Debunking EVERY AR-15 Myth

You read that correctly. This will be quite an undertaking....

If you are like me, it drives you crazy when you see people attempting to push a gun-control agenda without knowing any actual facts about firearms. I'm seeing A LOT of false information on social media and the news. Some of this is intentional to push an agenda, but I'm also seeing a lot of people sharing fake information about AR-15's due to their lack of knowledge on the subject.

I've written about this before, but this time is different. This time I'll do my best to debunk ALL of the myths you may have heard about the AR-15. In a world where people get their political information from memes on Facebook, I will do my best to bring you the truth about America's most popular rifle.

Here are the most popular myths about the AR-15 rifle:

• AR-15's are automatic weapons: False
• Despite what the media "talking heads" are saying, an AR-15 is a semi-automatic firearm. One trigger pull = one bullet. This is the same action used on most handguns, but you don't hear about "fully-automatic pistols" after a gang shooting. AR-15 are perceived to be fully-automatic because of their military twin, the M4 carbine. 

• The "AR" in AR-15 stands for Assault Rifle or Automatic Rifle: False
• The name "AR-15" stands for ArmaLite Rifle model 15. It is an unfortunate acronym. 

• Fully-automatic weapons are easy to obtain: False
• Fully-automatic firearms are very highly-regulated. It requires a long and tedious background check, expensive fees, a long wait time, and you must present a good reason for owning these guns. Plus, if you manage to survive this process and obtain your Class 3 weapons license, you still have to purchase the fully-automatic guns, which can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000 each.

• A "bump stock" converts a semi-automatic gun into "fully-automatic": False

• A bump stock provides a way to fire a semi-automatic rifle very quickly. It still doesn't match the rate-of-fire of a fully-automatic weapon, nor does it change the internal components of an AR-15. The gun is still technically a classified semi-auto firearm if it has a bump stock attached. Regardless, a bump stock only allows you to take advantage of a firing technique, a technique which can be utilized without using any kind of stock-attachment device. 

• Bump-stock regulation would've prevented deaths in Las Vegas: Unknown
• This one is tricky. First off, most people didn't know the bump stock was even a thing until the shooting, so it's not likely regulation would have existed in the first place. The people that did know about bump stocks were firearm enthusiasts that saw these stocks as range toys with no real purpose other than wasting expensive ammo quickly. I stand by what I've always said about these kinds of things: Just because you regulate something, doesn't mean criminals won't obtain it.

• An AR-15 uses a more lethal round than other weapons: False
• The AR-15 is chambered in .223 Remington (5.56 NATO). For those who don't know, this is not a particularly large or powerful round in the world of firearms. While this round is used frequently for hunting, it's used more for small game, and is not usually the preferred round to hunt anything larger than deer. As far as humans are concerned, a handgun round can be proven to be just as fatal, if not more, than that of an AR-15 due to the diameter of a handgun bullet being larger on average.
• There have been some news outlets discussing the "lethal velocity" of this round and how the .223 round is more dangerous than a handgun because of the speed of the bullet. While it's true that a .223 round moves quicker than a round like a 9mm from a handgun, this is no indication whether or not the wound caused by it will be greater. Also, to think that the difference between 1,000 ft/s vs. 2,500 ft/s makes any difference in people fleeing a shooter is ridiculous...unless you can run over 1,000 feet per second.

• A weapon suppressor will make a shooter invisible to police/bystanders: False

• Firearm suppressors do not make the weapon completely silent, despite what you hear in the media or see in Hollywood movies. Unless a shooter uses a .22 Long Rifle with sub-sonic ammunition, bullets being fired still make a very loud crack even with the suppressor attached ESPECIALLY using a .223 caliber AR-15. The noise a gun makes while using a suppressor is roughly about the same decibel level as a jackhammer or a jet take-off. This is an argument used in Congress in an attempt to prevent the Hearing Protection Act from passing.
• *It's worth mentioning that YouTube videos do not represent my point very well. Due to the nature of audio recording equipment, loud noises are often distorted. While it may sound like a gun's sound is drastically deadened by using a suppressor in a video, this is not the case in real life. Here's a video showing an AR-15 firing with and without a suppressor. As you can see, the rifle still produces up to 140 decibels with a suppressor, which equivalent to the sound of a jet engine.

