Bill to make the AR-15 the National Gun of America

I'm all for the AR15 being the national firearm of America for the simple reason that it'll put an end to this AWB crap. There are too many firearms that are black, killy, 30 rnd mag, that fall under the MSR umbrella. You can vote for 1911, SAA, Garand, etc., but the antis will still go after the AR15.
If you ask me, the AR15 is America's gun based on the sheer mass ownership of it (20-30 million variants).
 
Picton said:
No other firearm America has produced is as historically significant, or iconic, as the SAA. The AR is top five, definitely. And I say that as someone who dislikes ARs.
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I am all ears. How is the SAA more historically significant or iconic as the AR15, the M1 Garand, the 1911, etc.? The SAA is my favorite firearm, by the way. But I cannot see how it is as historically significant as the aforementioned three.
 
SKumar said:
I'm all for the AR15 being the national firearm of America for the simple reason that it'll put an end to this AWB crap.
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This. I have other favorites. But the AR15 is the one under attack, and is really the one that now defends American Liberty. We need to push for it to be viewed as common and appropriate for the average American household.
 
LakeTrout said:
I am all ears. How is the SAA more historically significant or iconic as the AR15, the M1 Garand, the 1911, etc.? The SAA is my favorite firearm, by the way. But I cannot see how it is as historically significant as the aforementioned three.
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Oh, I dunno.

The first affordable, commercially-viable repeater? The workhorse of the last thirty years or so of westward expansion, which was probably the most significant event in US history? The presence of that gun in countless movies, books, and other media? The gun that finally put portable, potent defensive firepower into the hands of everyone in this country who valued RKBA?

I mean, we're all welcome to our opinions. In the end, this is meaningless feel-good legislation that won't pass. I did say I'd include the AR in my top five, despite not liking it.
 
Can we make the AK the official gun of the revolution? But if this comes with a free government issued gun then I nominate the AA-12 for the national gun.
 
To me the top 5 would be (oldest to newest)
SAA
Lever action
1911
M1 Garand
AR15
I think most people can recognize those as iconic just from movies. Plenty of others are historical also but I would think these are the widest known.
 
Picton said:
Oh, I dunno.

The first affordable, commercially-viable repeater? The workhorse of the last thirty years or so of westward expansion, which was probably the most significant event in US history? The presence of that gun in countless movies, books, and other media? The gun that finally put portable, potent defensive firepower into the hands of everyone in this country who valued RKBA?

I mean, we're all welcome to our opinions. In the end, this is meaningless feel-good legislation that won't pass. I did say I'd include the AR in my top five, despite not liking it.
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You are right. Its just opinions. But its fun to talk about. I love the SAA. But I think you are mostly right about the movie, book, and other assorted media notoriety. The first commercially available repeating pistol, yes. But It came into play 23 years after California became a state. Yes, in the early to mid 1870s, things were still being sorted out on the Western side of the country, but I would certainly think of earlier percussion models as the models in use during the peak of the great expansion into the West. It also saw its first major application in battle during the slaughter of hundreds of Custer's Cavalry who were all carrying the Colt SAA which were then taken by the Indians that killed them all. I'm not sure what else it has for war time notoriety though.

Anyway, it is my favorite firearm. The most Aesthetically pleasing to me. The most enjoyable to shoot, etc. But I think with regard to American firearm significance it does not deserve the top spot. Conceptually, for being the first comercially available cartridge-based pistol that earns it a top ten. But I think it's silver screen signifficance gives it more of boost than its historical accomplishments.
 
Picton said:
No.

We don't need a "national gun." #AllGunsMatter.

Besides, if we did have one, it should obviously be the Colt SAA.
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What are you a commie? [wink]
The Garand is the one. [bow]
 
LakeTrout said:
This. I have other favorites. But the AR15 is the one under attack, and is really the one that now defends American Liberty. We need to push for it to be viewed as common and appropriate for the average American household.
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I own all the guns mentioned, But making the AR15 the National Gun would cause Liberals across the county clutch their pearls and get a massive case of the Vapours.

'In archaic usage, the vapours (or vapors) is a mental, psychical, or physical state,[1] such as hysteria, mania, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, lightheadedness, fainting, flush, withdrawal syndrome, mood swings, or PMS in which a sufferer loses mental focus. Ascribed primarily to women and thought to be caused by internal emanations (vapours) from the womb, it was related to the concept of female hysteria. The word "vapours" was subsequently used to describe a depressed or hysterical nervous condition.[2]'

Vapours (mental condition) - Wikipedia
 
LakeTrout said:
You are right. Its just opinions. But its fun to talk about. I love the SAA. But I think you are mostly right about the movie, book, and other assorted media notoriety. The first commercially available repeating pistol, yes. But It came into play 23 years after California became a state. Yes, in the early to mid 1870s, things were still being sorted out on the Western side of the country, but I would certainly think of earlier percussion models as the models in use during the peak of the great expansion into the West. It also saw its first major application in battle during the slaughter of hundreds of Custer's Cavalry who were all carrying the Colt SAA which were then taken by the Indians that killed them all. I'm not sure what else it has for war time notoriety though.

