Omar Mateen used AR-15-type rifle in deadly Orlando mass shooting, same as Sandy Hook

[IronLionZion]

See video at link

http://pix11.com/2016/06/12/shooter-used-ar-15-type-rifle-in-deadly-orlando-mass-shooting-same-as-one-in-sandy-hook/

Officials said Orlando mass-shooting gunman Omar Mateen used an AR-15-type rifle in the nightclub gun rampage that left at least 50 people dead and 53 others wounded early Sunday morning.

Semiautomatic rifles have been linked to several deadly mass shootings in recent years. These weapons can quickly fire rounds of ammunition in short period of time with high accuracy.

In December 2012, Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing 20 children and six adults. Sandy Hook victims' families later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Remington, the manufacturer of the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. They said Remington is responsible in large part because of the way they market the weapon.

"[Lanza] chose the AR-15 because he was aware of how many shots it could get out," said Nicole Hockley, who lost her son Dylan in that shooting.

In the December 2015 San Bernardino shooting, husband-and-wife assassins Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik used two assault-style rifles in the terror attack that left 14 dead.

Assault-type rifles like the AR-15 have long been the subject of hot debate. The weapons were banned from 1994 to 2004 under federal law. When the ban expired, the weapons became a popular choice among gun owners.

One reason is the appeal they have for young men, fueled by enticing ads from gun manufacturers.

Weapon of choice for mass shooters
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/12/orlando-shooting-gunman-omar-mateen-used-ar-15-assault-rifle-to/

Asshole purchased the guns last week.
http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/06/12/omar-mateen-purchased-firearms-used-in-pulse-shooting-in-florida-in-the-last-week

Someone else posted a video showing how the AR-15 is a terrible choice for home defense or hunting, or anything other than killing people.

[PoliticAverse]

1. "The weapons were banned from 1994 to 2004 under federal law." - No, they weren't. n/t

[Just reading posts]

4. Correct. The manufacture of such weapons was made illegal for civilians, but "pre-ban" weapons were

able to still be sold, at highly inflated prices. And manufacturers simply eliminated such features as flash suppressors and bayonet lugs, and sold functionally identical "post-ban" weapons.

[IronLionZion]

5. Variants with certain features

At the federal level, AR-15s are legal and considered the same as any other rifle.

During the period 1994–2004, variants with certain features such as collapsible stocks, flash suppressors, and bayonet lugs were prohibited for sales to civilians by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, with the included Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Included in this was a restriction on the pistol grip that protrudes beneath the stock, which was considered an accessory feature under the ban and was also subject to restrictions. Some rifles were manufactured with a grip not described under the Ban installed in its place. Those AR-15s that were manufactured with the restricted features, as well as the accompanying full capacity magazines, were stamped "Restricted Military/Government/Law Enforcement/Export Only". The restrictions only applied to guns manufactured after the ban took effect. It was legal to own, sell, or buy any gun built before 1994. Hundreds of thousands of pre-ban ARs were sold during the ban as well as new guns redesigned to be legal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR-15#United_States

[Hoyt]

2. Not surprising, this is the way those rifles are advertised. Marketeers know their targets.

[JanMichael]

6. Oh that is SOOOO little penis targeted! "your man card reissued"?

I am trying not to use nasty words that denigrate others...

Was it revoked for having a limp personality or getting sand kicked in your face in those 19th century muscle ads?

[link:|


Go to a fucking gym or try getting a doctorate or take a martial art or get great at chess or get a cock implant or read something not gun related or maybe just quit being a fucking baby (dammit I knocked babies...).

"man cave" douche-bags. I hate them more than I hate zits.

[Recursion]

9. Though from that picture that one would have been legal under the AWB

Which gets into why that was a disastrously misguided law.

Under Feinstein's 2012 bill it would have needed a differently shaped handgrip. The party really needs to let this idea go.

[Hoyt]

10. Personally, I'd like to see semi-autos banned completely, even pistols. That will take "sexiness"

out of gunz and cool gun proliferation. Of course, I believe that if a person wants one of these dang things, that's proof they are imbalanced enough to warrant prohibition on all gun purchases (yep, a classic Catch-22).

[Recursion]

11. I'd be fine with keeping fixed-magazine semi-autos

But I think you're exactly on point there: futzing around with anything less than a full ban of semi-autos with detachable magazines is frankly window-dressing.

We even have a great legal instrument for doing this, the 1934 National Firearms Act, under which firearms are scheduled according to fitness for civilian use. It's actually administratively a fairly small matter to move semi-autos (either all of them, or just those that accept detachable magazines) from where they are to the same schedule as automatics. (Politically, of course, is a different story...)

And, yes: anything we do must include handguns. Frankly if I faced a choice I'd go after them before I went after rifles.

[JanMichael]

3. Well duh. They work really well for mass killing. Why wouldn't a budding psycho choose it? nt

[onehandle]

7. Hunting people is the ultimate sport.

Gun nuts' biggest fantasy.

See: George Zimmerman

[bjo59]

8. I read an article soon after Sandy Hook that detailed the ownership of the manufacturer of this gun

(if it's the same one). It led ultimately led to a Wall Street private equity firm, Cerberus. In that article a spokesperson was happy to divulge that their fast growing market in the firearms sector of their businesses was for semi-automatic "military style" guns and that their fast growing consumer segment was between the ages of (something like) 18-35. I can't remember the exact ages of the segment, but it was the youngest segment. After a teacher's union that had 750 million invested in the private equity firm, Cerebus suddenly sold Freedom Group, which in turn owned multiple gun manufacturers, including Bushmaster. Nonetheless, the Wall Street firm had no problem with Freedom Group until the teachers union threatened to pull its investments. On this note ...

According to Nasdaq records, campaign finance reports and Securities and Exchange Commission filings reviewed by International Business Times, executives at the financial firms and hedge funds that hold some of the largest ownership stakes in firearms and ammo manufacturers have donated more than $15 million to the Democratic National Committee as well as to Obama and Clinton’s respective reelection campaigns and super PAC. Those firms have also spent $4.1 million on donations to the Clinton Foundation and speaking fees to the Clinton family.

http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-donors-profit-gun-industry-2262148