By Edward M. Bury, APR, MA (aka The PRDude)
The term “AR-15 style” has been added to descriptions of the automatic weapons originally designed some six decades ago for use by military personnel and now the weapon used by those bent on killing as many innocent people as possible.
In the many years since AR-15 style became the gruesome qualifier for the rifle that resulted in truly horrific fatalities to grammar-school-aged children, teenagers and adults in towns and cities across America, I never took the initiative to learn the distinction behind this “style” of long gun.
While watching the CBS Sunday Morning program May 29, I gained insight on the development and marketing of AR-15 weapons through this report that focused on the $73 million lawsuit between the families of children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School nearly a decade ago and Remington Arms, the company that developed the compact firearm.
Listen to the report from Tracy Smith, then make a determination about the Remington Arms marketing campaign for the firearm it developed many years ago and the incorporation of the AR-15 into modern video games. Read this Associated Press story about the carnage caused by these rifles (and other firearms) during mass shooting events over the past several years.
Then, like me — and not to be flippant — do you concur that AR-15 style rifles should go out of style?
On this Memorial Day 2022, our day to honor those Americans who gave their lives for our freedom is tarnished somewhat by the shooting deaths that took place last week at a grammar school in a small Texas town, and the week before at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
In both mass shootings, authorities say the gunman was 18 years old and a troubled loner. And both purchased AR-15 style weapons when it was legal to do so in their state.
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