Terror on Repeat > A rare look at the destructive power of the AR15 in America

Truth is a curious thing. It can't be found by looking at only one side of an argument, both sides must be considered and both parties must be willing to consider that their view might not be 100% correct. Without the willingness to be wrong on an issue, you can never be totally right.

What did the forefathers have in mind when they wrote the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution? In today's volatile environment, the 2nd Amendment is more important today than ever before. But did the forefathers have AR15s in mind? Of course not! They had single-shot weapons and probably could have never imagined the destructive firepower of today's popular weapons. Nevertheless, if the government turns against its own people, they will have superior firepower regardless. 

This is the quandary? How do we protect our children from massacres by mad gun owners and, at the same time, protect them from the possibility of a mad government? First, let's look at some of the facts in the in-depth article in the Washington Post, bearing in mind that WaPo is hopelessly far-left liberal, like most other American media:

TERROR ON REPEAT

A rare look at the devastation caused by AR-15 shootings

By Silvia Foster-Frau, N. Kirkpatrick and Arelis R. Hernández;  Nov. 16 at 6:00 a.m.

Mass shootings involving AR-15s have become a recurring American nightmare.

The weapon, easy to operate and widely available, is now used more than any other in the country’s deadliest mass killings.

Fired by the dozens or hundreds in rapid succession, bullets from AR-15s have blasted through classroom doors and walls. They have shredded theater seats and splintered wooden church pews. They have mangled human bodies and, in a matter of seconds, shattered the lives of people attending a concert, shopping on a Saturday afternoon, going out with friends and family, working in their offices and worshiping at church and synagogue. They have killed first-graders, teenagers, mothers, fathers and grandparents.

But the full effects of the AR-15’s destructive force are rarely seen in public.

AMERICAN ICON

A series examining the AR-15, a weapon with a singular hold on a divided nation

More stories

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What does an AR-15 do to a human body? A visual examination of the deadly damage.

A letter from Executive Editor Sally Buzbee on the AR-15 series

Decades of marketing reinvented the AR-15 into a top-selling firearm

Sutherland Springs survivors haunted by an AR-15's carnage, trauma

Magazine restrictions could reduce mass killings by AR-15s, but courts must decide

The AR-15's impact in America: Here's what The Post's examination found

Why do people own AR-15s? 33% of owners cited self-defense, poll finds

Gunmakers' growth in red states marks a divide on weapons like the AR-15

Armed with AR-15s, extremist and militia groups anticipate civil unrest

As guns saturate the United States, police turn to the AR-15

How the AR-15 became a powerful political, cultural symbol in America

Why are we showing graphic AR-15 content? A letter from the executive editor.

The Louisville bank shooter bought a gun despite struggles with mental health

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About the terminology  

The impact is often shielded by laws and court rulings that keep crime scene photos and records secret. Journalists do not typically have access to the sites of shootings to document them. Even when photographs are available, news organizations generally do not publish them, out of concern about potentially dehumanizing victims or retraumatizing their families.

Now, drawing on an extensive review of photographs, videos and police investigative files from 11 mass killings between 2012 and 2023, The Washington Post is publishing the most comprehensive account to date of the repeating pattern of destruction wrought by the AR-15 — a weapon that was originally designed for military combat but has in recent years become one of the best-selling firearms on the U.S. market.

This piece includes never-before-released pictures taken by law enforcement officials after shootings inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., in 2022, and the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., in 2017, that were obtained by The Post. It is also based on Post interviews with survivors and first responders from multiple shootings as well as transcripts of official testimony provided by law enforcement officials who were among the first to witness the carnage. Read a note here from the executive editor about how The Post decided what to publish and why.

The review lays bare how the AR-15, a weapon that has soared in popularity over the past two decades as a beloved tool for hunting, target practice and self-defense, has also given assailants the power to instantly turn everyday American gathering places into zones of gruesome violence.

This is an oral history told in three parts that follows the chronological order of a typical AR-15 mass shooting. It weaves together pictures, videos and the recollections of people who endured different tragedies but have similar stories to tell.

Now, Go to WaPo for the article:

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