Assault weapons

[GChief]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Production and ownership of the AR-15 started to skyrocket after the Assault Weapons ban was allowed to expire in 2004. It went from representing 3.6% of all firearms produced in the country that year to over 25% in 2019.

When first introduced in the 1950's the Pentagon called it “An outstanding weapon with phenomenal lethality” and it did not gain wide acceptance in the civilian arms industry until the early 2000's. Indeed, it was banished to obscure back booths at NRA events at the time and generally dissed by the sportsman community. “We’d have NRA members walk by our booth and give us the finger,” said Randy Luth, the founder of gunmaker DPMS, one of the earliest companies to market AR-15's.

Then, a handful of manufacturers saw a chance to ride a post-9/11 surge in military glorification while also stoking a desire among new gun owners to personalize their weapons with tactical accessories. “We made it look cool,” Luth said. “The same reason you buy a Corvette.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ture-politics/

And the rest is history.

I was talking semi autos in general. Yes AR's are the recent (couple decades) "scary" gun.

I bought my HK91 at a gun show in California in 1988.