So Geraldo Rivera – the indisputable example of journalistic integrity thinks anyone who owns an AR-15 has – wait for it – a small penis. Yep, that’s what he tweeted to his 200,000 plus followers.
Excuse me?
Geraldo Rivera, courtesy of ABC News
Let’s get something straight: if there’s anything small out there it’s his brain and the same goes for those who agree with him. His comment is nothing more than a junior high level bullying tactic, usually reserved for those who lack the intelligence to debate an issue like an actual adult. We’re surprised he didn’t close out his tweet with “neener neener neeeeener!” What’s more, Rivera’s adolescent disrespect for women gun owners – many of whom own and shoot AR style rifles – is both ignorant and thoughtless.
Rather than tease Geraldo about his reporting boo boos (and there are quite a few), GOC would prefer to cite some cool AR facts (more than 16 million are privately owned) courtesy of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Interesting that we didn’t notice even one bullet point that addressed the size of anyone’s private body parts as a criteria for ownership:
- Modern sporting rifles are among the most popular firearms being sold today.
- The “AR” in “AR-15” rifle stands for ArmaLite rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. “AR” does NOT stand for “assault rifle” or “automatic rifle.”
- AR-15-style rifles are NOT “assault weapons” or “assault rifles.” An assault rifle is fully automatic, a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.
- If someone calls an AR-15-style rifle an “assault weapon,” then they’ve been duped by an agenda. The only real way to define what is an “assault weapon” is politically, as in how any given law chooses to define the term—this is why the states that have banned this category of semiautomatic firearms have done so with very different definitions.
- AR-15-style rifles can look like military rifles, such as the M-16, but by law they function like other semiautomatic civilian sporting firearms, as they fire only one round with each pull of the trigger.
- Versions of modern sporting rifles are legal to own in most states, provided the purchaser passes the mandatory FBI background check required for all retail firearm purchasers.
- Since America’s founding, civilian sporting rifles have evolved along with military firearms. The modern sporting rifle simply follows that pattern.
- These rifles’ accuracy, reliability, ruggedness and versatility serve target shooters and hunters well. They are true all-weather firearms.
- Modern sporting rifles are chambered in .22 LR, .223 (5.56 x 45mm), 6.8 SPC, .308, .450 Bushmaster and in many other calibers. Upper receivers for pistol calibers such as 9 mm, .40, and .45 are available. There are even .410 shotgun versions.
- These rifles are used for many different types of hunting, from varmint to big game. And they’re used for target shooting and in competitions.
- AR-15-style rifles are no more powerful than other hunting rifles of the same caliber and in most cases are chambered in calibers less powerful than common big-game hunting cartridges like the .30-06 Springfield and .300 Win. Mag.
- The AR-15 platform is modular. Owners like being able to affix different “uppers” (the barrel and chamber) to the “lower” (the grip, stock).
- They have been commercially sold to the American public since the 1960s.
- They are commonly-owned, with more than 16 million modern sporting rifles owned by civilians by 2018.
And, last, but certainly not least, they are a lot of fun to shoot. Take that you ignoramus…