Are AR-15's weapons of war? Here's what a former Fort Benning commander had to say

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A former Fort Benning commander took a stand in the country’s ongoing debate on gun control with a thread of tweets posted Thursday evening.

“Let me state unequivocally — For all intents and purposes, the AR-15 and rifles like it are weapons of war,” retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton wrote on Twitter.

Link to tweet

The retired major general went on to write the AR-15 was the civilian version of the M16, a close relation to the M4 rifles currently used by the military.

“It is a very deadly weapon with the same basic functionality that our troops use to kill the enemy,” Eaton wrote.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ar-15-weapons-war-former-110000741.html

[dchill]

1. Duh! of the week! Seriously, though...

...I thank the General for his contribution to the good side.

[sop]

2. AR-15s are the weapons of choice for those who believe the purpose of the 2nd Amendment is

to provide Americans the necessary firepower to overthrow a government they don't like.

[lapfog_1]

4. all the AR-15s and body armor and camo in the world

is for cosplay at overthrowing the government.

If there is a second civil war, fought by proud boys, oaf creepers, militias, and even some "constitutional sheriffs" versus the FBI, normal law enforcement, and the US Army on the other side...

the idiots will lose badly... and rather suddenly.

There will not be anti tank missiles for them, nor stinger missiles, plus their own tanks and rocket launchers. This will not be Ukraine.

so all the talk about armed insurrection is really about cosplay... and intimidation.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

5. The fantasy of a civil war

Is even more absurd thinking that LE and the military would all be on one side. They wouldn't. They would split and take their weapons and equipment with them. Foreign powers wanting to fuel the chaos would smuggle weapons in. And it's been over a decade since since a fought an enemy armed with rifles, body armor, and improvised explosives, while I had the tanks, ifv's, artillery, and air support on my side, and they weren't pushovers and caused plenty of problems despite lacking the technology and heavy equipment advantage we had.

[sop]

6. Intimidation is all they can realistically hope to achieve.

[SergeStorms]

7. It wouldn't be a fair fight....

and it would be over with in the blink of an eye.

As soon as word got around (and with these keyboard commandos that would be almost instantaneously) that the first skirmish with the U.S. Army resulted in the complete destruction of any "militia" they encountered, the "revolution" would be finished.

Then they'd all crowd around a big bonfire in the forest, drink copious amounts of beer, and exchange "war stories" about the day they almost overthrew the government of the United States.

[Warpy]

16. Yeah, those little popguns are going to be effective against

a drone 16,000 feet in the air fully loaded with Hellfire missiles. Not going to happen, guys.

What they're used for is target shooting, posing with on social media, occasionally by ranchers shooting at coyotes and wild dogs harassing their stock, and by men who want to hunt and kill people. Nobody in a civil society needs a semi auto anything, especially a semi auto rifle.

They believe wrong. There's a lot written in the constitution besides one badly written amendment. Maybe they need to read all of it.

[GoldandSilver]

24. You hit the nail on the head.

It’s time to start speaking in real terms about real issues.

I’m sick of hearing about “protecting my family” when what they mean is “if you don’t do things my way, I’ll kill you and your little dog too.

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. Sorry, but I do not need a military person telling me what is and what isn't a military grade

weapon of mass destruction. My opinion counts as much as his.

[SergeStorms]

10. Sorry Ferret.....

I love your posts and have great respect, but in a court of law or before a Congressional Committee, your opinion does not carry the same weight as that of a military expert.

Almost.....but not quite.

[Ferrets are Cool]

13. You are correct. I suppose it helps to read the entire article before spouting off my opinion.

[towerbum]

14. plus do you know what a ar-15 was designed for ?

[Ferrets are Cool]

22. This is what I found...

ArmaLite first developed the AR-15 in the late 1950s as a military rifle, but had limited success in selling it. In 1959 the company sold the design to Colt.

In 1963, the U.S. military selected Colt to manufacture the automatic rifle that soon became standard issue for U.S. troops in the Vietnam War. It was known as the M-16.

Armed with that success, Colt ramped up production of a semiautomatic version of the M-16 that it sold to law enforcement and the public, marketed as the AR-15.

[towerbum]

23. half- rite !

for jungle war fare - very close quarter contact ! by the time you could get your rifle un-tangled from the vegetation around you , you had about 50 holes in ya ' ! the long rifle was useless in jungle & urban war-fare ! so that's when they came up with the short version -ar-15 ! I played 3 yrs in jungles of V.N. ! first hand knowledge will teach ya' every time ! have a good one sir !

[ashredux]

8. The AR-15 is just the grandson of the M-16. (Minus a switch to auto)

Rapid fire, little recall, high velocity shells designed for maximum damage upon impact to kill

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

17. The recoil is absorbed by the "buffer spring assembly"

This allows the next round to be loaded.

[ashredux]

9. The AR-15 is just the grandson of the M-16. (Minus a switch to auto)

Rapid fire, little recall, high velocity shells designed for maximum damage upon impact to kill

[IronLionZion]

11. It's the weapon of choice for those who want to kill a lot of people quickly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_AR-15

Literally the civilian version of US military's M16 and M4 Carbine. Gun humpers love to say no military in the world uses the AR-15. A distinction without much difference when it comes to mass shooting civilians.

Comparison to military versions
The primary distinction between civilian semi-automatic rifles and military models is select fire. Military rifles were produced with firing modes, semi-automatic fire and either fully automatic fire mode or burst fire mode, in which the rifle fires three rounds in succession when the trigger is depressed. Most components are interchangeable between semi-auto and select fire rifles including magazines, sights, upper receiver, barrels and accessories.[18][19] The military M4 carbine typically uses a 14.5-inch (370 mm) barrel. Civilian rifles commonly have 16-inch or longer barrels to comply with the National Firearms Act.[20]

In order to prevent a civilian semi-automatic AR-15 from being readily converted for use with the select fire components, Colt changed a number of features. Parts changed include the lower receiver, bolt carrier, hammer, trigger, disconnector, and safety/mode selector. The semi-automatic bolt carrier has a longer lightening slot to prevent the bolt's engagement with an automatic sear. Due to a decrease in mass the buffer spring is heavier. On the select fire version, the hammer has an extra spur which interacts with the additional auto-sear that holds it back until the bolt carrier group is fully in battery, when automatic fire is selected.[21] Using a portion of the select fire parts in a semi-automatic rifle will not enable a select fire option.[22] As designed by Colt the pins supporting the semi-auto trigger and hammer in the lower receiver are larger than those used in the military rifle to prevent interchangeability between semi-automatic and select fire components.[23]

[world wide wally]

12. If somebody can have a weapon of war, why can't I have a grenade launcher or a L.A.W?

Or a fighter jet or bomber for that matter?

[towerbum]

15. you forgot a battleship ! keep it at local marinas!

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

18. I keep my drone parked at LAX.

You never know when the Avengers are going to turn their powers from good to evil. I've kept my map from the Hollywood homes tour so I've got the coordinates of every radical liberal elite's house in Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Malibu.

[towerbum]

20. Is parking by the month? trying to find a nice spot for my c-130 gunship !

[pstokely]

21. or a reactivated missile silo?

https://www.businessinsider.com/missile-silo-turned-castle-for-sale-in-kansas-2020-1

[ginny skinny]

19. Seems like not that long ago....

I was reading at this site that it was a good thing that Ukrainians were armed.
I have a few ARs, when the trumpies come to take me to the re-education ditches, I hope to go down shooting.