Have you ever considered reading what you just wrote before posting it to see if it looks like a man with mental incontinence wrote it instead of putting then burden on others? Naming the specific maker when there are hundreds who make rifels as exact copies or just similar to the classic Armalite 15 is just advertising for the maker. Many ghost guns can't even be named as a model as they are just assembled parts using a half dozen seperate fabricator's components.
The general public wants to hear AR-15 and they are only too happy to feed it to them. It either is or isn't an AR, knockoff or not, and the only reason to be so vague is for political reasons.
What's in a name? The point is that it was a high-powered assault rifle. If it looks like an AR-15, shoots like an AR-15, and causes either death or catastrophic injuries like an AR-15, why quibble about the details? "Similar to AR-15" is a reference point to give context to non-gun types such as me. The politics are obvious, irrespective of the name of the gun. High-powered assault rifles have no business being in the hands or ordinary citizens in a civilized society. Period.
Its true, the AR stands for Actually Rifle as in " well actually.. " Get your head out of your ass, all the knock-off manufacturers call their own guns AR-15. Did Armalite ever make a 308? Its just now the ubiquitous term, not politics. While you are at it tell everyone in the south to stop calling any soft-drink a "Coke". First search result.
Our local gun shop has an entire wall of rifles with a big sign saying "AR-15s" above it. Not a single weapon on the wall is an actual AR-15 -- all of them are knock-offs from one manufacturer or another. AR-15 has become the common name for group of weapons know as "Assault Rifles" -- and AR-15 is used in the marketing & sales of this type of weapon. I should also note that one of the news stories mentioned that the manufacturer and type of each of the 5 guns owned by the shooter will be found in upcoming court & DA filings. Information is limited at the moment because the investigation is still in progress. However the police commentary have focused on the two AR-15 style weapons the shooter utilized. The first was used in the shooting and he walked away leaving it. The second AR-15 style weapon was in his car and he planned to use it for a duplicate shooting in Wisconsin.
The patent expired in 1977. And let's not forget they are not "military grade" just like my Barrett M-82 fifty cal as it is also not fully automatic though it has a mag. Clearly only good for squirrels. A marketing term that the think tank at the NRA knew will get conversations about horrific events side channeled into stupid. Maybe we can shoot the Captain with a 308 AR-15 and he can tell us how he is not dead because the gun doesn't exist? Up for that @CaptainObvious?
People in Wisconsin must be feeling lucky after hearing that this mass shooting killer had driven up to their state for a sniper attack on another July 4th Celebration (mass shooting) but then called it off at the last minute. I wonder if it was another "soft target" ? Why Madison and not some other city ? Also, did this guy dress as a woman to escape after what he did in Highland Park, or is he just a cross-dresser ?
First of all, I see no reason to be disrespectful to me just because we have opposing views. I don't do that to you. Second, yes I do question things. Now obviously I was wrong about his parents being "bleeding heart liberals". But that was only because at the time I wrote it, I saw what this kid looked like and wondered how his parents could tolerate behavior that manifested itself in tattoos on one's face. Third, ok, say he was a Trump supporter. Do you really think this kid has enough brains to understand anything? If he was a Trump supporter, it's probably because the circle of peers he grew up with in that neighborhood were Trump haters, and being the quintessential societal outcast that this kid obviously is, he assumed that personification because that is what he has always done, things that further isolate him from the world around him. Once again, we can play "what ifs" all day long, but I'll say it again, this little fucker would have snapped no matter who was in office between 2016 and 2020. Now, discuss things with respect, or ... don't. I expect that type of behavior out of exgoper, Tony, etc... but not you.
Sorry, your word salad pushing won't work. They'll use the term AR-15 for one reason and one reason only, it's pushing the narrative. It could have been a fucking machine gun and they'd call it a AR-15 because that's the evil scary looking gun that the unwashed masses have been gas lite into believing is the only fucking weapon on the planet.