Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
After mass shootings, we often hear that the perpetrators used “military-style” or “assault-type” weapons.
So what does that mean, exactly?
The top image below is an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 rifle similar to the model that was used in the Dayton shooting last month. The bottom image is an M4A1 carbine, the standard-issue weapon for U.S. combat troops.
A comparison of the two weapons offers perspective on the amount of lethal firepower readily available on the civilian market in most U.S. states, including Nevada.
The AM-15 can be purchased legally for about $750, equipped with a 30-round magazine. In Dayton, however, the shooter obtained a 100-round drum magazine — also legal — for his weapon.
With that, here’s how the guns match up:
• Type: Semiautomatic, meaning the gun fires one round per pull of the trigger. An automatic weapon fires multiple rounds every time the trigger is pulled. • Capacity: 101 rounds as configured in Dayton (100 in drum magazine, one in the chamber) • Length: 24 inches • Weight: 4.9 pounds empty • Caliber: .223 Remington • Muzzle velocity: 3,300 feet per second • Range: 1,100 feet (est.)
• Type: Can be fired in both semiautomatic and automatic modes. However, troops are instructed not to fire in the automatic mode except in extreme situations. • Capacity: 31 rounds (30 in the magazine, one in the chamber) • Length: 29.8 inches with stock retracted • Weight: 5.9 pounds empty • Caliber: 5.56mm NATO • Muzzle velocity: 2,900 feet per second • Range: 1,650 feet
The bottom line: The M4A1 is a more powerful weapon in that it can lay down automatic fire and is accurate at a far greater range than the AM-15. But the AM-15 has many of the same characteristics that make the M4A1 an effective combat weapon — it’s light, compact, powerful and easy to handle. And in a crowd, its relatively limited range doesn’t matter.
Fitted with a high-capacity magazine, the AM-15 is a highly lethal weapon.
Former U.S. Gen. John R. Allen, who served as lead commander of Joint Forces in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2013 and now is president of the Brookings Institution, discussed civilian sales of assault weapons in an essay posted in August. Here’s what he had to say:
“No civilian needs to own an assault weapon that’s nearly identical to the weapon I carried in Iraq. So too, no American needs to own a version of the rifle our enemies carried in Iraq and Afghanistan. That you and I can find these and other similarly dangerous weapons routinely available for purchase across the U.S. is insanity.”
For years, the Sun has fervently supported a ban on the sales of assault-type weapons and high-capacity magazines in Nevada and nationwide. Today, we once again call upon lawmakers at the state and federal level to put a stop to the legal manufacture and sales of these devastatingly lethal weapons in our nation.
We hope this comparison helps explain why.
