, the entire US military has 4.5 million small arms. If ARs were only for "shooting a bunch of people" we'd all be dead by now.
Of course, the most popular rifle in America is used primarily for recreational & competitive shooting, hunting, & home defense. The modular nature of the AR makes it endlessly customizable & the light weight combined with the low recoil impulse makes it very controllable.
ARs are also the preferred home defense choice for many women and physically-handicapped shooters because of its light weight and reduced recoil. freebeacon.com/issues/female-…
ARs have been used in high-profile mass shootings but overall they are rarely used in murders. All rifles, of which ARs are only a subset, have been used in an average of 315 murders over the past 5 years, according to the FBI. That's fewer than knives, blunt objects, and fists.
Here's the NSSF estimate for ARs and similar rifles which they call modern sporting rifles: nssf.org/nssf-releases-…
Here's the most recent Small Arms Survey on the number of firearms owned by the US military. (The entire world's militaries combined only have about 22.7 million small arms. So, Americans own nearly as many ARs as the world's militaries own small arms.) freebeacon.com/culture/report…
Here's the FBI's most recent Uniform Crime Report detailing murder weapons: ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u…
A lot of things people say about the AR-15 simply aren't true. Most talking points have been repeated for decades (the AR was originally designed in 1956) and are easily debunked. But, like much of the gun debate in America, discussion on ARs is completely stagnant.
If you have interest in reading about more than just tired retread arguments about guns in America, you should sign up for my newsletter over at The Reload. It's focused on sober, serious firearms reporting and analysis: thereload.com/free-newslette…

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More from @StephenGutowski

24 Apr
It's Saturday and I'm heading to three places today. Can anyone guess what those three places are?
First stop, as pretty much everyone guessed, is Wawa!
Today is gonna be a good day, folks.
Read 13 tweets
23 Apr
New: Gun Group Files Federal Suit Against Tennessee Over Gun Carry Restrictions thereload.com/gun-group-file…
This is the third in a series of lawsuits by @gunpolicy focused on overturning laws baring 18-to-20-year-olds from carrying guns for self-defense. They also filed cases in California and Pennsylvania against similar laws.
The new suit is part of a broader push by gun-rights groups to stock up the federal courts with cases in order to provide the Supreme Court with a smorgasbord of gun cases to choose from. The groups want SCOTUS to expound on Second Amendment protections. thereload.com/gun-group-file…
Read 6 tweets
12 Apr
There's absolutely nothing illegal about this, Greg. Are you saying there should be?
Attacking gun rights to own the libs...
I don't know if Lt. Nazario had a ccw permit but in Virginia you can carry a gun openly or in a compartment in your car without a permit. The cops ran the gun to determine it wasn't stolen & did not charge Lt. Nazario with any crimes, let alone a gun crime vsp.virginia.gov/Firearms_Trans…
Read 7 tweets
8 Apr
It would be cool if the Flyers could beat the Islanders tonight after they just bought some expensive rentals. I would like that.
It would also make @BrentScher sad which is always a good thing.
Well, the Flyers are down 2 goals already and just took a 5-minute major. So, things are going great.
Read 7 tweets
7 Apr
LaPierre keeps going beyond what was asked in the questions and the extra bits keep getting struck. The judge has told him several times things will move faster if he stops doing that.
LaPierre just gave a long unprompted explanation for why he got free hunting trips from a show called Under Wild Skies. The judge told him not to do it again and complained about having to keep telling him only to answer the questions asked by the lawyers.
This happened occasionally with the other witnesses but LaPierre seems to want to try and add explanations to every yes or no question and just isn't listening to warnings from the judge about not doing that. His own lawyers asked him to stop and are talking to him now in recess.
Read 4 tweets
7 Apr
Wayne LaPierre just testified that he does not send any texts or emails. None.
He sometimes reads emails and texts but doesn't send any. He says he's "old fashioned."
LaPierre says he mainly reviews documents on paper instead of digitally.
Read 4 tweets

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