This fact sheet is brought to you by the Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association and as it applies to Maryland the facts are also useful for the entire nation. Read and share everywhere.
Maryland –-(Ammoland.com)- The AR-15 type rifle is the most popular rifle in the U.S. Over 2 million have been sold between 2000 and 2010 according to ATF.
There are over 55,000 AR-15 type rifles registered in Maryland (quote from Governor O’Malley).
2 rifles were used in murders in Maryland in 2011 (latest date that FBI statistics are available)–neither was an AR-15 type rifle or other firearm described as an “assault rifle.” Nation-wide, less than 2% all violent crimes are committed with rifles of all types. So-called assault rifles are used in even less.
So-called assault rifles are not the weapon of choice by criminals.
Maryland already considers these so-called assault rifles to be regulated firearms and requires a background check by the State Police and a 7 day wait to take delivery.
The rifles targeted by the proposed “Assault Weapons Ban” are all semi-automatic firearms. They fire one bullet with each pull of the trigger.
Most of the criteria to “qualify” as a so-called assault rifle are cosmetic in nature, i.e. pistol grips, thumbhole stocks, flash suppressor, or a collapsible or folding stock. A similar stock can be attached to a Ruger Ranch rifle and suddenly it becomes a so-called assault rifle.
So-called assault rifles are often described as “powerful“, yet when the actual ballistics are examined a .223 caliber Remington has 1282 foot-pounds of energy as the bullet exits the barrel; a .30-30 Winchester (a rather weak deer cartridge) has an energy of 1902 foot-pounds as the bullet exits the barrel; a .30-06 cartridge (a much more common deer cartridge) has an energy of 2913 foot-pounds as the bullet exits it’s barrel. So the so-called assault rifles are really not all that powerful. The minimum energy allowed for a rifle to hunt deer in Maryland is 1200 foot-pounds, so the .223 Remington cartridge is just barely legal in Maryland for deer. Many states will not allow the .223 Remington cartridge to be used on deer as it is not viewed as powerful enough.
True assault rifles are capable of full automatic fire, i.e. they fire more than on bullet with a single pull of the trigger. These have been severely regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA).
No legally registered NFA firearm has ever been used in the commission of crime!!
About:
The Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association (MSRPA) is the flagship Gun Rights organization in and for the State of Maryland. The Association offers both individual and club memberships. Support of the shooting disciplines and legislative activities is primarily through a systems of committees. All participants are volunteers.
In the face of a near tidal wave of citizen disarmament occurring in Maryland, the MSRPA has played a critical part in drawing the line and standing firm for Gun Rights. Without this resistance, things would have been much worse and been so much sooner. Now the objective is to continue to develop new activists with numerous individual skills who will help us bring Maryland into line with the rest of the states which have made strong gains in protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Visit: www.msrpa.org