Lately, you’ve seen THIS weapon in the news a lot.
These firearms elicit emotions for millions of Americans.
Some want these weapons to be available and unrestricted, some want to regulate them,
and some want to ban them outright.
But what do you know about these rifles?
How do they work?
And why did they become so widespread?
This weapon is hotly politicized, with some saying the data and equipment is just “too
complicated” to properly debate.
Which has been made even more complicated by emotion and propaganda.
So let’s try to cut through that.
First, we need to know what this IS.
People call this the AR-15, but it’s part of a family of weapons that are all related
to the Armalite AR-15 a gas-operated rifle that the US military
adopted in the 1960s.
They named it the M16, and that has variants -- the M16A1 A2, and A4.
There’s also the shorter (carbine) version called the M4.
Or its variants like the CAR-15 or Colt Commando or versions with different systems and markets
like the HK-416 Canada C7 or Danish LSV M/04.
And on top of THAT Colt bought the design and uses the trademark the AR-15 which just
makes things even more confusing.
This one firearm family has SCORES of cousins and configurations which is one reason people
call it “too complicated” -- and why many just call this firearm family, “The Black
Rifle.”
So that’s what is IS, but what made it so popular?
You can trace the success of this weapon to a few things: First: Engineering.
Second: U.S. Patent Law.
And Third: More engineering So first: ENGINEERING.
At its most simple, a gun is a fairly basic machine that takes advantage of simple physics:
You take a tube, you add something explosive, and you put a projectile in front of that
explosion to push it out of the tube.
Firearms have been around for a millennia, but it wasn’t until the end of the 1700s
that... for the first time EVER, a firearm had interchangeable parts.
Imagine that.
Before the late 1700s a gun was a hand-wrought personal machine.
Even “simple” muskets were hand-made individuals.
And every gun was a one-of-a-kind possession.
If it broke, parts needed to be made by a gunsmith to fit YOUR weapon.
But now with interchangeable parts, a gun could be modified, repaired, and completely
built from parts.
This was a revelation -- and important -- hold onto this idea.
Next, more advancements made firing faster, and eventually insertable magazines containing
multiple rounds were invented,and improvements in design generally made weapons lighter and
easier to use.
They also fired faster, and faster, and faster.
This is because American military studies completed during World War II and the Korean
War found -- when armed with an automatic rifle that fires as long as the trigger is
squeezed -- soldiers shot at a large area to SUPPRESS the enemy rather than aiming at
specific targets.
So, engineers shifted their attention from shot quality, to shot quantity;
In 1956, in response to the need for speed, E.M Stoner applied for a patent that describes
a simple method for siphoning expanding gases from exploding gunpowder to operate the reloading
mechanism of a military rifle.
This was a big deal, opening the door for better-performing and longer-lasting automatic
weapons for military combat.
In 1962, Stoner’s gas system was assessed and accepted by the Pentagon’s DARPA.But,
the government was dragging its feet to adopt the new rifle -- and by 1963 ads appeared
selling a semi-automatic version of this military weapon to the public.
By 1966, the Army and Marine Corps were issuing the rifle to troops in Vietnam, under its
new name the M16.
And then in 1977 Stoner’s patent expired.
This is when the U.S. patent law comes into play.
Once in public domain, other companies could take advantage of this firing system, AND
another thing… the interchangeable parts.
With the AR-15, Armalite and Colt don’t just manufacture a rifle, they also provide
a platform.
The AR-type rifle was and IS modular.Modular meaning, parts are so interchangeable that
you can get them almost anywhere, and customize almost every part of this weapon.
Owners can take and swap out the stock, the grip, the chamber, or the barrel -- commonly
called the uppers and lowers. and once the internet came on the scene, could buy these
parts anywhere.
People can even 3D-print parts to build a black rifle -- someone did in 2013 and fired
over 600 rounds.
The Lowers are what actually (legally) constitutes the gun.
That’s where the serial number is, and the action is contained.
These interchangeable parts can alter the type and caliber of shot, the type of magazine,
and people can even add a scope (or two!), or a grenade launcher if that’s their thing.
For the military this was a feature, not a bug…
According to a piece about it in the Washington Post: it makes the weapon ideal “for close-
and medium- to long-range engagements and the preferred weapon used to kill the enemies
of the United States.”
But for civilians -- these interchangeable parts meant the Black Rifle could be used
in different ways.
An owner could swap in different uppers for varmint, big game hunting or target practice.
Or different lowers to accommodate various magazines or stocks. And this is how we ended up arguing about specific parts, like bump stocks.
There are even parts for show guns that aren’t even for shooting, just for being fancy.
The AR-type weapon’s success in civilian life is because it’s like a custom built
motorcycle, homebrew computer, or 3D-printed model.
No two Black Rifles have to be the same.
Which brings us back to why some say, ”it’s too complicated” to debate.
But it could be UNcomplicated if we just had consistent language to address when discussing
it.
The AR-type weapon is one of the most popular weapons in the world.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates 5 to 10 million AR-platform weapons are in
circulation in the U.S., but no one knows exactly how many because in 1986, Congress
made it illegal to register any firearms, firearm owners, or transactions.
So here we are.
This modular weapon is a result of the world’s militaries search for a rapid-fire, simple
weapon that people of all sizes and backgrounds could use.
Hopefully, this video helps you talk to your friends about what you DO or DON’T like
about this weapon, and helps us all understand why they seem to be everywhere.
This is a tough topic to be unbiased about, it carries lot of emotion for people.In the
end, like any piece of engineering, what we do with these Black Rifles … isn’t just
the responsibility of those who created it, those who manufacture it, those who sell it,
those who regulate it, or those who use it, but it’s about all of us.
The future is in our hands.
Firearms and weapons aren't the only thing in a military arsenal. Have you ever wondered how we got photos from spy satellites before digital cameras?
You can find out here!
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