Recent comments in /f/IAmA

dogsledonice t1_jedange wrote

Reply to comment by buzzothefuzzo in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

Because they were facing military-style weaponry, which is my point

For all the "good guys with a gun" rhetoric you folks spout, they seem to disappear mighty fast when faced with a bad guy with a semi-auto

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buzzothefuzzo t1_jed686t wrote

Reply to comment by dogsledonice in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

sure would've helped the effort to counter the attack in uvalde if the police actually you know... did their jobs... they have body armor, high powered, automatic guns, with standard capacity clips allowing them to hold more ammo than many US citizens can. why didn't they use them??

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Absolutedisgrace t1_jed5v9x wrote

Reply to comment by maciver6969 in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

As a non-american, ive wondered why ar15s were even sold. They seemed like such a military weapon it seemed crazy. Your post is the first time ive seen a good "why" they exist.

Regulation and licensing really seems like the best method here. Never going to fully solve mass shootings but at least it could make it more difficult to go from shop to school in such a short time frame.

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dogsledonice t1_jed4z8y wrote

Reply to comment by DrJawn in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

I mean, use whatever stats you want to imply what you want to imply.

"Gun deaths" will include suicides, of which there are very many. Does anyone use an AR for that? No. Do they use ARs in slaughtering innocents in schools, churches, malls, concerts, bars, etc.? Yep. And both figures are grotesquely high *when compared to any similar country* other that the U.S.

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MinotaurGod t1_jeczc7v wrote

Reply to We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

The AR-15 is based upon the M16 platform originally designed for the US military 60 years ago. That means 60 years of parts; enough to maintain 8 million of them. The civilian version, the AR-15 can use many of the same parts. An extreme amount of parts surplus, along with it being a rather simple platform means they are cheap, easy to repair, and have garnered a bit of a cult following, especially among veterans. It has also lead to a huge aftermarket as the AR-15 is very simple, and easy to customize.

The AR-15 itself is a rather average gun. It performs as most other rifles do. It requires quite a bit of effort to keep it running though. Its very susceptible to dirt, grime, etc, and getting everything to run smoothly and reliably can take a lot of work.

The reason its become the target of so many? Its extremely common, as mentioned above, and has certain 'features' that stupid people really love to latch on to: Its black, it can have pointy bits on it so it looks 'aggressive', and it has AR right in the title! Too bad the idiots don't realize that it does not stand for 'assault rifle', but instead stands for 'Armalite Rifle', after the company that designed it. It has also become targetted because idiot politicians and the media need a simple object to hold up to the masses. They cant make money or get ratings or votes from images of mental health issues.. what are they going to show? People cant get angry over images of.. brain wave patterns or something. An evil looking black object though? McTrump himself, while incredibly stupid in all areas that matter, was intelligent enough to realize this. Create something simple, like a red hat with 4 letters on it, and the idiots will be drawn to it like moths to a flame. Same reason pop music is so popular. People like stupid, mindless and simple.

The many things the politicians, media and most people get wrong:

The definition of 'assault rifle'.
What makes something 'tactical' or 'assault-style'.

Pistol grips/braces: How do they in any way affect.. anything?

Bump stocks: Unreliable and useless, more of a hindrance than a help.

'High capacity magazines'. You mean normal capacity? It takes virtually no time to swap a mag.

Bullet vs Round.
Magazine vs Clip.

If these people are unwilling to understand and learn the subject they are speaking about, they need to just shut the fuck up.

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ChairmanMatt t1_jecxojv wrote

Reply to comment by DrJawn in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

you sound exactly like the attorney representing NJ in court in a suit against their additional restrictions on carry a month or two ago.

> the laws shouldn't be overturned because they won't be enforced anyway

so then don't pass the damn laws.

This is all immaterial anyway. Bruen means the days of practically all gun control is numbered.

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DrJawn t1_jecshdc wrote

Reply to comment by ChairmanMatt in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

Dude. I own lots of guns and I'm so far leftist anarchist I barely believe in private property anymore. I own guns because I don't want the only people with guns to be cops, because they're all bastards and 40% of them beat their wives

No one is physically ever gonna take all the guns. You can bury a gun in your yard. Put it in the drywall. The sheer amount of illegal guns in our already wide open system exemplifies this.

