How Assault Weapons Make Mass Shootings Deadlier

Photo by Dall-e

Let me tell you about my neighbor. He built this car. He put a combine with spikes on the grill so it could maul a human’s body. The thing looks like something out of Mad Max. He attached a flamethrower on the sides so he could torch people before he ran them over. He fixed a wood chipper, like a great white shark, to the back of the car. People mauled and torched would be turned to hamburger.

He fastened a massive gas tank so he could drive farther. He modified the engine with nitrus oxide so the car zaps off the line like a booster rocket. Basically, he designed this car to kill the most humans he could in the shortest amount of time.

He designed this car to kill the most humans he could in the shortest amount of time.

When I asked him about it, he said, “The car isn’t inherently dangerous. Really, it’s the person driving it. I am a good, responsible citizen. It’s just like a sport, man.”

He lobbied local lawmakers so nobody is required to have a driver’s license to drive them.

The crazy thing is — it worked. In our town, when people buy the cars, they can do whatever they want with them. My neighbor used his money to help elect pro-car city council members. Now the city doesn’t require background checks on anybody. There are no guardrails to filter out the wackos who want to do people harm.

A ridiculous story, right? Or is it? Don’t we view assault weapons the same way?

A ridiculous story, right? Or is it?

AR-15s, assault rifles, long rifles, or whatever you want to call them, are the equivalent of the cars in my idiotic story. They were made strictly for battle — engineered and refined over the years to cause the most amount of damage to human bodies in the least amount of time.

Gun manufacturers designed them to weigh less. The bullets for them were lighter, too, so soldiers in the Vietnam war could carry more ammo, and shoot more rounds in less time. They’re also very easy to use.

In her TED talk, Kyleanne Hunter, Brady’s former Vice President of Programs and a Marine Corps combat veteran, talks about AR-15s and weapons of war…