AR-15, it isn't what you think it is

This go around with trying to implement an "assault weapons ban" is going to play out very differently. Sadly as with any highly charged issue, no one wants to ask the right questions. People like to make assumptions...it's much easier to do. So for the benefit of those who just didn't know what to ask, I'm going to lay out why it's going to fail this time.

The AR-15 isn't a rifle, it's a class of rifles. This is an important distinction. The AR-15 is a very good and highly modular rifle action. It can be fitted with a full-automatic receiver, a 14" barrel, an ACOG sight and attachment points for anything from a silencer to a grenade launcher. In short, this is the system our troops have and it should never be available to civilians. That same platform can then be fitted with a semi-automatic receiver, chambered for a proper deer round and a telescopic sight can be added to the top and this is what gives Bambi nightmares. It can also spend a lot of time precisely assembling that semi-auto, add a precision made barrel, fantastically accurate sights and a stock that allows the rifle to be an exact fit for the shooter and it's used in competitive shooting matches. How these particular rifles are built and their intended use makes a huge difference.

For the first "assault weapons ban" even sportsmen weren't aware of this. Back then the AR-15 was built by Colt and pretty much Colt only as a straight up semi-auto version of the M-16/A1 assault rifle. So, when legislation was passed to ban them (and lots of other guns) it was not a gun that 99% of sportsmen had ever fired. As a result, many saw it for what it was, one class of firearm being banned...and not one dear to their hearts. Sportsmen weren't happy about any guns being banned but in the world of compromises, not a huge one. Then on September 14, 2004, Pandora opened the box.

Now with all the pent-up demand rifles Colt was no longer the only game in town for the AR-15 and many people realized that it was easy to make very accurate versions of this rifle and those were immediately embraced by the shooting community. This is why there are so many of the rifles in circulation. Many other military style semi-automatic rifles can be had for less than half the price of a good AR-15 but sportsmen like an accurate rifle and gun makers have stepped up to the challenge of making them less ascetically offensive.

So this time around, sportsmen see the AR-15 platform as something useful. They have friends who hunt with one, they envy the men and women with the ability to shoot the precision versions of them out of Camp Perry...the AR-15 has gone mainstream.

So the continued focus on the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary and the tools the mad man used to commit those murders is why a renewed "assault weapons ban" will meet much more stiff resistance than it did in 1994. It's got little to do with the Tea Party or the Republicans being more intractable in their views. It's got everything to do that that particular rifle having a broad fan base and those fans don't view it any differently from any other rifle.