• A 10-round magazine restriction will reduce injuries if a shooting occurs: Unproven
• Probably not. Banning large magazines would not prevent the shooter from illegally purchasing larger ones, as seen with shootings in the past. Especially since the advent of 3D printing. A large magazine ban is nothing more than a "feel good" law that has never been proven to reduce crime or the number of fatalities during an active shooting.

• AR-15s are used in most mass shootings: False
• Not even partially true. According to FBI statistics, a vast majority of mass shootings (defined as shootings that take the lives of 4 or more people) are committed with handguns. Currently, less than 1% of mass shootings occur with an "assault-style" weapon.

• The AR-15 is a military-grade weapon: False
• While it may look similar the military's M4 carbine or M16 rifle, the AR-15 does not have the ability to fire in burst or fully-automatic. This is a HUGE difference, as fully-automatic weapons are highly-regulated for civilians. 

• A majority of citizens want stronger background checks: Mixed
• It's true that most citizens, even gun owners, want the current background check system strengthened. Legislation has even been pushed by Republicans to strengthen this system, but was blocked by House Democrats because it didn't include whats called "universal background checks". This is a loosely defined term that usually means background checks should be performed EVERY time a gun changes hands, even when someone is borrowing a gun from a friend. While this may sound benign to most people, universal background checks would also allow the government to possess a list of all firearms and the people who own them. Most gun-rights advocates do not approve of this as they see it as a violation of privacy and the first step toward gun confiscation. 

• The Trump Admin. made it easier for mentally-ill people to get guns: Very False
• This is nonsense. The Trump administration rolled-back an Obama-era decision to strip gun rights from people who let someone else handle their finances. Yes, you read that correctly. If you let someone handle your finances (due to inability such as age), you lose your 2nd Amendment rights. This was a last-ditch effort by Obama to remove guns from households. And it's a little offensive to consider someone who may need financial assistance due to age as "mentally-ill."
• "But he wants people on the TERROR WATCH LIST to own guns!" - again, you are mistaken. The legislation that would've prevented people who are on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms was blocked by the Republicans because there was no due process clause in the bill to remove your name if you were accidentally put on this list. Americans have the right to due process. No bill should ever pass without it. 

• The CDC is blocked from conducting gun research: False

• While it's true that the government isn't allowed to subsidize the CDC research on firearm-related crime, the CDC is not barred from doing so at it's own expense.
• The CDC conducted research on firearm related violence in 2013 (at the request of then-president, Barrack Obama) in which the results found that guns are used for legal self defense anywhere from 500,000 to 3,000,000 times annually. The reason for the huge variable is due to the lack of reporting of a crime that didn't occur due to the brandishing of a firearm. Here is the CDC study. This didn't make any headlines as it did not fit the gun-control agenda of the political party in charge at the time.
• *UPDATE* - A new study from 1995 was just released by the CDC this week called "Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun." This study revealed that guns are used in self-defense 2.2 - 2.5 million times each year. You can read the study in its entirety HERE. The estimations on defensive gun uses can be found on page 164. 

• School shootings are more prevalent than in the past: False
• While school shootings may get more coverage in the news today than in the past, studies show that the number of shootings that occur in schools have actually declined over the years. Overall schools are much safer than they were in the 1990's according to a recent study. 

• Nobody uses an AR-15 for hunting: Very False
• AR-15s are one of the most common hunting rifles in the nation. It is used by millions of hunters every year for many different animals including: 

• Deer (maximum size animal for the standard .223 round)
• Wild boar 
• Coyote
• Jackrabbit
• Coypu/Nutria
• Feral goats (yes these are real)
• Fox
• Raccoon
• Tyrannical governments
• and more! 
• Most states have a limit to the number of cartridges you can have in your gun at a time when hunting certain game (when hunting deer, most states limit you to no more than three rounds of ammunition in the gun at a time), but most of the game on this list are considered nuisance animals and hunting them is much less restrictive.
• Read more about the AR-15s hunting uses HERE.

