Last week New York Daily News reporter Gersh Kuntzman set out to prove just how dangerous the AR-15 really is.
Toward that end, he went to the range and fired one himself – but instead of scaring people, he invited ridicule upon himself.I fired an AR-15 for @nydailynews: It’s horrifying, dangerous and very loud @notesfromhel nydn.us/25V7usE
Kuntzman said that firing the AR-15 was “terrifying and very loud”:
“The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick. The explosions — loud like a bomb — gave me a temporary form of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.Even in semi-automatic mode, it is very simple to squeeze off two dozen rounds before you even know what has happened. If illegally modified to fully automatic mode, it doesn’t take any imagination to see dozens of bodies falling in front of your barrel.”
In addition to those who pointed out the obvious flaws in his assessment:
- he claimed to be distracted by brass flying in front of his face, but shells would have ejected away from his body
- he claimed that “even in semi-automatic mode, it is very simple to squeeze off two dozen rounds before you even know what has happened,” but semi-automatic mode only allows for one bullet per trigger squeeze
He took a beating on Twitter:
For the "man" that refers to firing an AR as "horrifying, dangerous and very loud " O.o @GershKuntzman
@GershKuntzman it's fun, and perfectly safe in the conditions you were shooting. Don't be such a pussy.@NYDailyNews@NotesFromHeL
.@GershKuntzman A short list of your errors, propaganda, and deceit. Modern journalism. YW. #4thEstate5thColumn@NYDailyNews @NotesFromHeL
And then this little girl showed him just how easy – and not scary – it was to fire an AR-15 when one has been properly trained to do so. After she easily fired 5 rounds – one at a time – she confirmed that this was the first time she had ever fired an AR-15.
Kuntzman noted on Thursday that a number of people had sent him videos of young girls firing AR-15s, and rather than feeling shamed or corrected, he simply found it “horrifying.”
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