“Americans who know nothing else about firearms are all too familiar with the name AR-15. It’s the semi-automatic weapon that murderers have used in many of the most notorious and highest-casualty gun killings of recent years: Aurora, Colorado. Newtown, Connecticut. Orlando, Florida. San Bernardino, California. Now, with modified versions, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Sutherland Springs, Texas.”

— James Fallows

"Why the AR-15 Is So Lethal", The Atlantic (7 November 2017) https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/why-the-ar-15-is-so-lethal/545162/

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Americans who know nothing else about firearms are all too familiar with the name AR-15. It’s the semi-automatic weapon…" by James Fallows?

James Fallows 4

American journalist 1949

Related quotes

“It’s important to understand how we got where we are today. In 1966, the unthinkable happened: a madman climbed the University of Texas clock tower and opened fire, killing more than a dozen people. It was the first mass shooting in the age of television, and it left a real impression on the country. It was the kind of terror we didn’t expect to ever see again. But around 30 years ago, we started to see an uptick in these types of shootings, and over the last decade they’ve become the new norm.
In July 2012, a gunman walked into a darkened theater in Aurora and shot 12 people to death, injuring 70 more. One of his weapons was an assault rifle. The sudden and utterly random violence was a terrifying sign of what was to come.
In December 2012, a young man entered an elementary school in Newtown and murdered six educators and 20 young children. One of his weapons was an assault rifle. Watching the aftermath of these young babies being gunned down was heartrending.
In June 2016, a gunman entered a nightclub in Orlando and sprayed revelers with gunfire. The shooter fired hundreds of rounds, many in close proximity, and killed 49. Many of the victims were shot in the head at close range. One of his weapons was an assault rifle.
Last month, a gunman opened fire on concertgoers in Las Vegas, turning an evening of music into a killing field. All told, the shooter used multiple assault rifles fitted with bump-fire stocks to kill 58 people. The concert venue looked like a warzone.
Over the weekend in Sutherland Springs, 26 were killed by a gunman with an assault rifle. The dead ranged from 17 months old to 77 years. No one is spared with these weapons of war. When so many rounds are fired so quickly, no one is spared. Another community devastated and dozens of families left to pick up the pieces.
These are just a few of the many communities we talk about in hushed tones—San Bernardino, Littleton, Aurora, towns and cities across the country that have been permanently scarred.”

Dianne Feinstein (1933) American politician

[Senators Introduce Assault Weapons Ban, November 8, 2017, w:Diane Feinstein, Diane, Feinstein, https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/11/senators-introduce-assault-weapons-ban]
On the introduction of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2017

“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world… True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion… We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda… They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody.”

Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) African American boxer, philanthropist and activist

"Presidential Candidates Proposing to Ban Muslim Immigration to the United States" http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/muhammad-ali-hits-trump-misguided-murderers-sabotaging-islam-n477351 (9 December 2015).

“I have hunted all my life…but an AR-15 is not for hunting. It’s for killing.”

Bill Nelson

After the February 14, 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, on February 15, 2018 on the floor of the United States Senate ([Marc, Fisher, w:Marc Fisher, February 15, 2018, September 6, 2018, The Washington Post, The AR-15: ‘America’s rifle’ or illegitimate killing machine?, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-ar-15-americas-rifle-or-illegitimate-killing-machine/2018/02/15/743e66ca-1266-11e8-9065-e55346f6de81_story.html]; [USA Today, Florida shooting suspect bought gun legally, authorities say, Bart, Jansen, February 15, 2018, August 22, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/02/15/florida-shooting-suspect-bought-gun-legally-authorities-say/340606002/]; [Florida Senators on Parkland School Shooting, February 15, 2018, C-SPAN, August 22, 2018, https://www.c-span.org/video/?441042-15/florida-senators-parkland-school-shooting]; [BBC, FL senator: 'AR-15 is not for hunting, it’s for killing', February 15, 2018, August 22, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-43066528]) and in an interview on Fox News' Fox & Friends ([AR-15s are not the problem, manufacturers say after rifle-wielding teenage gunman kills 17 people at Florida school, Kevin, Breuninger, February 15, 2018, August 22, 2018, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/ar-15s-not-the-problem-rifle-manufacturers-say-after-school-shooting.html]) and the next day in an appearance in Parkland ([VERBATIM: 'An AR-15 is not for hunting, it's for killing', Reuters, February 16, 2018, August 22, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/video/2018/02/16/verbatim-an-ar-15-is-not-for-hunting-its?videoId=401778248]; ['An AR-15 Is for Killing': Sen. Nelson Hopes FL Shooting Is the 'Turning Point' on Gun Control, Fox News, February 16, 2018, August 22, 2018, http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/02/16/bill-nelson-florida-school-shooting-could-be-turning-point-gun-control]).