• Gun Shows allow criminals to avoid background checks: False
• I've already covered this in length here. In short, the "Gun Show loophole" is a myth. Most of the sellers at gun shows are certified dealers who have to submit a background check on every firearm they sell. If you are selling a privately-owned gun as an individual to an individual transfer, no background check is required, but the gun shows are not responsible for this kind of firearm sale - as it could happen the same way anywhere in the U.S. and is not specific to only gun shows. There is also no evidence that a "gun show loophole" is how gangs in cities are acquiring their weaponry, despite what Obama said in his CNN Town Hall speech. 

• The "Assault Weapon Ban of 1994" saw a reduction in firearm crime: Mostly False
• According to FBI statistics, gun crime, as a whole, has been declining for the last 20 years. So technically, gun crime did decrease for the 10 years that the Assault Weapons ban of 1994 was in effect. However, the bill was allowed to sunset because there was not enough evidence of the bill's effect on gun crime. Since the bill expired, gun crime has continued to decrease - even with "assault style" weapons now available to purchase.

• Australia banned guns and there hasn't been a mass shooting since: 
  True, but misleading
• Australia implemented what was called a "mandatory gun buyback program" in the late 1990's after the Port Arthur shooting. This was essentially a ban on most commonly-used firearms. While gun control advocates see the result of the buyback as a strong victory, vital information is often overlooked. Gun violence in Australia was on a decline long before the buyback program was initiated, and continues to decrease at about the same rate after the implementation of the buyback. Just like with the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 in the United States, there is little evidence that proves that the buyback actually had any effect on the crime rate. Believe it or not, since the buyback, the number of privately-held firearms in Australia has increased. Source can be found HERE.

• The United Kingdom banned guns and they have few gun deaths:  
  True, but misleading
• Again, this is true, but the violent crime rate is actually higher in the United Kingdom than in the United States. In Spring of 2018, London's murder rate actually surpassed that of New York City's. Now the British are cracking down on knives with the hope of curbing the skyrocketing violence rate. It's also worth mentioning that most of the burglaries in the UK are what is called "hot burglaries," meaning that the homeowners are actually present when the crime takes place. With gun and knife laws so strict, there is very little the average British citizen can do to legally defend his/herself. 

• 30,000 people die every year in the U.S. due to guns: 
  True, but misleading
• This is once again true, but what isn't said is that two-thirds of those deaths are suicides. This number also includes lawful shootings by police and self defense shootings by civilians. Would banning firearms decrease the number of suicides? It's hard to tell. If you look at Japan - citizens have virtually no access to guns, but have a higher suicide rate than the United States. 

• The 2nd Amendment only applies to military or "militia": Very False
• The Amendment begins with the words "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State..." - and at the time the Second Amendment was written, the citizens were the militia. This is why the amendment goes on to state; "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Many gun control advocates say that the Founding Fathers didn't intend to give citizens the power to possess the weapons of the military, but their quotes show to the contrary:
• “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined…”
  – George Washington, First Annual Address, to both House of Congress, January 8, 1790

• “That no man should scruple, or hesitate a moment, to use arms in defence of so valuable a blessing, on which all the good and evil of life depends, is clearly my opinion.”
  - George Washington, letter to George Mason April 5th 1769

• “And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms; or to raise standing armies, unless necessary for the defense of the United States, or of some one or more of them; or to prevent the people from petitioning, in a peaceable and orderly manner, the federal legislature, for a redress of grievances; or to subject the people to unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, papers or possessions.”
  - George Washington, Debates of the Massachusetts Convention of February 6, 1788

• “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent on others for essential, particularly for military, supplies.”
  - John Adams, speech to US Congress January 8, 1790

• “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
  – Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776

• “What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms.”
  – Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, December 20, 1787

• “The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
  – Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776

• “The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”
  – Thomas Jefferson, letter to to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824

• “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”
  -Benjamin Franklin

• “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
  – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

• “To disarm the people…[i]s the most effectual way to enslave them.”
  – George Mason, referencing advice given to the British Parliament by Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, June 14, 1788

• “I ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.”
  – George Mason, Address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4, 1788

• “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops.”
  – Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787

• And many more...

