HARRISBURG — The nine-day Great American Outdoor Show features plenty of exhibits dealing with firearms safety and education. That’s expected, since the National Rifle Association is sponser of the show.
The show — the largest outdoors show of its kind in the country — kicks off Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Pennsylvania State Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg.
There are manufacturers with all types of shotguns and rifles that are commonly associated with hunting and shooting sports. For most Pennsylvanians, that means pump-action and auto-loading shotguns and bolt- and lever-action rifles. In addition, many models of AR-style rifles are found, but they are less familiar to many Pennsylvania hunters because semi-automatic rifles are illegal for deer hunting in the state.
Most are familiar with the modern sporting arm known as the AR-15, but when asked what those initials mean incorrectly guess automatic or assault rifle. AR actually stands for ArmaLite Rifle, the original manufacturer of this type of firearm, which first built the M-15 as a selective-fire rifle for the United States Armed Forces.
Following a number of financial setbacks, ArmaLite sold the design to Colt Firearms in 1959, and the original select-fire version rifle entered the military system as the M16 rifle. Civilian ownership of fully automatic firearms, like the M16, has been severely restricted since 1934 when the National Firearms Act was passed, but semi-automatic forms of the AR have become one of the most popular firearms in America among target shooters and hunters where they legally may be used.
“First off, it’s not an assault rifle,” Colt Firearms spokesman Mike Guerra said. “We call it the modern sporting rifle because these guns are all used legitimately every day for sporting purposes.
“During the Vietnam Era, the ArmaLite platform was designed as the M16, which is a true assault rifle, a military grade machine gun that is fully automatic. It is not legal to possess one in the United States without a federal permit.
“Colt began selling semi-automatic versions of the fully automatic M16 rifle as the Colt AR-15 for civilian sales in 1963. Though Colt owns the trademark for the AR-15, variations of the firearm are being modified and independently sold by other companies.”
One reason the AR-15 appears to be alarming is its cosmetics, as the Colt AR-15 available for sale to the public has a military look. These rifles shoot the same as a hunting rifle, with only one shot per each pull of the trigger.
Another myth is that a modern sporting rifle can shoot faster than a handgun as both are semi-automatic and the trigger must be squeezed each time it is fired. Fully automatic firearms fire continuously when the trigger is held down, so in reality the modern sporting rifle and the pistol are very close in shooting speed.
A demonstration by the Colt Firearms Company shown on television news broadcasts recorded the time it took to fire three rounds from a Colt AR-15, a semi-automatic pistol and an automatic rifle with a hand guard and a pistol grip. An AR took 1.53 seconds to shoot three rounds, the pistol took 1.46 seconds to shoot three rounds and the fully automatic military rifle fired by a state police officer took just 1.56 seconds to get off 30 rounds.
“Our research has revealed that one of the reasons AR-style firearms are popular is because many servicemen and women, as well as ex-law enforcement officers, are buying them,” CEO of Colt Manufacturing Dennis Veilleux said. “They like to hunt and shoot and their first choice in a firearm will be what they are most familiar and comfortable with and is a large part of why this rifle has become more and more popular.
“More than 4 million modern sporting rifles have been purchased in the last 10 years, and the rifle’s ergonomics, accuracy, low recoil and versatility are prized by target shooters and hunters, as well as those who own them for personal and home defense,’’ he added. “These rifles are the latest examples of a long-established trend in which firearm models used by the military, such as the bolt-action rifle of World War I and the semiautomatic M-1 of World War II, have become popular with civilians who use them for recreational shooting.
“This is the same trend that makes the semi-automatic AR-15, similar in appearance to the fully automatic M16 developed for the military in the early 1960s, so popular. Just remember the AR-15 is a semi-automatic firearm like the sport hunting rifles and pistols that many hunters and target shooters use afield and at target ranges.”
