That Evil Gun Again: AR-15s, Suppressors and the New York Spree Killer

It’s an all too predictable cycle: There’s an active shooter, he takes out innocent people, then the murderous killer takes the coward’s way out and it all blows up in the mainstream media. The most recent incident took place last night when another mentally unbalanced oxygen thief decided to take revenge on the National Football League. The man in question, 27-year-old Shane Tamura, used an AR platform gun and it took no time at all for the screams of “assault rifle” and “no civilian needs this” to flood the newsfeeds.

That…shoulder thingy that goes up

It’s nothing new to see Moms Demand Action’s Shannon Watts shriek into the ether — yet again — about how civilians don’t need semi-automatic rifles (and yes, the hoplophobic harpy took to the platform formerly known as Twitter with lightning speed last night). Neither is it unusual to see the AR-15 referred to as a “high-power” rifle capable of firing thousands of rounds in tenths of a second. But there are some new elements here. A few actually.

When news of the active killer–yes the killer, not the shooter–hit, the early word was that the rifle he used was equipped with a suppressor, probably due to this security camera image of Tamura walking into the Midtown Manhattan building he had targeted.

We generally follow the 24-hour rule in these situations before weighing in. So much of what’s initially reported is ignorant speculation, shockingly misinformed, slanted, wrong, or downright lies that basing anything on early reports is just dangerous. The initial “facts” are always twisted and hazy and reality takes time to spin out (if it ever does).

Then a photo surfaced of the inanimate object that the now room temperature Tamura used during his killing spree, and there was no suppressor.

Even so, those early whispers were enough to start a debate. After all, we’ve been watching the latest suppressor drama play out with the tax stamp fee being eliminated…and then a bill introduced to raise the tax to over four grand. It’s a thing. If the killer had used a suppressor, it would have been (relatively) unique and also interesting timing-wise.

Bear with me, I’m getting to the point.

With no suppressor used, though, the inevitable furor immediately flipped to “assault rifles” themselves. Now, we all know the AR-15 isn’t an assault rifle. Not even the ATF defines them as such. Even worse, Tamura’s rifle had a handguard (!), a flashlight, a sling–and it’s high-powered! All of these features, of course, add up to make it more lethal than ever, or so the clueless media and gun control industry claims.

I’ve said this so many times I should just have it tattooed on my face: A tool is only as dangerous as its user. As for the specific type of tool, no, it doesn’t matter. A gun is a gun, and a killer is a killer regardless of what they use to carry out their murderous plan. If this guy had driven across the country to Manhattan wielding a sharp stick and had enough determination, he still could’ve killed just as many people. Don’t believe me?

Wait, what happened?

An incident took place in Michigan recently–and I mean very recently–that ties into the murders in NYC. A crazy man with a pocket knife decided it was a beautiful day to kill, so he waltzed into a Michigan Walmart and stabbed 11 people. Early reports indicated that six victims were in critical condition and five were seriously injured.

Stop and think about that. He had folding knife and he managed to inflict life-threatening injuries on almost a dozen people before he was stopped (by a good guy with a gun).

Where’s the frenzy over “assault knives?” If the Walmart attack had happened in the UK, you know it’d be everywhere. This, they’d scream, is why edged weapons of any kind are dangerous and civilians can’t even be trusted with even butter knives. But here in America, not only did that not happen, the coverage of the entire incident has disappeared. The media have moved on.

Here’s another aspect that’s interesting, and you’re welcome to flock to the comments over it.

CNN looks for a white man

It’s true that the profile of the typical mass shooter is overwhelmingly white and male. Without drowning in statistics, suffice to say that’s the reality. However, yesterday’s murderer was mixed race, black and Asian. That’s more rare.

Guess who else was black. The man who stopped the stabbing spree in that Michigan Walmart.

We all make use of statistics and studies for a reason, and part of that is to predict trends and take a deeper dive into psychology, but set that aside for a minute. In the last week we’ve had one man save lives and another take them–both were minorities. And guess what…it doesn’t matter at all.

Much is implied about and made of the evils of the white man by mainstream media. The fact that evil can and does come in all colors doesn’t seem to register, or it’s quickly downplayed. It doesn’t matter if the murderer was purple with pink polka dots. Skin color has nothing to do with what happened.

Beating the dead (gun) horse

I get it. Politicians, the media and the gun control industry love to waive the bloody shirt to further their particular agendas. Both sides of the aisle do it. But there’s something about the joy with which the anti-gun side goes after the AR-15 especially nauseating. They’re nothing short of gleeful to have the opportunity to pounce on the AR-15 when some broken freak kills someone (Tamura was also reported to have had a revolver in his vehicle that the police found later). They don’t care a whit about the dead bodies. It’s all about grandstanding and furthering their agenda.

The truth is, it doesn’t take much skill or special weaponry to commit murder, it just takes evil intent. It doesn’t matter if the AR-15 is a pistol, an SBR, a rifle, or identifies as a kazoo. A pistol brace rather than a stock doesn’t make it more lethal, and a flashlight mounted on the handguard doesn’t increase velocity or maneuverability. As for the sling, well, the killer wasn’t even using it when he was caught on camera strolling into the building. Four people were reportedly killed and one injured. Tamura could’ve used that revolver instead, and done just as much damage.

Just once it would be nice to see a politician stand up and denounce the evil of it all. Criminals act criminally, the mentally ill can be dangerous, and they use whatever tools they can get their hands on. When they opportunistically use their evil deeds to harp on the scourge of so-called assault rifles, they miss the point entirely. Bombs, machetes, knives, cars…they’ve all been used to kill. Murder has been around since Cain and Abel. It’s because some people suck and evil people make headlines. End of story.

As for me and my (multiple) AR-15s, we manage not to be murderous assholes. Shocking, right? It’s almost like it’s all about the person behind the gun. And that, guys, is something people like Shannon Watts will never comprehend, let alone acknowledge.