by Ken Stiles

“We have finally reached a place where we have a critical mass of legislators who are willing to vote for bills that save lives – not that you hope will save lives, but bills that are written based on data and evidence, and empirically we know they save lives,”

So said Governor Abigail Spanberger about legislation, which she signed, that restricts the sale and purchase of the AR-15 style rifle/carbine in Virginia.

Delegate Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax Station had this to say:

“Weapons similar to those I carried in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be trafficked in our commonwealth. … I think the high-capacity magazines that so oftentimes have been involved in instances of mass shootings that lead to mass death should be removed from Virginia.”

Spanberger said she was signing HB 217 into law “because firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets.”

But she admitted that the AR-15 holds a special place in America when she added, “While the General Assembly chose not to adopt my amendment that specifically carves out certain firearms frequently used for hunting, I will work with the patrons to clarify this language.”

The rhetoric echoed that of Vice President Harris, speaking in May 2022: “You know what an assault weapon is? You know how an assault weapon was designed? It was designed for a specific purpose – to kill a lot of human beings quickly. An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in a civil society.”

All of the above, except the governor’s caveat about the special carve out are based on emotional dribble grounded on lies and ignorance.

Let’s examine a few facts:

A. 44,000,000

B. 490, 464, 570, 533, 401

C. 726, 586, 752, 744, 633

D. 58

A. 44,000,000 is the estimated number of legally owned AR-15 style rifles in citizens’ hands. (Georgetown University, NSSF). Given that the estimated population of Americans over 20 years old is about 210 million, that equates to one in five citizens owning this firearm. This certainly qualifies it as ‘commonly owned’ firearm as detailed, and protected, in recent SCOTUS rulings.

B. These are the number of murders committed in America by rifles OF ALL TYPES from 2020 to 2024, as per the FBI CDE database. That’s a very small fraction of the total number of murders, and even a smaller percentage of the AR-15 rifles in America — do the math.

C. These are the number of murders committed by HANDS and FEET from 2020 to 2024, as per the FBI CDE database. Given the larger number than those committed by rifles, shouldn’t legislation – which should be based on facts as per our illustrious Gov – focus on the deadlier threat?

D. These are the number of homicides in Virginia as per the FBI data.

This number is one-sixteenth that for sidearms and one-third of that for knives.

Shouldn’t the law focus on the deadlier threat?

Circling back to the emotional dribble put forth by the Dems, Helmer’s inane statement that the AR-15 style rifle is “similar to those I carried in Iraq and Afghanistan” shows he is either the worse soldier ever or a liar, or both.

He never fired, carried, or used a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. He carried either a M-16 or M-4 assault rifle —— calling a goose a duck, does not make it a duck. If he truly does not know the difference between the two firearms, his lack of firearms knowledge is embarrassing for him, his training officers, and his command. The factual difference between the two has been explained on this blog many times before, so I won’t go into it here.

The Gov and VP both stated that semi-automatic AR-15 style rifles are only designed to inflict “maximum casualties” — to kill a lot of people — very quickly.

If this is true please explain why virtually every Virginia Law Enforcement patrol vehicle has an AR-15 rifle/carbine, according to every LEO I’ve worked with and talked to, as well as a study by the Joyce Foundation and PERF.

This fear mongering by the left is simply a lie.

It’s sooooo untrue that Del. Helmer had to create a term – ‘assault firearm’ for his legislation, then emotionally add characteristics to define such a term, in true Humpty Dumpty fashion [“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean- neither more nor less.”]

Helmer’s ‘new’ term is defined as any semi-automatic rifle which has the ability to use magazines that hold more than 15 rounds, a forearm grip, a collapsible stock, or a threaded barrel that accepts silencers. Laughable —- these ‘diabolic, evil traits’ have nothing to do with illegality — please give ten examples where a rifle/carbine with those characteristics were used in a crime.

Finally, please explain why any magazine which holds more than 15 rounds should be illegal! Why is 15 good, but 16 evil? Some people with no firearms knowledge, and which have probably never touched a gun, much less fired one, state the arbitrary magazine capacity allows for faster death and destruction.

Please provide your times of firing an AR-15 [and hits on target at 50 yards] with a single 30-round magazine versus two 15-round magazines versus three 10-round magazines. The time difference will be about 15-30 seconds. Remember that the 1994 Clinton ‘Assault Weapon’ ban made magazines holding more than 10 rounds illegal. The FBI research of the impact of the law ten years later proved the ban had NO EFFECT on crime.

Finally, SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas has written in court decisions [the law of the land], “The AR–15 is a civilian, not military, weapon. No army in the world uses a service rifle that is only semiautomatic… [and a] common semi-automatic firearms used for lawful purposes.”

And….

“The AR–15 is the most popular semi-automatic rifle” in America and is therefore undeniably “in common use today.”

This, and the other 2A-abridging laws, are a solution for an imagery, false problem. Use facts, not feelings when creating and passing laws — such an approach helps everyone.

Ken Stiles, retired spy prof, lives in Blacksburg.