“Now, those who were killed and injured here were gunned down by a single killer with a powerful assault weapon. The motives of this killer may have been different than the mass shooters in Aurora or Newtown. But the instruments of death were so similar. And now another 49 innocent people are dead; another 53 are injured; some are still fighting for their lives; some will have wounds that will last a lifetime. We can’t anticipate or catch every single deranged person that may wish to do harm to his neighbors or his friends or his coworkers or strangers. But we can do something about the amount of damage that they do. Unfortunately, our politics have conspired to make it as easy as possible for a terrorist or just a disturbed individual like those in Aurora and Newtown to buy extraordinarily powerful weapons, and they can do so legally.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

In Orlando after the Orlando nightclub shooting ([President Obama: Orlando Families' Grief Is 'Beyond Description', Time, Maya, Rhodan, June 16, 2016, September 2, 2018, http://time.com/4372190/orlando-shooting-barack-obama-joe-biden-grief/]; [‘Our hearts are broken, too’: Obama visits survivors of Orlando rampage, Katie, Zezima, Ellen, Nakashima, Mark, Berman, June 16, 2016, September 2, 2018, The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/06/16/obama-looks-toward-grieving-orlando-in-visit-as-political-showdowns-expand-after-massacre/]; [After meeting with Orlando victims, Obama renews call for gun control, Gregory, Korte, USA Today, June 16, 2016, September 6, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/16/obama-biden-visit-orlando-emotional-visit-after-shooting/85973066/]).
2016, After the Orlando nightclub shooting (June 2016)

“As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. As a father to two young daughters who are the most precious part of my life, I know that we see ourselves with friends and coworkers at a holiday party like the one in San Bernardino. I know we see our kids in the faces of the young people killed in Paris. And I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Source: 2015, Address to the Nation by the President on San Bernardino (December 2015)

“Freedom is a God-given right. This means maximising liberty while minimising harm to others. Owning an AR-15 does no harm to others. Using it to kill people does. So murder is not a right. But property ownership — especially for defense — is.”

Raheem Kassam (1986) British journalist and politician

Twitter, 12:00 AM · Sep 2, 2019 https://mobile.twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1168161822014238720

“I want every American to succeed including Muslims. But the Muslims have to work with us. They have to work with us. They know what's going on. They know that he was bad. They knew the people in San Bernardino were bad. But you know what? They didn't turn them in. And you know what? We had death, and destruction.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

2010s, 2016, June, Speech about the Orlando Shooting (June 13, 2016)

“To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2015, Address to the Nation by the President on San Bernardino (December 2015)

“Assault weapons were designed for and should be used on our battlefields, not on our streets. There is no inalienable right to own and operate 100-round clips on AR-15 assault rifles.”

Chuck Schumer (1950) U.S. Senator from the State of New York

At the introduction of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 ([Feinstein floats assault weapons ban, Ginger, Gibson, January 24, 2013, September 6, 2018, Politico, https://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/dianne-feinstein-assault-weapons-ban-086684]).

“Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA — ordinary citizens don't need guns, as their having guns doesn't serve the State.”

Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945) Nazi officer, Commander of the SS

This quotation has not been confirmed to come from Himmler, its attribution to him on the Internet coming from some point before 2000, as in the Site of the Sentient quotelist http://web.archive.org/web/20000823073240/http://www.siteofthesentient.com/alltags.html
Disputed

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

James Fallows 4

Related quotes

Related topics