Anyway, it is my favorite firearm. The most Aesthetically pleasing to me. The most enjoyable to shoot, etc. But I think with regard to American firearm significance it does not deserve the top spot. Conceptually, for being the first comercially available cartridge-based pistol that earns it a top ten. But I think it's silver screen signifficance gives it more of boost than its historical accomplishments.
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Fair.

I also think it's worth pointing out that the AR was available to civilians for two decades before the AWB, and never really sold all that well. It's really only been "America's Gun" since 2004, and the jumpstart it got then was mostly due to the .gov creating a market for it. By banning it.

Now it's been twenty years of AR dominance. But twenty years is not very long, and a LOT of AR partisans are jumping ship for non-DI systems already. Even the .gov is doing that. I think, in the great, long sweep of US firearms history, direct impingement is going to turn out to be a technological dead end.

By contrast, the basic technology that made the SAA happen? It's still being produced and carried today.
 
My top 5 list:

SAA
Winchester 94 (or generic lever gun)
Remington 870 (or generic pump shotgun)
1911
Winchester Model 70 (or generic bolt gun)

Not feeling the love for the AR15 besides just pissing off the liberals - and if that's all you want to do I'm with you. But the popularity is pretty recent. And the sheer numbers don't tell the whole story, since people either own zero ARs or at least 5.
Definitely not the Garand - Did fine in WW2, but so did the '03 Springfield. But the Garand has no real use besides being a range toy, unlike the '03.
Thompson is cool, but has too much connection with the gangsters of the 1920s.
 
Knob Creek said:
I own all the guns mentioned, But making the AR15 the National Gun would cause Liberals across the county clutch their pearls and get a massive case of the Vapours.

'In archaic usage, the vapours (or vapors) is a mental, psychical, or physical state,[1] such as hysteria, mania, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, lightheadedness, fainting, flush, withdrawal syndrome, mood swings, or PMS in which a sufferer loses mental focus. Ascribed primarily to women and thought to be caused by internal emanations (vapours) from the womb, it was related to the concept of female hysteria. The word "vapours" was subsequently used to describe a depressed or hysterical nervous condition.[2]'

Vapours (mental condition) - Wikipedia
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They’ve already got that. I can’t think of any reason to justify not supporting the bill based on what liberals are going to feel.
 
Picton said:
Fair.

I also think it's worth pointing out that the AR was available to civilians for two decades before the AWB, and never really sold all that well. It's really only been "America's Gun" since 2004, and the jumpstart it got then was mostly due to the .gov creating a market for it. By banning it.

Now it's been twenty years of AR dominance. But twenty years is not very long, and a LOT of AR partisans are jumping ship for non-DI systems already. Even the .gov is doing that. I think, in the great, long sweep of US firearms history, direct impingement is going to turn out to be a technological dead end.

By contrast, the basic technology that made the SAA happen? It's still being produced and carried today.
Click to expand...
I agree with your points with the exception of DI going away. Remember, there was a time not long ago when everyone though piston ARs were the be all end all. And they’re just about nonexistent on the shelves nowadays. DI ARs are the king of the roost again. I wouldn’t be surprised to see all those jumping ship right now, climbing back aboard in the near future. DI just works. It shits where it sleeps and all that, but it’s reliable, accurate, and simple. And the theoretical downsides are something that the general populace will only ever encounter in theory. And that matters.

I would also argue that it deserves to be Americas gun because it is the platform that Americas longest running military service rifle is based on, even if civilian popularity is a more recent phenomenon, like you correctly stated. And I think a great deal of its popularity is that multiple generations have had success with the platform in the military service now.
 
As long as the national fruit can be the banana and the national pop song be Ice Ice Baby.

WTF??? These people need real jobs.
 
You have to love how Giffords says the ar15 wasn’t popular until after the massacre at Sandy Hook and “ the gun industry”, promoted it from then on… but their entire lawsuit was based on the promotion before the shooting, so which is it?
 
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LakeTrout said:
And I think a great deal of its popularity is that multiple generations have had success with the platform in the military service now.
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Well... maybe. But...

Most of the reason I don't like the AR is BECAUSE of the experiences I had with it in the military, lol. As soon as I got out and was no longer forced to have one, I grabbed stuff I actually wanted.

Sure. Not everyone's like me. But many probably are.

Also, @tuna makes a good point above: the numbers ain't everything. Lots of shooters have zero ARs, but lots of AR fans have a half-dozen of the damn things.
 
SKumar said:
I'm all for the AR15 being the national firearm of America for the simple reason that it'll put an end to this AWB crap. There are too many firearms that are black, killy, 30 rnd mag, that fall under the MSR umbrella. You can vote for 1911, SAA, Garand, etc., but the antis will still go after the AR15.
If you ask me, the AR15 is America's gun based on the sheer mass ownership of it (20-30 million variants).
Click to expand...
Exactly!
 

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