Why young women want AR-15s
This past week in Georgia, an intruder entered the home of a mother and two children. The mother grabbed her two children and her gun, and proceeded to hide in a crawlspace in the attic. When the intruder entered the attic, the mother fired and hit him with five out of six shots (he still lived).
Imagining ourselves in a high-stress, violent situation, we want a gun with enough ammo, and more, to get the job done. Sometimes, you only get one shot. At other times, you may need more. When you don’t have time to reload in the heat of a home invasion, the AR-15’s 30-round magazine gives you the flexibility and security a handgun will not.
High-capacity magazines serve as a life-saving insurance mechanism, a self-defense back-up if something doesn’t go according to plan. Yet you would never think of these guns in this sense by listening to anti-gun zealots and their allies in media.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
No argument from me on this one.
Bmore on January 23, 2013 at 9:06 PM
In combat, of any type, plans seldom survive the first shot. Something WILL not go according to plan.
MikeA on January 23, 2013 at 9:06 PM
Come on, it’s not like women need to be afraid of crazed psychos entering their house to murder them, isn’t that right Sharon Tate?
Bishop on January 23, 2013 at 9:07 PM
Everything goes to hell, including your ability to do the most basic things. That is why repetitive training makes such a difference.
sharrukin on January 23, 2013 at 9:10 PM
Don’t want to argue, but she should have had a shotgun, not an AR. Just saying.
Tacitus on January 23, 2013 at 9:16 PM
I still prefer a Russian SKS or AK fitted with a 30 round clip. Bigger cal bullet and better I think for close quarters.
HondaV65 on January 23, 2013 at 9:17 PM
As I wrote a few days ago, when I went to my local gun store on gun appreciation day it was packed with young women in their twenties. On both sides of the counter. It was great to see.
Weight of Glory on January 23, 2013 at 9:17 PM
HA, I love it when you talk dirty. Where are the pics? And I might add “
allmost women need an AR-15.”arnold ziffel on January 23, 2013 at 9:18 PM
Few intruders are going to stick around and have a firefight with you unless the PURPOSE of their intrusion was to kill you in the first place. Most are going to try to get the frack out of the house as quickly as possible as soon as they discover that there is an armed occupant in there, even if they themselves are armed.
Most criminals are armed for purposes of intimidation, in order to get what it is they came for. Usually the first thing that happens after displaying a weapon is that they give a command and they expect the fact that they are armed to result in compliance with that command. If they realize they are up against someone else who is armed and that their weapon is not going to achieve its goal and now they are potentially in a firefight for their life, in most cases they will beat feet.
The reason *I* would want an AR-15 type weapon is that I am familiar with it. I know how to take it apart and put it back together. I trained with one. I qualified as an expert marksman with one. In sort: I know how to use it and feel comfortable with it. That should be reason enough. And frankly, the 30 round banana clips can be more of a pain than a help sometimes. I’d be fine with a 20 round magazine.
In a home invasion / intruder situation, what you probably want is a good tactical shotgun and/or a good sidearm. Rifles like the AR-15 are great for taking targets out that are 50 feet or more away but for really close “in your face” which is what you likely face if you have to hide in a closet or something, a piece like a .45 automatic pistol or a shotgun is going to do you better. Fire the shotgun in the general direction of the intruder(s) and you are likely to make your point but you are going to have to replace more drywall.
crosspatch on January 23, 2013 at 9:18 PM
And the 30 round mag was mainly ment for automatic fire where you are trying to get 3 round bursts. A 30 round mag is 10 bursts. If you are firing semi-automatic, that big magazine can get in the way.
crosspatch on January 23, 2013 at 9:19 PM
Don’t want to argue, but she should have had a shotgun, not an AR. Just saying.
Tacitus on January 23, 2013 at 9:16 PM
Agreed. Mrs. DiscePati has the Remington 870 Express to keep her safe while I’m away. Better for home defense IMHO.
