Tag: ar 15
Another Day, Another Massacre: 18 Dead And 13 Wounded In Maine

Another Day, Another Massacre: 18 Dead And 13 Wounded In Maine

Dear readers, I ask you: how many of these stories have I written about mass shootings in my Substack column? I lost count some time ago and cannot remember the last one. Was it the shooting in Nashville, when a 28-year-old gunman killed three nine-year-old children and three adults at a private school affiliated with the Presbyterian Church using two AR-15 rifles, one of them configured as a pistol with a folding stock so it could be easily concealed? Or was it Uvalde, when 19 children and two adults were killed at the Robb Elementary School by an 18-year-old who had bought two AR-15 rifles soon after he reached the age when it is legal to buy such firearms in Texas?

I know I wrote about two more mass shootings in Texas, one at a private home in Cleveland, when five were killed by a shooter with an AR-15 rifle, and the other at an outlet mall in Allen, when a shooter killed eight and wounded seven using, once again, an AR-15 rifle.

And now I’m writing about last night’s mass-shooting in Lewiston, Maine. Robert Russel Card, age 40, is the man police suspect of killing seven people in a bowling alley and eight people in a bar and wounding 13, again using an AR-15 rifle. Three of the wounded died later in a hospital. He is described as a sergeant in the Army Reserves and a “trained firearms instructor.” He has not been captured by the police and is at large as I write this, described as armed and dangerous.

I think the first story I wrote about a mass killing was in 1998, about the school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas, when two boys, age 13 and 11, used rifles taken from the home of one of their grandfathers to kill four of their fellow students and a teacher, shooting at them from a hill overlooking the schoolyard when the kids were at recess. I wrote the story for the New York Times op-ed page. What astounded me about the shooting was the fact that both boys had been taken to so-called practical shooting courses by their parents, where participants were taught to shoot and move in a tactical military fashion using human silhouette targets.

At that time, it had been 30 years since I had fired a rifle on a shooting rage at a human silhouette target. I did it during marksmanship training at West Point, using first an M-14 and then an M-16, the military progenitor of the AR-15 rifle used by nearly every shooter in every mass shooting in recent years.

The M-14 was a big, unwieldy rifle with a wooden stock that weighed 10 and a half pounds when loaded with its 20-round magazine. The M-16, which the Army had begun using in Vietnam, was smaller, had a composite stock and a shorter barrel and weighed only seven and a half pounds and used a magazine carrying 30 rounds of ammunition. The M-14 fired a 7.62 mm bullet and had a sharp kick that would leave you with a bruise on your shoulder after a few hours of shooting it. The M-16 fired the much smaller 5.56 mm bullet and had almost no recoil at all. It was easier to carry, easier to shoot, and was just as accurate as the M-14 had been.

I’m telling you all this because every time I type “AR-15,” what I’m doing is using the designation for a weapon that was designed for and is still in use by the military for combat. It is, therefore, a machine invented and manufactured for killing human beings, which is what I was being trained to do when I first fired an M-16 at a human silhouette target at West Point in 1965.

Firearms training was a serious business. There was such a priority on safety that we initially fired the M-16 for most of a day using single bullets which we hand-loaded and fired on command by the range officer. Then we were issued magazines, which we loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition and fired with the fire selector set on single-shot for at least a couple of days. Later, we were taught to fire the M-16 with the selector set on three-round bursts and then full-automatic, enabling you to empty the magazine of all 30 rounds with a single pull of the trigger.

I used to get criticized by gun enthusiasts when I called an AR-15 rifle “military grade,” but their criticism was bullshit. The AR-15 is identical to an M-16 with only one difference: It does not have a selector switch enabling burst and full-auto fire. The AR-15s are manufactured for single-shot fire, but it is well known that many of them can be easily altered to fire on full-auto by purchasing a kit at a gun show or on the dark web. We don’t know if the gunman in Maine had altered his AR-15 to shoot on full-auto, but as an Army Reserve sergeant and a firearms instructor, he would certainly have the know-how to do it.

But it doesn’t matter whether the AR-15 used by the shooter in Maine had been illegally altered. Even in its legal form, the weapon is as deadly as they come. The bullet fired by the AR-15 is the same bullet fired by the Army’s M-4 carbine, the modern replacement for the M-16. It shoots with an extremely high muzzle velocity, and when the bullet hits the human body, it is designed to penetrate the skin and immediately tumble as it goes through the body, shredding muscles, bones, and organs. It is designed to kill, and last night, bullets fired from yet another AR-15 did just that in Maine.

It is madness that I am describing for the umpteenth time the AR-15 rifle, its military history, how deadly it is, and yes, how it has become ubiquitous. There are estimated to be more than 20 million of these terrible things in private hands in this country, and they are the weapon of choice for people who are looking to kill a lot of people very quickly. And yet, you can walk into a gun store in every state in the union but the ten that ban the sale of the AR-15 and buy one.

