Used in the attack on US former president Donald Trump, AR-15 (Armalite Rifle), which triggered 10 of the 17 mass shootings from 2012 to 2022, remains a favourite among American citizens. One in 20 Americans, according to BBC, owns the rifle, known for its speed and deadly wound.
While the motive of the attack is not clear yet, Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, used an AR-15-style rifle to attack Trump, according to the Secret Service. Of the five shots, one hit the “upper part" of the former president’s right ear. Crooks was killed in the counter fire. Trump is in stable condition.
‘CAN PULVERISE BONES, SHATTER LIVER’
A report in Washington Post, quoting Joseph Sakran, a gunshot survivor who advocates for gun violence prevention and a trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said that “it literally can pulverise bones, it can shatter your liver and it can provide this blast effect".
During surgery on people shot with high-velocity rounds, Sakran said that the body tissue “literally just crumbled".
LIGHT, PRECISE, CAN BE CUSTOMISED
The production of the assault rifle was stopped 60 years ago. It was in service till 1963, but due to its effective range, which is almost 450 meters, it is still in use.
“The Colt Armalite Rifle-15 Sporter hit the market in the early 1960s as the first civilian version of the military’s M16 rifle. What set it apart was, much like its military counterpart, the inventor Eugene Stoner’s patented gas operating system, which allowed for rapid fire and reloading. The weapon could easily handle a 20-round magazine, was easy to disassemble and was marketed, in one of Colt’s early advertisements, to hunters, campers and collectors," a New York Times report stated, calling it “light, precise and with little recoil".
“Billed as “America’s rifle" by the National Rifle Association, the AR-15 is less a specific weapon than a family of them. When Mr. Stoner’s rights to the gas system expired in 1977, it opened the way for dozens of weapons manufacturers to produce their own models, using the same technology. The term AR-15 has become a catchall that includes a variety of weapons that look and operate similarly, including the Remington Bushmaster, the Smith & Wesson M&P15 and the Springfield Armory Saint," it said.
Even from a distance, the rifle can accurately damage organs and cause fatal attacks. It can be customised with different accessories and parts, making it deadlier in the hands of civilians.
50 ACTIVE SHOOTER ACCIDENTS IN 2022
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in 2022, designated 50 shootings as active shooter incidents, an 18% dip from 2021 (61). The number was 30 in 2018.
The 50 active shooter incidents in 2022 occurred in 25 states and the District of Columbia and covered seven location categories, including open spaces, commerce, residences, education, government, houses of worship and a health care facility.
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