User:Mox La Push/sandbox2

Hunting
Many hunters prefer using AR-15 style rifles because of their versatility, accuracy, wide variety of available features, and wide variety of calibers (see below). Collapsible stocks are convenient for hunters who pack their rifles into remote hunting locations or for length of pull adjustments to fit any sized hunter. Construction with lightweight polymers and corrosion-resistant alloys makes these rifles preferred for hunting in moist environments with less concern about rusting or warping wood stocks. Positioning of the AR-15 safety is an improvement over traditional bolt action hunting rifles. Many states require hunters to use reduced-capacity magazines. If a hunter misses with a first shot, the self-loading feature enables rapid follow-up shots against dangerous animals like feral pigs or rapidly moving animals like jackrabbits. Hunters shooting larger game animals often use upper receivers and barrels adapted for larger cartridges or heavier bullets. Several states prohibit the use of .22 caliber cartridges like the .223 Remington on large game.

In crime and mass shootings
Most firearm-related homicides in the United States involve handguns. A 2019 Pew Research study found that 4% of US gun deaths were caused by semi-automatic rifles, a category which includes AR-15 style rifles. According to a 2013 analysis by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, 14 out of 93 mass shootings involved high-capacity magazines or assault weapons. Nevertheless, AR-15 style rifles have played a prominent role in many high-profile mass shootings in the United States and have come to be widely characterized as the weapon of choice for perpetrators of these crimes. AR-15s or similar rifles were the primary weapons used in around half of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern American history, including the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, the 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting, and the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Gun expert Dean Hazen and mass murder researcher Pete Blair think that mass shooters' gun choices have less to do with the AR-15's specific characteristics but rather with familiarity and a copycat effect.

Following the use of a Colt AR-15 rifle in the Port Arthur massacre, the worst single-person shooting incident in Australian history, the country enacted the National Firearms Agreement in 1996, restricting the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles. (Category D ). As a result of the Christchurch mosque shootings with an AR-15 during Friday Prayer on 15 March 2019, the New Zealand government enacted a law to ban semi-automatic firearms, magazines, and parts that can be used to assemble prohibited firearms. After the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, the deadliest rampage by a single person in Canadian history, Canada banned a class of rifles, including the AR-15.

Personal defense
During the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security solicited contract bids for 7,000 Personal Defense Weapons (PDWs), select-fire versions of the AR-15. It described the PDW as "5.56x45mm NATO, select-fire firearm suitable for personal defense use in close quarters and/or when maximum concealment is required." US WA Times quotes, not gov doc


 * https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/27/homeland-security-seeking-7000-assault-weapons-per/
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20130806185242/https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=09c3d5e933bc24416b752b57294a17b3
 * https://gundigest.com/article/why-an-ar-15-for-home-defense-is-the-best-choice
 * https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Houston-police-patrolling-Houston-airports-with-12372755.php
 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-qzCfmLjqs
 * https://www.vox.com/2016/6/20/11975850/ar-15-owner-orlando