Wait. Make that nine states that ban the gun, because a federal judge in California last week ruled in a case involving the AR-15 that the state’s ban on sales of the weapon violates the Constitutional right to bear arms. That decision is on appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but if upheld, would apply to the laws in all 10 states that ban sales of the gun.

The Supreme Court has upheld a law in Illinois banning the sale of the AR-15, but it did so temporarily on its so-called shadow docket, meaning a case involving the legality of the AR-15 for sale and ownership will eventually reach the Supreme Court and be heard on its merits. If the doctrine put forth by Justice Clarence Thomas in his Bruen decision holds – that gun laws today cannot differ materially from those in place in 1791 – well, we can already see which way the court will rule.

If the Supreme Court rules that because the Founders thought owning a flintlock musket was pretty cool, and that every American should have the right to buy, own, and shoot an AR-15, we will be seeing each other again in these online pages when yet another AR-15, or more likely, many AR-15s are used in more and more mass shootings.

It’s madness, sure, but it’s our madness because citizens of this country have elected the politicians who put the jurists on the court who make these things legal, and the same voters put the legislators in their seats who refuse to pass laws to make AR-15s illegal.

I pray that one day, my grandchildren will look back and wonder what their country was thinking when their grandfather and his generation allowed such deadly guns to be sold to anyone who wants one. The saddest thing is, right now, I don’t have an answer for them.

Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has covered Watergate, the Stonewall riots, and wars in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels. You can subscribe to his daily columns at luciantruscott.substack.com and follow him on Twitter @LucianKTruscott and on Facebook at Lucian K. Truscott IV.

Please consider subscribing to Lucian Truscott Newsletter, from which this is reprinted with permission.

Key US Lawmakers Offer Guarded Hope For Gun Safety Reforms

Key US Lawmakers Offer Guarded Hope For Gun Safety Reforms

Washington (AFP) - Key US lawmakers expressed guarded optimism Sunday that the shocking school shooting in Texas might lead to at least small steps against gun violence.

"There are more Republicans interested in talking about finding a path forward this time than I have seen since Sandy Hook," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on ABC, referring to the 2012 school shooting in his home state of Connecticut that claimed 26 lives.

Since the shooting Tuesday in the town of Uvalde, Texas left 19 children and two teachers dead, Murphy has been a leader in talks with Republicans -- who have long resisted gun-control measures -- about potential steps.

Dick Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate, said Sunday that compromise would not come easily, but that after Uvalde, he sensed "a different feeling among my colleagues."

"The real challenge is whether the Republicans will step forward and show courage, political courage, in a very tough situation," he told CNN.

But, he added, "There will be some."

One moderate House Republican, Adam Kinzinger, told CNN that Uvalde might have opened him up to greater gun control measures.

Kinzinger, a military veteran, said he had opposed the idea of a ban on assault-style weapons until "fairly recently."

But, he added, "I think I'm open to a ban now," or at least to imposing training or certification requirements on potential buyers.

"We have to be coming to the table with ways to mitigate 18-year-olds buying these guns and walking into schools," he said. "My side's not doing that."

Opposition to gun control runs deep among Republicans and some Democrats representing rural states.

In the wake of the Uvalde shooting, several Republican lawmakers have advocated improved school security or additional mental health support.

Durbin acknowledged the difficulty of achieving real reform in a country where guns outnumber people.

"The AR-15 that was used by this individual in Uvalde, there are now 20 million of those owned by Americans across the nation, just to put it in perspective," he said.

"So we have got to be realistic about what we can achieve."

Maker Of Assault Rifle Used In Uvalde Massacre Featured Child In Bizarre Ad

Maker Of Assault Rifle Used In Uvalde Massacre Featured Child In Bizarre Ad

A Georgia gun manufacturer is facing scrutiny for its disturbing ad shared just days prior to the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

According to HuffPost, on May 16, Daniel Defense —a firearm company that manufactures AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles like the one Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old shooter who fatally shot two teachers and 19 students— posted an image of a young child holding an assault rifle.

With the image, the gun manufacturer included Proverbs 3:5 which reads, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”


Since the deadly Uvalde, Texas massacre, the company's tweet is being seen in a different and less-favorable light. Although the company quickly changed its Twitter account status from public to private, screenshots of the tweet had already been screenshotted.

To make matters worse, HuffPost reports that the disturbing post was actually tweeted on Ramos' 18th birthday which, according to reports, is when he actually purchased his first firearms. In fact, Ramos is said to have purchased a Daniel Defense DDM4 V7 just days before opening fire in the school.

Daniel Defense has also boasted that the firearm is the “perfect rifle for everybody.” According to the police report on Ramos, the teen also purchased a second firearm which has been identified as a Smith & Wesson M&P 15. However, he only carried the assault rifle into the school.

In wake of the shooting and the recirculating Twitter post, Daniel Defense has come under fire for its tendency to develop firearm advertisements that have a connection to religion. Speaking to NBC News, Ryan Busse, a former firearms executive and gun violence prevention group advisor said, “This is how [company founder Marty Daniel] has grown his business: By being on the edge and wrapping this holy-roller thing around it.”

