There are renewed calls to ban AR-15 rifles in the US as the weapon was reportedly used by the gunman in Lewiston, Maine, who killed at least 22 people and injured dozens of others on Tuesday evening.
The weapons have been used in massacres that horrified the nation, including one that left 10 people dead at a supermarket in Buffalo and another in which 19 children and two teachers were shot dead in Uvalde, Texas.
The weapon first gained national attention when it was believed to have been used by crazed gunman Adam Lanza when he slaughtered 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut in 2012.
The weapon Lanza used was an “AR-15 style rifle” made by Remington, known as Bushmaster.
Since then, activists have used images of the weapon to symbolize the need for gun control, arguing that the assault rifle is a weapon of war and there is no need for members of the public to own it.
Gun violence prevention activist Shannon Watts epitomized the response from activists who repeatedly tweeted Tuesday night, “It’s harder to buy Sudafed than an AR-15 in Maine.”
There are renewed calls to ban AR-15 rifles in the US
Anti-gun activist Shannon Watts immediately began expressing her outrage over the accessibility of guns in Maine after news of the shooting emerged
The liberal pastor called on his followers to stop voting for Republicans who oppose the assault rifle ban
Parkland High School student David Hogg called out Rep. Lauren Boebert’s call for prayers for Lewiston
In the wake of Tuesday’s mass shooting, liberal pastor John Pavlovitz said on Facebook, “The mass shooting in Maine was carried out with the same AR-15 that Republicans in Congress wear pins of. If you want to stop gun violence, stop electing Republicans.”
One person left a comment under that post: ‘And another mass shooting in America…Another AR-15….22 dead…Over +60 people injured/severely injured…More guns is NOT the answer…Thoughts and prayers is NOT the answer.’
While the liberal lobby group Stand for Better posted a message on X that read: “Two mass shootings in Lewiston Maine. At least 16 dead. Rest assured, House Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP will enact a national abortion ban instead of banning the AR-15.”
A Maine resident, meanwhile, called out Senator Susan Collins after her official account posted a photo of person of interest Robert Card, asking for information about the suspect.
The resident chastised the Republican senator for voting against an assault weapons ban.
“It’s almost like giving people weapons of war and then putting them on the honor system doesn’t work…,” Shannon Watts later wrote on X.
In response, right-wing activist Laura Loomer claimed that liberal outrage is merely an election strategy. “Today, expect Joe Biden and Democrats to blame conservatives for last night’s shooting in #Maine. Democrats want to make gun control and abortion the two biggest issues on the 2024 ballot.
Cindy Robinson, host of Conspiracy Truths, also said Democrats would likely use the shooting to push for a “gun grab.”
“Maine is completely Democratic and RINO controlled, but I’m sure the FBI will find a way to implement a gun grab anyway,” she wrote on X.
In April 2023, Washington state became the ninth Democratic-led state to ban the purchase of AR-15 style rifles.
California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Illinois, Delaware and the District of Columbia are the other states with similar bans.
Despite California having had a number of shootings since then, the Golden State still ranks number one in terms of mass shootings with 26, twice as many as second-place Texas, where no such ban exists.
Just this week, a federal judge in California overturned the state’s ban on assault rifles, calling the ban unconstitutional.
Earlier this year, a group of Republicans controversially wore assault rifle pins on their lapels during a hearing on gun safety on Capitol Hill. Those wearing the pins included under-fire Rep. George Santos and Colorad’s Lauren Boebert.
Boebert called those hearings a “political stunt” by Democrats.
Rep. George Santos, who is facing charges of misusing campaign funds, wore an assault rifle lapel pin on Capitol Hill in February
In July 2022, the Committee on Oversight and Reform said some ads mimic popular first-person shooter video games or tout the weapons’ military origins, while others claim the guns will put buyers “at the top of the testosterone food chain.”
These sales tactics are “deeply disturbing, exploitative and reckless,” said Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York. “In short, the gun industry profits from the blood of innocent Americans.”
Gunmakers, on the other hand, said AR-15-style rifles are responsible for a small portion of gun homicides and that the blame should fall on the shooters rather than their weapons.
“What we saw in Uvalde, Buffalo and Highland Park was pure evil,” said Marty Daniels, the CEO of Daniel Defense, the company that made the gun used in the Uvalde shooting. “The brutality of the killers who committed these acts is unfathomable and deeply troubles me, my family, my employees and millions of Americans across this country.”
However, he later added in his testimony before the committee: “I believe these murders are local problems that need to be solved locally.”
Gun violence has increased overall in 2020, but recent statistics indicate that violence is declining in many cities this year.
Assault weapons as defined by law are more dangerous than other firearms and are disproportionately used in crimes, mass shootings and against law enforcement, resulting in more victims, the attorney general’s office argued in 2021, and their exclusion “advances the important public opinion of the state’. security interests.’