AR-15 described as ‘Nazi’ gun – misinformation will not help stop this cycle of violence

Following the shocking wave of recent mass shootings, it is easy to see how some emotions are moving at high speeds. However, some proponents of the Second Amendment are now taking issue with how “incorrect information” is regularly shared online, especially on social platforms.

Fact is true, and yet, when it comes to gun control, such misleading information is often not checked by platforms.

This week, the Occupy Democrats (acupai Democrats) tweeted, “Breaking: President Biden declares that ‘Second Amendment is not absolute’ and mentions that when it was passed ‘you can’t own a cannon’ or ‘other kinds of weapons’ ; Because ‘there are always limitations.’ If you agree with Biden and want a ban on weapons of mass destruction! “

President Biden, who has repeatedly claimed that citizens cannot own a cannon, is in fact wrong. The Second Amendment never specified any type of firearm that could be owned by civilians. Cannons can legally be owned by American citizens – and still are.

Moreover, there were no restrictions on the purchase or transfer of automatic weapons (machine guns) until the National Firearms Act of 1934 was passed. The president’s claim to private ownership of the cannons was even given “Four Pinocchios” The Washington Post Last year, when more than a dozen media outlets verified the statement.

Yet, this misinformation continues to circulate on social media and the platforms have done almost nothing to stop it.

AR and Nazi

This week, calls for the sale and even banning of proprietary AR-style semi-automatic rifles have resurfaced – and so has Hyperball.

It’s true that it was the weapon of choice used during the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Ublad, Texas. Yet, instead of giving information about AR, some on social media relied on misinformation to sue them. Some of these may be excused, such as incorrectly describing the AR-15 as a “machine gun” or suggesting that AR means “assault rifle”. Both are certainly not true, but others have taken their claims to extremes.

Mark Fisher (@mmffisher), a senior editor The Washington PostInvented for Nazi infantry, further developed by the US military, the AR-15 was the weapon of choice for Texas school shooters ….

Many supporters of the Second Amendment quickly began calling Mr. Fischer, noting that the AR-15 was invented not by Nazi Germany but by Eugene Stoner, an American veteran of World War II at the Armlight Company, established only after the end of the war.

The AR-15 patent was later acquired by Colt Manufacturing, which manufactured rifles for the military as the M16. However, the civilian-built version lacks firefighting capabilities and is only available semi-automatically.

Now, to be fair to Fisher, his tweet should be kept in context.

It is true that during World War II, German weapons designer Hugo Schmidt led the development of the Maschinkenkerbina 42 (H). It eventually became the Maschinenpistol 43, which was later re-designated as the StormGay 44 – or “Assault Rifle 44”. Thus, the Nazis actually built the world’s first true assault rifle, and after World War II, Skimisar probably helped Mikhail Kalashnikov build the AK-47.

Yet, even in this context it is still confusing that the AR-15 was somehow created or designed by Nazi Germany.

While we may all agree that something needs to be done to stop this senseless cycle of violence, misinformation should be treated as a problem.

Even proponents of gun control agree that such a post could hurt their cause.

University of Henry C. Mike Lawler, an associate professor of criminal justice at Lee’s College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, explains: New Haven, and gun control attorney.

“I often find that there is no background to the problem other than the attitude of those in favor of gun control,” Lawler warned. “When you say something wrong about something, you’ll be ridiculed, and it’s true on social media. You don’t really want to find yourself in that position. Before you dive into this, you have to learn about it. It should be done, but also because once you are caught saying something that is not right, it will definitely weaken your position. “

Such misinformation is not limited to gun policy issues, but it is noteworthy that Twitter has not identified tweets that are so confusing about firearms.

“There’s a lot of discussion here that catches the cracks,” Lawler said. “Who on Twitter will determine if this is misinformation and not have time to verify anything flying around the platform.”