Though AR-15-style rifles have been offered commercially because the Sixties, for a very long time there was barely a marketplace for them. In 1990, they accounted for simply 1.2 p.c of all firearms manufactured in america.
However beginning within the mid-2000s, after the assault weapons ban expired, their attraction grew. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq gave AR-15-style rifles a sure cachet — folks wished the identical weapons the troopers had been utilizing. The spike in gross sales was additionally influenced by politics, together with the election of the nation’s first Black president. Issues about new gun-control measures, coupled with fears about the place the nation was heading, triggered a surge in demand.
In line with a latest ballot commissioned by The Washington Put up, about one in 20 Individuals now personal an AR-15-style rifle. The Put up cited a gun-industry estimate that there are presently round 20 million AR-15-style rifles in non-public palms, though that quantity was not confirmed independently.
They’ve grow to be so fashionable that they’re usually referred to nowadays as “America’s rifle.” Consultant Barry Moore, an Alabama Republican, lately launched laws to designate the AR-15 “the nationwide gun of america.” Some Congressional Republicans have taken to carrying AR-15 lapel pins.
— Michael Steinberger in The Lawyer Trying to Hold Gunmakers Responsible for Mass Shootings
#Gun #Controllers #Dianne #Feinstein #Clinton #Assault #Weapons #Ban #AR15 #Americas #Rifle #Reality #Weapons