• After reading this, do you believe the Founding Fathers were ever in question about what the Second Amendment actually meant? 

• The Founding Fathers didn't foresee guns like the AR-15: Very False
• The Founding Father's weren't so nearsighted to think that technology, especially wartime technology, wouldn't change throughout the years. This is why the Freedom of Speech carries over to modern technology like your smartphone.
• Weapons with a high-round capacity and rate of fire existed at the time the 2nd Amendment was ratified. Here are some names to research: Giradoni rifle, Belton flintlock rifle, pepperbox revolver, the Puckle gun. ALL of these weapons had high ammo capacity and could fire in quick succession, similar a modern-day semi-auto rifle. To top it off, our Founding Fathers desired these guns, wanting to arm troops with them. Unfortunately, they were just too expensive.

• Nobody uses an AR-15 for home defense: False
• If you pay attention to the news you know that this is false. While it may not be reported often, the AR-15 is actually a very popular home defense weapon - especially with women. The recoil is lighter than a shotgun and the gun can be maneuvered easier than other long guns. It also has better sight options that a normal handgun. Picture this: You wake up to a crashing sound downstairs. Do you know how many intruders there are? Will you be holding a flashlight with your pistol? These questions are important and an AR-15 is a perfect answer for this. Regardless, good training is always recommended before using a gun like this for home defense. Safe storage of an AR, just like any gun, is most important of all.

• The NRA only protects the interests of big gun companies: False
• The NRA also lobbies to protect the interests of its 5 million members. The NRA is responsible for funding more gun safety classes than all other gun organizations combined. Unlike large lobbying groups like Planned Parenthood, the NRA does not accept any government funding and is completely membership-run. 
• EDIT: NRA membership has surpassed 6 million members as of 5/28/18.

• The media knows what they're talking about: Very False
• I'm very upset by what I'm seeing in the news about guns and gun control. Almost every story or article that I read about guns is filled to the brim with inaccuracies and false information. Here are just a couple examples of where the media gets it VERY wrong.
• CNN recently made an animation titled "How Does A Bump Stock Work?". First off, a bump stock wasn't even included on the gun in the animation. Also, the 3D-modeled gun in the video had a grenade launcher attached to it - which is VERY illegal. Watch the video here.
  
  
  
• NBC made a video in which a person shoots a watermelon and it explodes. As the watermelon is being shot, you can here the reporter saying, "Now lets take a look at this video where we shoot a watermelon with an AR-15." The only problem was the gun used in the video was a 12-gauge shotgun, not an AR-15.
  
  Watch the video here.
  
  
  
  
  
• It's difficult for me to tell if the media is intentionally reporting false information, but the more I listen to them, the more I think they're legitimately misinformed.

That about does it! I'm sure I'll continue to add to this list, but feel free to ask any questions below in the comments. Please share this article with anyone who is misinformed about the AR-15 and maybe you'll change some opinions. Remember, most people who hold a strong anti-gun opinion are not cynical, just uninformed.

Be kind and use this as a teaching tool.

Don't Get Hung Up on Caliber

In the last several years, the popularity of concealed carry has exploded. This has reignited the debate on caliber. You have most likely heard quotes like this: ".45 ACP is a one-shot stop" or "It doesn't matter what size the bullet is, shot placement is key." If you're new to the concealed carry world, don't let this stress you out.

*This is only a small selection of handgun cartridges currently available*

The truth is today's ammunition performs so well, the size of the bullet is less important than it once was. You can find an adequate self-defense round in almost any caliber if you know where to look! Of course, a .22 might be a little small, but ten rounds of that is still better than nothing.

I won't spend too much time on this, as this topic has been overanalyzed by absolutely every gun blog out there. It all comes down to one question: "What do you enjoy shooting?" The worst thing that can happen is to purchase a gun that isn't comfortable to you. If you buy a gun that you don't love, chances are, you won't have it on you if you need it. If a .380 pistol feels good to you, then carry it.

Do research and carry the BEST ammo you can find. Practice with that gun (and ammo) and make sure you know your weapon like the back of your hand.