DiscePati on January 23, 2013 at 9:19 PM
The AR’s recoil system and high degree of Modding ability make it a superb weapon system for women. The six position adjustible buttstock makes fitting any sized user a snap. Compared to comparable semi auto weapon systems, it is relatively lightweight and portable. six to ten mags of ammo are easily carried by people of smaller stature. thirty plus rounds at your fingertips makes facing a mob of wilding rapists easier compared to being limited to say six shots or seven.
tom daschle concerned on January 23, 2013 at 9:19 PM
Because you can get pink “Hello Kitty” furniture for it!
http://www.2dayblog.com/images/2008/january/hellokitty_ar15assault_2.jpg
ProfShadow on January 23, 2013 at 9:20 PM
And they may not take the hint, which is when a 30-round magazine comes in handy rather than 7 or 8 rounds in a shotgun, or an M1911. Also a .45 is a pistol, which is less accurate generally and is often harder for a woman to shoot. The round from an AK or an AR is much more powerful and far more likely to take someone down than a pistol.
sharrukin on January 23, 2013 at 9:28 PM
Works for me, maybe not for her. She had a .38 revolver if memory serves. A Sig .40 or 1911 might have been helpful to her. She had to deal with the children while all this was going down, plus I think she was on the phone with hubby and heading up the attic stairs. Shotgun may have been too much. Same for the AR. I figured the writer was talking amount of rounds more than gun model. Could be wrong.
Bmore on January 23, 2013 at 9:36 PM
Regardless, I’m just glad she shot the bastard up. Protected herself and children.
Bmore on January 23, 2013 at 9:37 PM
The one thing I do love about a pump action shotgun is that universally feared sound when its chambered. Lol!
Bmore on January 23, 2013 at 9:41 PM
I’m beginning to think keeping a glock with a 30rd mag is a good choice for home defense. you never know how many are threatening and how bad your aim will be under duress.
tom daschle concerned on January 23, 2013 at 9:43 PM
Not a big fan of Glock but I get your point and agree.
Bmore on January 23, 2013 at 9:48 PM
If I hit you in the shoulder with a .45 soft nose hollow point, your arm is likely coming off. A .223 has more force but it is also more likely to pass through taking a significant amount of its energy with it. The .45 will most likely lose ALL of its energy inside the target.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe6hEcdki_8
vs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-WMeBplZSs
It is my personal belief that the .45 unjacketed hollow point is safer and more effective in a residential configuration. If you miss with the .45, it is going to lose a lot more energy on whatever it hits than the .223 will. I am not likely to get into a situation where a round passes through my wall, then goes through a neighbors wall killing or injuring a neighbor but that can well happen with a 5.56 or a 7.62 round.
crosspatch on January 23, 2013 at 10:21 PM
I’ve used AKs with 30, 40 and 75 round mags; FALs with 30 round mags; and HKs with 40 round mags in combat. Rarely did I use full-auto. I preferred semi.
And never did a larger mag – with more ammo at my disposal – get in my way.
Solaratov on January 23, 2013 at 10:32 PM
a)Your weapon should already have a round chambered when you go to confront the enemy;
b)When you make that “fearsome” noise with the shotgun (which won’t really scare someone who has already had the balls to enter your home surreptitiously), you give away your position and the element of surprise.
Solaratov on January 23, 2013 at 10:37 PM
I’m trying to think of a single time I’ve heard of a law enforcement officer, soldier, or citizen involved in a shooting while defending themselves or their loved ones say, “Dang, I had way too much ammo just then.”
rogerb on January 23, 2013 at 10:39 PM
Too many movies.
9mm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92j3g168dIY
The 9mm looks more impressive.
It isn’t. The .45 is a more powerful round.
So is the 7.62mmX39 and the 5.56mmX45
The most important thing is to have a weapon you are trained on and are comfortable with. A high-capacity magazine is also very valuable because you will be in terror and facing an unknown situation potentially with multiple attackers.
sharrukin on January 23, 2013 at 10:47 PM
heh. Great Link. Will research
Off Topic: the mother link has a funny section, page down to “How I See Things and How My Cat Sees Things!”
Before the AR-15 got Left Wing attention, I went to a gunshop with a friend who was buying one. Grandma of family who owned the shop told me she recommended it as a good ladies’ gun. The type of light, small caliber weapon used in some Olympic events specifically because ladies could handle it
For home invasion I have a pump shotgun. Idea was intruder would hear me pump the weapon, understand it was a shotgun, and leave. Shot was more likely to stop in the wall, and less likely to drill the neighbor. Found out people who are high and/or crazy don’t scare when they hear the gun load. Found out crazy people scare me. For step two, hiding from crazy people, a handgun is so useful
But for elegance, nothing like AR-15 which looks like an assault rifle, the ladies’ choice. Gets me how the libs fear the image, without understanding the reality
entagor on January 23, 2013 at 11:07 PM
If the Marxists get their way, she’ll have a pea-shooter with as many peas as she can carry.
The Rogue Tomato on January 23, 2013 at 11:08 PM
Best gun ever. Especially for men. The bad guys will be so busy laughing at you that you can kill them all before they get a shot off.
The Rogue Tomato on January 23, 2013 at 11:10 PM