The Mind-altering AR 15
I served in Vietnam and as a police officer for over thirty years. I’ve had the occasion to fire many weapons including the AR 15, M-14, BAR. M2 carbine, Thompson submachine gun, 12-gauge shotgun and many others.
On June 15 a New York Daily News reporter, Gersh Kuntzman published a report in which he fired an AR-15. He described the experience thusly:
“Firing an AR-15 is horrifying…I’ve shot pistols before, but never something like an AR-15. Squeeze lightly on the trigger and the resulting explosion of firepower is humbling and deafening (even with ear protection).
The recoil bruised my shoulder, which can happen if you don't know what you're doing. The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick. The explosions — loud like a bomb — gave me a temporary form of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.
Even in semi-automatic mode, it is very simple to squeeze off two dozen rounds before you even know what has happened. If illegally modified to fully automatic mode, it doesn’t take any imagination to see dozens of bodies falling in front of your barrel.”
I feel this report was really meant to feed on the emotions of those who rightfully were horrified over the deaths of the 49 people in Orlando. This weapon is a rifle that fires a high velocity round a bit bigger than a .22. It is a single fire rifle –a dangerous weapon as all weapons are in the wrong hands. But the challenge is to keep it out of the wrong hands.
The weapon issue is to be played out politically. Of course, if all weapons factories were shut down today there would still be over a hundred million firearms in the US. However, let’s not play on the fears of the population by describing that simply firing this weapon is a real war-time combat experience that could induce the shooter into a killing spree. The following footage shows how traumatic firing this weapon really is.
In the final analysis, this is irresponsible reporting. Clearly someone like Mr. Kuntzman should never own a weapon, while the little 7 year old young lady who fires the rifle could own a thousand weapons and never be a problem. Which obviously is the case for most weapon owners.
I’m done here. Stay safe.
Joe Gandurski
