The purpose of this letter is correct myths surrounding the AR-15 rifle, the most popular rifle in America. 

The letters “AR” in the name of the rifle don’t stand for “Assault Rifle.” It stands for Armalite Rifle, the company that developed it in the 1950s. 

To dispel a common myth, an AR-15 rifle has never been used in Virginia for a mass shooting. AR-15 rifles are civilian copies of military rifles. They look similar on the outside but are very different on the inside.

The AR-15 rifle is not an assault rifle. A real assault rifle, by definition, must have a manual switch that allows the rifle to be fired in the automatic mode as a machine gun or in the semiautomatic mode which means that the trigger must be pulled for every shot.  AR-15s are strictly semiautomatic.

An AR-15 rifle is not a “weapon of war.” There is not a military on the planet which uses AR-15 rifles because they are not suitable for combat.

Millions of AR-15s are owned by Americans because they are lightweight, easy to operate and have very little kick when fired. They are used for sporting purposes, target shooting, competition and home defense. Many single women have one for home defense. The standard capacity magazine holds 20 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition.

It is legal for anyone with a clean record to purchase an AR-15. A license is not required to purchase any firearm, i.e. rifle, handgun and shotgun. This is the 21st century. You are not going to be dragged out of your house and lynched for having a firearm.

When President Joe Biden begs Congress to ban AR-15s, he really means that he does not want you to have the means to exercise your God-given right to defend yourself and your loved ones. This right is codified as the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and in Article I, Section 13 of the Constitution of Virginia. 

Democrats want to abolish the Second Amendment and turn honest law-abiding citizens into criminals overnight. 

Incidentally, a gun buy-back program is ludicrous because the government cannot buy-back something that it never owned. 

Please consider that gun control has nothing to do with guns; it is people control. The liberals want to take your rights away.

MIKE WILSON

Richmond