All my life, people have used me. I was brought into this world to protect my owners but sometimes people don’t like me. I always overhear humans saying cruel things about me and my friends. Just last night my dad was watching the news and someone said, “We need to get rid of them. They have no point in being here because all they do is harm others.” My name is Aggie, I’m almost eleven years old, a proud supporter of the second amendment, and I am an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
Recently, there have been many false assumptions made about me. AR is often believed to stand for assault rifle or automatic rifle, but this is not true. AR stands for the name of the company that made me: ArmaLite rifle. The 15 stands for 15th design. In addition to this, I am a semi-automatic rifle, meaning when you put the trigger only one bullet shoots out. I am completely legal, therefore my kind is very popular among firearm owners. I know a handful of other rifles but some are automatic so I keep my distance, knowing uneducated people will think I’m illegal too. When you look at me, you see a sleek, lengthy tool that can come in many different colors. My owner coated me in a deep army green color because he thinks “it looks cool,” and he’s not wrong. In fact, my best friend is an AR-15 as well but she’s hot pink! My owner’s name is Duke. At six feet tall and powerfully built, he seems very intimidating, but that is just another thing we can add to our list of false assumptions. Duke is a friendly man with the biggest heart imaginable. He has such a strong love for his family and feels it is his job to protect them until the day he dies, which is why he bought me!
As I mentioned before, there are some people that do not like me. A lot of people think my friends and I are the ones to blame for these horrible mass shootings happening so often lately. These mindless humans are trying to get rid of us for no reason. They believe crime rates will go down if us firearms are banned. Many of these people do not realize taking me and my friends away will increase the amount of crime. Criminals will still find a way to get ahold of us whether we are legal or not, so what is the point in taking us out?
About a month ago Duke was out at the store picking up some groceries for his wife, Amy, to make for dinner that night. He was on his way home from work at around 5:27 PM and decided to go to the store that was more convenient for him. Although it was not on the best side of town, he figured it would be faster than the one he usually went to. Duke had gone to the shooting range with his boss during their lunch break earlier that day so he had no problem going into the sketchier area. He had just finished shopping and was walking out to his lifted, matte black pick-up truck when he noticed a man getting uncomfortably close to an older woman unloading her groceries into the back of her car. She seemed a bit uneasy about this rough-looking, tattoo-covered bald man speaking to her. A few moments later she cried out for help in the most fearful tone. The man shouted at her, “GIVE ME YOUR PURSE OR YOU’LL REGRET IT!” Duke then watched the man pull out a small handgun, threatening her life simply because he wanted her money. Duke grabbed me and ran over as fast as he could and yelled at the man. “PUT YOUR GUN DOWN AND WALK AWAY FROM THE LADY!” The robber was frightened at the fact that he had me in his hands and sprinted in the opposite direction, leaving Duke and the woman unharmed yet very shaky. Duke proceeded to ask the woman if she was alright and she said yes. She thanked him for protecting her and she knew that if he hadn’t had me with him, the robber probably would’ve hurt the both of them.
These are the types of situations that happen all the time in America. If more restrictions are put on us protection devices, many people will have a higher chance at being in danger. It is not us firearms that kill people. Yes, we understand that people take advantage of us to harm others but we are not okay with that. We want to be used as tools for the protection of our owners and anyone in need of help. Rather than banning us innocent creations, people need to educate others on how to use us for good - not evil. If a person has the slightest bit of a mental disorder or disability, there should be no guns in reach of them for the simple fact that they could outrage at any moment and harm others. Us innocent firearms are very passionate about our rights just as well as humans are about theirs. We would love for every person to remember one thing: guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
