Orlando Shooter Used AR-15 Assault Rifle, & This Has Happened Before

It is no surprise why the gun is so reviled by gun control advocates… the gunman in the attack this weekend on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. used a spinoff of the rifle produced by SIG Sauer to kill almost 50 people.

We know that Omar Mateen had been on a terrorist watch list at one time … but even had he remained on that list, he still would have been able to purchase his weapons because past year Senate Republicans voted to allow potential terrorists to buy guns.

It’s also been the weapon of choice for the most staggering mass shootings in recent memory.

Some states have tried to impose their own restrictions on the weapons or sought measures that would at least slow down shooters using them. Semi-automatic weapons are relatively easy to purchase.

“With all the talk of gun control, I’m afraid is what’s going to happen, is the price is going to go up like it did and we’re going to get the fluctuation in price”, said Barnwell.

Direct impingement means that when a round is fired, the gas generated from the fired bullet is shot through a hole in the barrel and is then channeled back through a tube that leads directly to the weapon’s bolt assembly. But they are totally wrong. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union has raised concerns about the veracity of the watch list-noting that government watchdogs have found that as many as 35% of the nominations to the network are outdated and tens of thousands of names are placed on the list without factual basis.

“He is not a prohibited person, so he can legally walk into a gun dealership and acquire and purchase firearms”.

“The law now defies logic”, Nichols said. Had he still been on the list, Mateen’s name would have been forwarded to the task force when he sought to purchase a gun, Federal Bureau of Investigation officials say.

Frankel said it’s possible that some who are intent on killing a lot of people copy other mass shooters’ weapons of choice.

AR-15s that fire only on semiautomatic are generally legal in the United States, and are widely owned by assault-rifle enthusiasts.

Democrat Hillary Clinton has called for reinstating the assault weapons ban, saying “military-style assault weapons do not belong in our streets” and pose a threat to police officers.

AR-15s have been used before in mass shootings.

A 2004 report commissioned by the Department of Justice on the effects of the assault weapons ban concluded that the law was largely ineffective at limiting access to weapons with the power of the AR-15.

What is an assault weapon?

Representatives of the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industrys trade group, did not return messages seeking comment. And their use in these types of shooting is becoming more common: There have been eight high-profile public mass shootings since July of previous year, according to a database compiled by Mother Jones magazine.

Like most jurisdictions, Florida does not restrict the capacity of magazines, and attempts in other states to ban the clips by lawmakers largely have been ineffective. It sold the design to Colt, which first began selling civilian versions of the rifle.