海角大神

In the wake of the San Bernardino, Calif., massacre last November and now the Pulse nightclub killings in Orlando, Fla., this week, Paul Valone made a decision to, as he says, 鈥渦p my game.鈥�

The Bryson City, N.C., airline pilot swapped his concealed weapon from a seven-round capacity handgun to one with a 25-round magazine. And in his car trunk, he boosted his arsenal by adding an AR-15 with multiple magazines.

Mr. Valone鈥檚 decision to arm up with the AR-15 鈥� a Vietnam-era military-style weapon promoted as a 鈥渕odern sporting rifle鈥� by the gun industry 鈥� is, for him, an exercise in meeting force with equal force.

鈥淚t鈥檚 versatile, and I use it for defense. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 鈥楢merica鈥檚 rifle,鈥� 鈥� he says.

Valone is far from alone.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, there are as many as 8 million AR-15-style rifles and its cousins in circulation 鈥� lightweight, modular, accurate, lethal systems, often sold with military boasts like 鈥渢he opposition will bow down.鈥�

But increasingly, the AR-15 and similar platforms, such the Sig Sauer MCX used by the Orlando shooter, have also become the choice of mass shooters from Aurora, Colo., to Orlando to Roseburg, Ore. Depending on the state, it's possible for someone with a clean record and $600 to walk out of a gun store with one in .

For those reasons and more, 鈥渋f there鈥檚 one weapon that reflects the intractability of the gun debate in the United States, the AR-15 is it,鈥� writes Matt Valentine, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, in .

'Like banning a golfer's favorite driver'

Among AR-15 owners, there is debate, too, though the scope is narrower. Steve Champion of Brooksville, Fla., says that anyone who has ever been investigated for terrorism should be automatically flagged for 鈥渃onditional non-approval鈥� 鈥� a background-check process already in place that allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation three days to further investigate a potential gun purchase.

Daniel Hayes of Lexington, Ky., says that despite owning one, he actually 鈥渒ind of hates the AR鈥� and says people should be open to guarding their rights a little less greedily.

But a ban? That would be misplaced, owners say, given that AR-15s and other rifles are used in only about 1 percent of all murders in the United States every year. In that way, for many gun owners who consider themselves sportsmen, 鈥渂anning the AR-15 would be like banning a golfer鈥檚 favorite driver,鈥� says Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

In Brooksville, a small town north of Tampa, Fla., Mr. Champion says violent crime like rape and home invasions are rare 鈥� though the violent crime rate is above the national average. Champion offers one explanation for the feeling of safety he says characterizes the town: 鈥淲e鈥檙e all armed.鈥�

To Champion, the AR-15 has wide appeal because everyone from hobbyists to hunters enjoy shooting it.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 good about it is that the ammo is cheap 鈥� 30 cents on the dollar compared to any hunting round 鈥� it鈥檚 accurate from 200 yards, you can hunt with them, they鈥檙e versatile, they鈥檙e good for home defense, it鈥檚 easy to maintain, easy to take down, you can spiff it out with new quad rails, lights, lasers 鈥� it鈥檚 a fun thing to do,鈥� he says.

And he suggests there is another benefit: 鈥淭he reason a lot of these countries don鈥檛 attack us more directly is because we have hundreds of millions of guns in private hands. Go to any small town in Texas or Florida and you don鈥檛 see crime 鈥� because if anyone tries it, they鈥檙e going to get 鈥� shot.鈥�

The notion that guns make society safer is much-debated. is a primary proponent of the claim. A by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2015 polled 150 scientists who study gun violence and found that 84 percent disagree.

In Lexington, Mr. Hayes says the AR-15 is far from the ideal companion. For one, it carries a round so light that some states don鈥檛 allow deer hunting with the standard version, because it鈥檚 likelier to maim than instantly kill.

鈥淢y family kind of hates the AR, is the funny thing: It鈥檚 not a pretty weapon, and it鈥檚 really only useful if you want to shoot a pig 12 times or do something terrible with it,鈥� says Hayes, a writer.

鈥淵es, it鈥檚 useful in the Jeffersonian 鈥榳atering the tree of liberty鈥� way, but I don鈥檛 think most people like me own it because they鈥檙e going to have to have it for the revolution. The AR is simply the kind of gun that people have, a classic gun, and the military version is still being used.鈥�

'Start being gentle to one another'

As is often the case after mass shootings, public support for a ban on military-style weapons has spiked to 57 percent. Similarly, 59 percent of Americans wanted a ban after the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Generally, however, polls show slight support for assault-style weapons.

For non-gun owners, the attraction to the AR-15 can be mystifying, even disorienting.

鈥淚t felt to me like a bazooka 鈥� and sounded like a cannon,鈥� writes Gersh Kuntzman, who test-fired an AR-15 for this week. 鈥淭he brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick 鈥� For at least an hour firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.鈥�

But for some AR-15 owners, the gun itself is a potent symbol 鈥� and protection 鈥� of Americans鈥� constitutional liberty.

鈥淲ithout a doubt, the intent of the Second Amendment is to provide the last in a series of checks and balances against the abuse of government, meaning that government shouldn鈥檛 be significantly more powerful than its citizens,鈥� says Valone, the North Carolina pilot. 鈥淕iven that, the AR-15 and variants are the rifles most protective of the Second Amendment.鈥�

Many gun owners, however, sense a shift in attitudes beyond Washington. Champion, for one, says about the Orlando terror attack: 鈥淭hat shouldn鈥檛 have happened,鈥� given the FBI鈥檚 previous investigations of the killer.

鈥淭his is something we have to solve as people,鈥� adds Hayes, the Lexington AR-15 owner. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to look each other in the eye and say that we want to be able to preserve the tradition of an armed populace in accordance with the Constitution 鈥� but we have to start being gentle to one another a little bit, and not guard our rights so greedily at the cost of others.鈥�

[Editor's note: The original story misidentified the magazine.]