Female News Anchor
The second amendment to the Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms. And about a third of us adults say they personally own a gun, but many anti-gun activists are calling on our nation's leaders to implement stricter gun laws and even ban some types of guns completely. Kiara Brown breaks down a common misconception about the most popular rifle in America, the AR 15 as we lead local.
Keara Brown (00:27):
This is a semi-automatic rifle, commonly known as an AR 15 created in the 1960s for civilians by the gun company ArmaLite. This is an automatic rifle known as a machine gun or an M four, also created by ArmaLite in the 1960s, but made for military soldiers. This is an assault weapon, an AR 15 is not.
Rob Fuller (00:59):
The military was looking for a new weapon and they developed the M 16. A couple of years after that, ArmaLite decided to make a civilian version of the same rifle, and that's what they put out on the market was the AR 15 AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle, not Assault Rifle.
Keara Brown (01:16):
AR fifteens have become a powerful political and cultural symbol in America. Mass shootings and gun control debates have divided our country as anti-Gun activists demand assault weapons to be banned, but assault weapons have been banned since 1934 when the National Firearms Act was enacted.
Rob Fuller (01:36):
They have a magazine that holds anywhere from five to 30 rounds in it, and it's a semi-automatic rifle, meaning each time you pull the trigger, a round will fire, but you have to pull the trigger in order for the round of fire. This is the same gun just in a Woodstock. So it looks like it's not scary, as people say, right? But it's not an assault rifle. It's not an assault weapon, and it's not a weapon of war.
Keara Brown (02:03):
Handguns are the most common weapon types used in mass shootings in the US with 161 different handguns being used in 111 incidents between 1982 and March, 2023. Semi-automatic weapons have been used in 58 shootings in those years.
Rob Fuller (02:21):
We had guns growing up all the time. We carried them in our vehicles, we did everything, and nobody ever got a gun out of their vehicle and started shooting anybody. So what's happened since, let's call it 1995, what's happened since 1995 to now that people are shooting everybody? I mean, is it guns? The guns haven't changed. The gun laws haven't changed.
Keara Brown (02:42):
Fuller says the best way to ensure safety when dealing with any type of gun is to educate yourself and practice basic gun safety. And whether you own a gun or don't. The basic understanding of guns is always good to know. Kiara Brown, KX News,
Female News Anchor (02:59):
Only one in 24 adults in America owns an AR 15 making the most popular gun in country.
Credit: KX News