• Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      3 months ago

      If the AR is for the AR-15, then you’re mistaken on the meaning. That doesn’t stand for assault rifle. It’s for Armalite, the original developer of the gun.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Armalite Rifle Assault Rifle is a bit clumsy. But people get so intensely hung up on the jargon because they’re angry the conversation is even happening.

        Guy with a locker full of guns shits the bed when his son goes on a murder spree, and then we all get an earful about how we don’t know enough about guns to understand why he was a reckless owner.

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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          3 months ago

          AR is just for Armalite, not Armalite rifle. Anyway, ywa it doesn’t matter.

    • ArchRecord@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      It’s an entirely innocuous statement. What are they supposed to say instead?

      • “15 Assault Rifle” or “Assault Rifle 15” just makes no sense.
      • “AR-15” isn’t understood by all people to mean an assault rifle, since not everyone knows gun names.
      • “Assault Rifle” doesn’t tell people which kind of assault rifle it is, since the AR in AR-15 stands for ArmaLite.

      It’s a statement that gives the most possible context to the reader about:

      • What design of assault rifle it is
      • What type of gun it is in general
      • While also allowing readers to then learn the definition of the sole term “AR-15” over time
    • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      The “AR” in “AR-15” doesn’t stand for “Assault Rifle” though. It stands for “Armalite-15”. Armalite being the company that originally developed the modular firing mechanism that we all know today. Technically speaking, the only part that is legally classified as a gun is the actual firing mechanism that Armalite developed; Everything else (like the barrel, stock, and handle) is just add-ons and accessories.

      So yeah, calling it an AR-15 assault rifle would be correct. Though there’s also the debate on what actually constitutes an “assault rifle”, as people seem to just use a “you’ll know it when you see it” rule for identifying assault rifles.