Firearms Myth 6: AR stands for Assault Rifle

Ok, straight to the chase on this one. There are several related myths that I'll join into this one parent myth often perpetuated by the media. I'm sure you've heard it:

Firearms myth 6: AR stands for assault rifle.

The example or image used by the media and anti-gun people is the very common AR-15 platform. The M-16 and M-4 rifles used by the military are variations of the civilian AR-15. Often times, the media refers to these as "assault rifles" as do politicians. In fact, search for assault rifle ban and you'll see images of politicians handling AR-15s. Well it's in the name isn't it? Doesn't AR in AR-15 stand for assault rifle?

Uh, no.

That's the first problem. The AR in AR-15 stands for ArmaLite, the original designer & manufacturer of the rifle who sole the rights to the design to Colt in 1959. Today, many other manufacturers produce variants of the AR-15, so the name persists, although some manufactures such as Smith & Wesson have opted to dump the AR designation, replacing it with something unique. In the S&W example, their AR variant is designated the M&P 15. It's still an AR.

Regardless of the name, the media still likes to use that rifle as synonymous with the term "assault" Here's problem #2. A rifle is an object. Assault is an action. A rifle cannot assault anyone. You can't affix an action (a verb) to a an inanimate object. It's like calling all beer cold beer. It's not always. It depends upon what you've done with the beer - an action you must take to affect how he beer is used. You must make it cold. So is true of the AR. Any rifle can be used for assault, but simply being a rifle does not mean it will be or must be.

So, let's stop the discrimination of AR owners and labeling of inanimate objects. An AR rifle is a sporting rifle. No, it's not the same as the military M4 or M16 even if it looks similar and has similar functions. Sure, you can get military spec AR-15s, but these are still different in function, namely they are lacking the full automatic mode or "fun switch."

Stop it. It's not an assault rifle. It's an ArmaLite 15 variant. A bolt action .22 can be used for assault, just as a hammer can be. So stop perpetuating lies. Now you are informed.