Bayard & Holmes
~ Piper Bayard & Jay Holmes
The Great Triumvirate of today is Big Media, Big Politics, and Big Business. They all profit financially and politically when they keep the public worked up in fear and/or outrage. Let’s take some of their power back with a few facts. The current focus for outrage and fear is the AR-15 and “assault rifles.”
Outrage
Throughout “American” media, a war is raging over the availability of the AR-15.** Some condemn it as an unnecessary “assault rifle” that is killing our children. Some praise it as a fine-tooled machine that is actually far less dangerous than most rifles.
Facts
* The AR-15 is a “semiautomatic” rifle,” meaning one trigger pull = one shot.
* It fires .223 Remington or 5.56mm NATO ammunition. These calibers are less powerful than most calibers of ammunition commonly used in hunting rifles.
* Cartridges are loaded into a magazine, not a “clip,” and the magazine is loaded into the rifle.
* The standard AR-15 magazine holds thirty rounds.
* The US military does NOT use the AR-15.
* The AR-15 is considered a starter rifle by many shooters, and kids and adults at rifle clubs often use them for target shooting competitions because they are lightweight, low caliber, and easy to control.
CA-legal AR-15 w/Stag receiver
and fixed 10-round magazine
Image by TheAlphaWolf, public domain.
* The letters “AR” do NOT stand for “assault rifle” or “automatic rifle.” The letters “AR” stand for “ArmaLite rifle” after the company that developed the rifle in the 1950s.
* The AR-15 has no automatic weapon capabilities.
* Automatic weapons, which are weapons that fire more than one round per trigger pull, can only be acquired legally in the United States in two ways since the ban of 1986. First, a person can get a special tax stamp that allows the purchase of one made before the 1986 ban, or second, they can obtain a firearms manufacturing license and get a conversion kit to modify a semiautomatic rifle for automatic firing. Both processes are expensive and tedious.
* The AR-15 is frequently referred to by politicians and the media as an “assault rifle.”
* The origin of the term “assault rifle” is widely attributed to Adolf Hitler. Hitler used the German word “Sturmgewehr” for propaganda purposes to refer to the Stg44, which was a select fire military rifle used by the German Wehrmacht. “Select fire” means it can be switched from firing one bullet for each trigger pull to firing more than one bullet for each trigger pull. The translation of sturmgewehr is “storm rifle,” or “assault rifle.”
* The AR-15 is not a select fire rifle.
* The term “assault rifle” has no universal definition and is interpreted differently by each state.
* There is no special attribute to the AR-15 that distinguishes it as an “assault rifle.”
Bayard & Holmes Opinion
This is an election year, and the AR-15 is at the center of a propaganda war with much political posturing. We must all keep in mind that just because we might agree with the goal of propaganda, whatever that goal may be, it is still propaganda. In this war of agendas, we are the prize.
We encourage everyone to thoroughly research their topics beyond the click bait and meme fodder of Western media and social media and to remember that conclusions reached in ignorance, whatever those conclusions, only compound the problems.
All the best to all of you as you navigate the Misinformation Highway.
**We put the word “American” in quotes when referring to media because some of the largest stockholders in “American” media are foreigners with their own political alliances and agendas to push–something to keep in mind when evaluating information.
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Piper Bayard is a recovering attorney and an author of espionage nonfiction and international spy thrillers. Jay Holmes is a veteran field operative and a senior member of the intelligence community. Together, Bayard & Holmes are the bestselling authors of THE SPY BRIDE.
Look for their upcoming release, SPYCRAFT: Essentials for Writers, due out this spring.
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