State Rep. Brian BeGole, a former Shiawassee County sheriff, said in a statement issued Tuesday that thousands of people in Michigan own an AR-15.

Some days, those who would command govern represent us just make it too easy for, among other things, finding “post fodder.”

In the shadow of Michael William Nash’s demonstration of his 2nd Amendment rights on Saturday, according to The News…

Twelve Michigan House Republicans have sponsored a bill this month to the name the AR-15 “the official rifle of this state,” drawing criticism from opponents who labeled the proposal unserious and inappropriate.

For those who don’t know, the AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle. Bear that in mind when reading the following.

State Rep. Brian BeGole, R-Antrim Township, a former Shiawassee County sheriff, was the primary backer of the AR-15 measure and said in a statement issued Tuesday that thousands of people in Michigan own an AR-15. […] “This distinction recognizes these law-abiding gun owners who are often vilified just for having a firearm as a hobbyist or to keep their homes and families safe," BeGole said.

That’s some hobby. Keep their homes and families safe. Safe from the government BeGole has represented most of his life, according to the oft-debated 2nd Amendment.

However, Ryan Bates, director of End Gun Violence Michigan, said BeGole’s bill was about “worshiping the rifle that is the preferred weapon of mass shooters.” […] Bates noted that on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on bump stocks, a rapid-fire gun accessory that was used in a mass shooting at a music festival Las Vegas in 2017.

“That shooter used 23 AR-style rifles modified with bump stocks to kill 58 people and injure nearly 500 in mere minutes,” Bates said. “We now live in a world where any deranged person can turn an AR-style rifle into a machine gun capable of firing 400-800 rounds per minute, a level of firepower that quite simply overwhelms law enforcement.”

We all know that rabbit and pheasant can get pretty mean. And who doesn’t like their venison pre-ground? To quote my favorite philosopher and thinker, myself…

It’s forever High Noon in this nation of cowboys.

Ah, almost forgot! Use it everyday!

Alt link for your convenience via archive.is

If you can’t see the crazy person on the bus, it’s you.
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

  • Blackout@kbin.run
    42·
    6 months ago

    The AR-15 is an absolutely shitty rifle unless you were going to kill people with it. The selection is also completely oblivious to what most residents use for hunting deer. So these repubs are posers that know shit about guns. As a liberal former deer hunter I’d recommended the .308 Winchester or the 30-06 Springfield. Actual rifles people use in this state for anything but the mass killing of children.

    • Liz@midwest.socialEnglish
      13·
      6 months ago

      Ignoring the confusion between caliber and platform, .556 out of an AR-15 is still a great choice for anything roughly cat-to-human sized. Prairie Dogs, antelope, goats, sheep, foxes, coyotes, that sort of thing.

    • Fecundpossum@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      6 months ago

      See my comment above. 450 bushmaster and 350 legend are both cartridges developed the for AR platform that are lower range, lower velocity, larger bore projectiles meant to limit effective range and still have deer stopping energy.

      .223 / 5.56 is illegal to deer hunt with in Michigan because it isn’t a reliable caliber for a kill, and is more likely to wound. Your .308 or .30-06 flies way, way farther in the event of a miss, creating a concern of striking unintended targets far past your line of sight. Which is why it’s illegal to hunt with below the lower peninsula rifle line.

      • Blackout@kbin.run
        2·
        6 months ago

        It absolutely is for hunting cause that’s what everyone was using in the 80s. Probably outdated now but so is Michigan

            • SupraMario@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3·
              6 months ago

              Yea wasn’t commenting on if an AR15 chambered in 556/223 is good for deer hunting. I was commenting on your “AR15s are for killing”…no shit.

            • SupraMario@lemmy.worldEnglish
              5·
              6 months ago

              And its now for everyone. An armed minority is harder to oppress. You know why the LGBTQ+ and minority communities have the largest increase ever in gun ownership? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not because the 2nd was for slaveholders…

              • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                6 months ago

                I am way too privileged to tell you how to protect yourself. With that said you can look at it two ways

                1. Read what Patrick Henry said about it. The second amendment was to stop revolts and at the same time provide a non-federal way to have a military. Which was required because he noted that blacks who served in the revolutionary war were made free afterwards. The goal was to keep the black population enslaved. You can also read federalist paper 46 and understand that a well regulated militia is not a dude with a gun. It means an organized fighting force.

                2. The second way you can go about it is work backwards. States wanted a legal way to raise their own armies in an emergency. Well what kinda emergency were they planning for? You don’t need a guy with a musket to deal with a flood. The emergencies we are told are revolts. Who is going to revolt the white population non-slaves or the black slave population?

                The 2nd amendment existed to allow slave patrols to function. Even people who argued it was for a national guard type thing weren’t thinking of random people with guns.

                • FireTower@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  2·
                  6 months ago
                  1. Justice Story had a better take with consideration of the historical roots of the recognition of the right:

                  The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.

                  1. There’s other types of emergencies that were very pressing at the time. Namely attacks from the Iroquois Confederacy and the Crown of England (once the War of 1812 broke), just to limit it to the early republic period.

                  This 1619 type revisionism not only portrays the period in an inaccurate shade but diminishes the accomplishments of men, like Peter Salem, and ignores facts agreed upon universally by academia like that at the time of founding miltias were composed of ordinary men.

                  • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    1·
                    6 months ago

                    academia like that at the time of founding miltias were composed of ordinary men.

                    By men you mean males and what was the color of their skin?

    • raoulraoul@midwest.socialOPEnglish
      8·
      6 months ago

      Wow! Where the hell did you pop up from?! Finally, as anti-firearm as I am, a statement I can reasonably get behind! 👏 👏 👏 Thank you.

    • frezik@midwest.socialEnglish
      6·
      6 months ago

      AR15 is very popular for wild boar hunting. Not in its original caliber, though. See, one of the advantages of the platform is that it’s highly modular, and can put out 6.5 grendal just fine by switching the upper.

      • Blackout@kbin.run
        1·
        6 months ago

        Everyone is ignoring the fact I was talking about the official gun for Michigan. You can’t hunt deer like you hunt boars. The AR-15 is a stupid rifle to associate with this state. A deer hunting rifle is a better choice. But I’ve been shooting my whole life and I fucking hate everything related to that platform. I don’t think about boar hunting when it’s mentioned, I think about the San Bernardino slaughter.