Stephen P. Halbrook just released his latest book, AMERICAS RIFLE: THE CASE FOR THE AR15. No, it’s not a weapon of war, or an assault weapon.

But before I get into the meat of this blog, a quick note to myself: in the future when accepting my girlfriend’s invitation to take me somewhere on vacation with her, make sure I better coordinate schedules! We set the dates to arrive back in the USA on 2A Day at the Iowa Capitol last week. Needless to say, we had to scramble around making flight changes prior to departure. Now that I’ve confirmed I’m just as absent-minded as some of my friends have accused me of being, I can get into today’s subject.

Most supporters of freedom understand the importance of no single entity in society having a monopoly on power. That can be your neighbor up the street or government at any level. No one explains it better than Mr. Halbrook, a noted 2A and Constitutional attorney who has argued and won cases in front of virtually every Federal District Court and the US Supreme Court. His tenth book, AMERICAS RIFLE: THE CASE FOR THE AR15 is possibly his best and most informative yet. 

This book puts to rest any claim that the AR15 is an “assault rifle”, weapon of war, or an enigma in history or modern society. Instead, it lays out chapter-by-chapter, the history of how American (and before that, English citizens) were required to maintain arms and ammunition throughout history, to defend the state and kingdom upon being called. How the very features of the AR15 make it not just the most popular rifle sold in America today, but also the current best choice for self defense and defense of society.

Mr. Halbrook also gives the history of how the Violence Policy Center (VPC) in 1989 shifted gears from the campaign to ban handguns, to attacking the AR15.   By attempting to confuse Americans about what is essentially a modern sporting rifle based on operating principles that were perfected over 100 years ago by John Browning and others. 

VPC lobbyists urged their contemporaries that:

 “the weapon’s menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semiautomatic assault weapons — anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun — can only increase the chance of public support.”

Today we have multiple US Supreme Court rulings that clearly state that the Second Amendment means what it says. I highly suggest you read Mr. Holbrook’s book to better arm yourself with facts, and not emotions.

Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.

Dave Funk,  IFC President