They don't even want the guns. They love when chaos reigns in voters. Empty promises and fully loaded wallets.

My only point is every one gets upset when some white kid kills some white kids but there's piles of black bodies in Philly every year and no one gives a fuck. No one in Philly is murdering people with rifles.

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maciver6969 t1_jecrvl7 wrote

Reply to comment by yax51 in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

Because like most of the media today they are at best hacks and at worst used as weoponized political tools for one side. Hell most people today cant remember when the media used to just report the news and not force their view or agenda on the masses.

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maciver6969 t1_jecrmd4 wrote

Reply to comment by washingtonpost in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

What a load of crap. I own several hunting rifles and none are bolt action, and can accomodate different size magazines and function exactly the same as the ar line. Do you know the difference between an ar-15 rifle and carbine as well as the varients? For one, the one you mention having shorter barrels are typically carbines, and they are lighter, making them harder to keep on target reliably when shooting rapidly, making them less than ideal to use in a firefight - speaking as former military I was trained in CQB in the navy with the military version of both the carbine and rifle, I prefered the shotgun.

With the idiots in the press demonizing the whole platform yet most cant identify the differences when handed one randomly, and far too many of the morons in office chiming in with their stupidity - like several saying it is a machine gun. As an AR owner, the reason people I know own them is that they are common enough that you can customize it for the needs you have, need a light, they have a bolt on available. Need it more accurate, better barrels and gas kits. Going in brushy areas? Shorter barrel swap. It makes ONE firearm into multiple with minor costs, a great varmit gun, to an accurate deer rifle, to a beast for killing groups of hogs destroying several states agriculture, to a range rifle and so many inbetween.

Mine was originally chambered in dual 5.56 and 223, I later bought a kit to make it use .22lr, and bought a 300 blackout kit a few months ago.

How about why the media harps on the AR platform as demonic, yet ignores the actual statistics that say handguns are overwelmingly used in violence but arent focused on in any meaningful way. Or that the "mass shootings" definition is so full of shit it isnt funny, when almost every shooting is a mass shooting because it involves more than 2 people. Well with the shooter and a single person is fine, but add a 3rd person and they lose their minds. You want the real reason we have so many violence issues? The damn media. Sensentionalizing these stories and it lets every idiot with an agenda to become famous. Start putting the truth out, that a coward went and attacked people who can not defend themselves in so called gun free zones that advertise that no one will be able to stop them because they KNOW that no one is carrying there, just like the latest shooter did in Nashville, she did not go to the mall because there were rent a cops there. Or the Colorado shooter who went past 5 theaters to one that had a nice gun free zone sign up.

No you wont do that. Now tell us why you wont.

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DrJawn t1_jecrjao wrote

Reply to comment by DarkLink1065 in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

Yeah it's easy to introduce bills when you know they won't pass. Like how Ted Cruz jerks himself off with his term limit bill every few years. He looks good, it doesn't pass, he runs again.

CA has lots of laws and magazine limits and it still happens there.

We need healthcare, including mental, for all. We need before school programs, after school programs, day care, we need to fill the role model vacuum with good people and start from the bottom up. If you raise good kids, they become good adults. If you diagnose mental trauma and illness at a young age, you can save more lives than one

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dogsledonice t1_jecmlex wrote

Reply to comment by telionn in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

To be more accurate, *mass shootings* went down, then back up.

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/03/did-assault-weapon-ban-correspond-with-drop-in-mass-shootings-what-the-data-shows.html

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DarkLink1065 t1_jecjpht wrote

Reply to comment by DrJawn in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

A significant amount of state legislation in CA, NY, etc. After the disaster of the post 1994 AWB midterms, Dems have avoided spending political capitol on federal legislation, though they do regularly introduce things like new AWB bills. I think Pelosi has introduced an updated version of the 94 AWB every year since it expired in 2004.

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dogsledonice t1_jece1i5 wrote

Reply to comment by DrJawn in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

Because rifles are increasingly used for mass attacks - 4 out of 5 of the worst mass shootings in the US involved rifles, including the worst (Las Vegas). Sandy Hook, Orlando. That kind of firepower is more difficult to counter - look at Uvalde. Or, again, Vegas -- not so easy to rack up huge casualty numbers with handguns (which are more common, so yeah - they're used more often).

https://www.statista.com/statistics/476409/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-weapon-types-used/

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