EP 722 The AR-15 and Its Devastating History

America, it is said, was a country born with a rifle in its hand, but none so devastating as the recent history of the AR-15.  Call it a semi-automatic that can be converted into an automatic or select-fire weapon it was built to try to bring death and destruction to the forces of Communism.  Today it is identified as a killing machine against civilians in this country and often the most innocent among us–our children.  In “American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15,” Zusha Elinson and our guest, Cameron McWhirter, both reporters for the Wall Street Journal, provide a painstaking, and often times painful, sweep of the history of this killing machine.  It has been described as a Frankenstein tale because Eugene Stoner, a high school-educated tinkerer, could never have imagined what he designed and built to make our fighting forces more competitive in the battles of the Cold War, like Vietnam, an engineering marvel for its simplicity and use of lighter weight materials, would in 2023 come to symbolize mass shootings and the weapon of choice for all manner of violent extremists.  Yet that’s where we are.  How did we get here?  Find out today on this podcast.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download