The Rifle That Ruined America
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The article is frankly so bad it doesn’t even need rebuttal. But the guy unironically blames the Iraq war for the popularity of ar 15s
Didn't read the article but it's commonly thought that the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban (and it's sunset) is what made the AR-15 so popular.
Political fear mongering and the crime wave made anything the media represented as evil despite not being relevant. This is where the scary black guns came from. The weapons ban was the political result, this of course did nothing to prevent the school shootings that came about or the post officer shooters. AR-15s became popular because they are the actual best pdw for the price point and having the same build as a weapon veterans were familiar with for decades also helped. Media representation changed to scary assault rifles because of the 1994 ban. That’s why ar and ar-15 became conflated and a well used term before the Halo and MW generation.
AR-15's are popular because they're cheap, reliable, and genuinely just good guns. Stoner knew how to make a good gun. I mean if you have the option of a 500 dollar AR-15 and a rare and expensive AR-180 or something, which are you going to pick if you're on a budget?
Unironically, video games are a significant contributor, along with other factors such as low cost, to the popularity of the AR-15, and that's a good thing.
Also the fact that it is highly customizable, meaning any rando can tune it to their taste.