RMF FM reporter Kacper Wróblewski reported that the man who opened fire on random people in Krakow was shooting with an AR-15 rifle. It was the civilian version. Spokesman of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Krakow, deputy inspector. Katarzyna Cisło pointed out that the man also had many other weapons and ammunition in his car.
Unfortunately, the AR-15 is a weapon that appears very often in the context of tragedy, especially in the United States. Just go back to July 13, 2024, when US President Donald Trump (then candidate) was shot in the ear during an election rally in Butler. An AR-15 semi-automatic rifle was found next to the attacker's body. Two such weapons were bought by Salvador Ramos, the teenager who committed the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. An entire arsenal of weapons, including several AR-15s, was found in the hotel room of Stephen Paddock, who was responsible for the Las Vegas shooting. 61 people died there.
AR-15: from military experiment to "America's rifle"
AR-15-style weapons are semi-automatic, which means the shooter must squeeze the trigger to fire each shot from a magazine that can hold 30 rounds. A shooter using a fully automatic assault rifle can press and hold the trigger and the weapon will fire until the ammunition is depleted.
AR-15, according to CNN, was developed by Armalite as a light rifle initially intended for military applications. The abbreviation "AR" comes from the manufacturer's name (Armalite Rifle) - and not from the term "assault rifle", as is often wrongly believed. The design was to combine low weight with a high rate of fire and use lighter ammunition with a high muzzle velocity.
The rifle's design was prepared by, among others, Eugene Stoner, Robert Fremont and L. James Sullivan. The weapon was supposed to be easier to carry than older military designs, and the use of small-caliber ammunition allowed soldiers to take a larger supply of bullets with them. The designers' assumptions were that the bullet's speed was to increase its effectiveness on the battlefield.
However, Armalite failed to achieve widespread introduction of the rifle into the US armed forces. In 1959, the company, struggling with financial problems, sold the rights to the design to Colt. It was Colt who developed the design and led to his military career. In 1962, the purchase of the first batch of rifles for testing was approved. The automatic version, capable of continuous and single fire, was designated M16 and was introduced into use during the Vietnam War.
The civilian career of the rifle
Shortly after military production began, Colt began offering a civilian, semi-automatic version of the design. The rifle was sold, among others, under the name AR-15 Sporter and was presented as a weapon intended for shooting and hunting. Initially, however, it did not enjoy mass popularity. For some traditional shooters, its modern appearance, plastic construction and military origin were disadvantages, not advantages.
Over time, the AR-15 found recipients among sports shooters, collectors, uniformed services and people interested in preparing for crisis situations. Its modular design also increased its popularity. Users could relatively easily replace stocks, beds, sights and grips, among others. As a result, the term "AR-15" came to mean not only a specific Colt model, but also a broad family of civilian rifles based on a similar platform.
Gun control advocates told NPR, a U.S. public broadcaster, in 2018 that the AR-15, like its military version, "was designed to kill large numbers of people quickly." Opponents of access to guns say they have no legitimate recreational use and civilians should not be allowed to possess them.
But the gun industry, gun owners and their supporters say AR-15 rifles are used for hunting, target shooting and shooting competitions. In a January 2016 blog post published by the National Rifle Association, the AR-15 was called "America's Rifle."
Why is the AR-15 so popular among perpetrators of mass shootings?
When asked by ABC News why so many perpetrators of mass shootings use AR-15s, Pete Blair, executive director of Texas State University's Center for Advanced Rapid Response Training, said it was a psychological issue.
You find yourself in an ambiguous situation and you don't know what to do. That might mean watching what other guests use at a fancy dinner and imitating them, or using the same type of weapon other perpetrators used if you're planning a mass shooting, Blair noted.
The weapons specialist and former SWAT member adds: It's a matter of imitation. When they see other perpetrators of mass shootings using these weapons, it reinforces their belief that it is a tool of evil that must be used.
The National Rifle Association says the AR-15 rifle's popularity in the U.S. has "skyrocketed" because it is "customizable, flexible, reliable and accurate."
Blair points out, however, that perpetrators of shootings rarely use the possibility of modifying weapons, but rather use serial models that are "easy to use and simple." Blair said.
Assault weapons, including AR-15s, are so dangerous that several states, including Illinois and California, impose significant restrictions on their sale or completely ban their purchase and possession.