A spokesperson for Daniel Defense also said, “We believe this week is not the appropriate time to be promoting our products in Texas at the NRA meeting.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Supermarket Massacre Occurs Two Weeks After NRA Killed Boulder’s Assault Rifle Ban

Supermarket Massacre Occurs Two Weeks After NRA Killed Boulder’s Assault Rifle Ban

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Ten people were shot and killed in the parking lot and aisles of a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket on Monday afternoon. Among those killed was a police officer who entered the store in response to reports of shots fired. Witnesses reported hearing up to thirty shots. Police report that a "person of interest" is in custody, suspected to be a shirtless man seen being led from the store in handcuffs. While police have not yet identified the suspect or detailed the weapon involved, the number of rapid fire shots suggests a semiautomatic weapon, and CNN cites a law-enforcement official as saying that the weapon was an AR-15 style rifle.

[UPDATE: The suspect has been identified as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, of Arvada, Colorado and charged with ten counts of first-degree murder.]

The shooting comes less than two weeks after Colorado blocked the city of Boulder from enforcing a local ordinance banning AR-15 style weapons and magazines with a greater than 10 shot capacity, as reported by the Denver Post. Just six days before the shooting, the NRA celebrated the ruling in a tweet calling it "an NRA victory in Colorado."

On Monday afternoon, the as-yet unnamed suspect used an AR-15 rifle for exactly the purpose for which these guns are designed: killing a large number of humans in a short period of time.

Tuesday, Mar 23, 2021 · 11:43:00 AM EDT · Mark Sumner

VICTIM NAMES:
Denny Strong, 20
Nevin Stanisic, 23
Rikki Olds 25,
Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
Suzanne Fountain, 59
Teri Leiker, 51
Officer Eric Talley, 51
Kevin Mahoney, 61
Lynn Murray, 62
Jody Waters, 65
— 9NEWS Denver (@9NEWS) March 23, 2021

Though 2020 brought a pandemic and economic disaster, the isolation carried with it a decline in mass shootings. Six mass shootings were reported for the year, with two of those occurring before the pandemic began. This followed 18 such shootings in 2019, and 19 mass shootings in 2018. But the new year has already brought seven mass shootings, with events in Boulder coming just a week after a series of shootings in the Atlanta area that left eight people dead, including six Asian American women.

The officer killed in the Boulder shooting was identified as Eric Talley, aged 51. Talley was the father of seven children. The other murder victims have not yet been named.

Some of those who escaped the shooting in Boulder by running out the back of the store and exiting through loading ramps report that the shooter didn't say anything. He began shooting people in the parking lot outside, entered the store, and kept on shooting. Reuters has drone footage showing a bearded white man—apparently both shirtless and shoeless—being led away by police. Blood can be seen on his leg, and it is assumed that he is the suspect in the shooting.

The NRA posts reporting the overturn of Boulder's ban on such assault weapons last week was particularly festive, trumpeting their support of the effort to block the ordinance and warning other cities that they would be back to fight any localities "who are considering passing any similar counterproductive ordinances." Counterproductive, in NRA terms, meant that it was an impediment to obtaining a machine whose singular purpose is killing people in quantity.

The ruling was based on a provision of Colorado law passed in 2003—a year in which Republicans controlled the Colorado house, senate, and governorship. Regulation states that a local government can't enact a ban on any type of weapon that can be purchased under federal law. The law remains in place, even though Democrats have controlled all three parts of the Colorado government since 2019.

In 2000, around 85,000 AR-15 style rifles were sold. In 2005, after the assault weapons ban ended, the number jumped to 125,000. By 2008, sales exceeded 300,000. In 2012, sales exceeded 1 million for the first time. They've never fallen below that line since. The AR-15 now accounts for about a third of all rifles sold. And while 2020 may have dented most items in the economy, it was a record year for firearms sales.

When news sources or right-wing politicians call the AR-15 "America's most popular rifle," it's worth remembering that this is a very recent phenomenon. Two decades ago, these were rare rifles owned by a small percentage of Americans who owned guns. A short time ago, the majority of rifles fell into two categories—.22 rimfire rifles used primarily for target shooting and small game; larger caliber centerfire rifles, many of them bolt or lever action, used in hunting deer and large game. Something like the AR-15 was an exotic item, even for people who owned guns.

In those two decades, deer did not become enormously smarter. Rabbits did not become bulletproof. Groundhogs did not learn to dodge. People did not buy these rifles to hunt any of the above.

The truth is that the most popular rifle sold in America today is not designed for hunting or for pecking at paper targets. It is designed for exactly what it did in Boulder on Monday afternoon—leaving bodies strewn in its wake. There is no defense against such a weapon. Not only was one of those who died a police officer who entered the store knowing that a shooting was in progress, it's a fair bet that others in the store were armed. Concealed carry is legal everywhere in Colorado. None of that would matter, because this type of rifle is designed to allow the murder of multiple people before there can be any possible response. Millions of Americans have purchased rifles that are only really good at killing millions of other Americans.