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Those suggesting the AR-15 was NOT developed as a weapon of war should read up on history. The AR-15 was developed as a military weapon to replace the M-14. Eugene Stoner designed it to be lighter and more lethal than the M-14. It was far deadlier than the M-16 used in Vietnam.

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Joe Scarborough

@JoeNBC

Here’s an article from 1981 explaining how the Pentagon’s failure to use the AR-15 in Vietnam cost American lives. The AR-15 was proven to be lighter & more lethal than the M-14 or M-16. It was designed exclusively by Eugene Stoner to kill people in war.

theatlantic.com

M-16: A Bureaucratic Horror Story

Why the rifles jammed

1:13 AM · Mar 18, 2019

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As a longtime gun owner and supporter of the Second Amendment, I agreed with the Supreme Court’s "Heller" holding that concluded Americans had the right to keep and bear arms. But that constitutional protection did not, and will not, extend to guns designed as weapons of war.

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Stuart O'Neill

@stuart_oneill

May 25

Against why? The best home defense is a shotgun. That's why SForces use them in urban combat for house entry and clearing.

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Politicians cost American lives. Not M14’s and M16’s. I and others used them both effectively.

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None of the “AR-15”s used in mass shootings are Stoner’s exact AR-15. As applied to today’s commercial rifles, that term is just shorthand for “AR-15 pattern” rifle. The article’s lethality comparison between Stoner’s rifle and the M-16 is not applicable.

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and

The article discusses the change in firing rate during full automatic fire due to the change in ammunition issued vs. that which Stoner originally designed the rifle to use. Not only is that not a change to the rifle, per se, but irrelevant; commercial ARs are not full auto.

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@stevenwlasher

Mar 18, 2019

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@JoeNBC

Did you read the article? Here's an excerpt. "And it used what was, by the standards of the corps, a laughably small round—a .22 caliber bullet, the kind kids used to shoot at squirrels."

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... Not sure if serious. The ar-15 was rather specifically designed as a civilian version, given its lack of full auto in any fashion. We shouldn't need to lie to make our points -we should be better than the GOP here.

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Honest question, sir: the M9 is issued to officers (like me) and others in war, for war. It is a semi-automatic 9mm handgun known as a Beretta 92FS. Is it a weapon of war? Should it too be banned for civilians?

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Yes.

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