There were two gun accidents involving AR-15 style rifles today, each illustrating a combat-designed purpose of the weapon. 

In the first incident, a Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania man was sleeping in a chair in a wooded area by a pond when he was accidentally shot with a small caliber round fired by one of two men from across the pond.  According to the victim, he saw that the men were shooting an AR-15 style weapon before they left the scene. When he was discovered the next morning, the victim was taken to the hospital for medical care. 

 In the second incident, a St. Mathews, Kentucky man was struck by a round in his apartment complex.  According to police, another man who lives in the complex “was inside his apartment while he was handling the loaded ‘AR-15 style’ rifle. While doing so, police say he fired the weapon into the headboard of his bed.”  The round “”traveled through the headboard, the bedroom wall, into the adjoining closet, through the closet doors’ and hit a man who was in another room in the apartment in the head.”  The police believe that the victim’s injuries could be life-threatening due to the force of the impact.

AR-15 style rifles rounds are designed to strike military targets as much as half a mile from the shooter, distances so great that the person who fires the weapon may have no idea what, if anything, is struck.  In addition, because of the muzzle speed which with they are fired, rounds from an AR-15 can penetrate structures and walls.  Put simply, they are not safe for self-defense in the home or for any other legitimate civilian purpose. Where they have been banned, those bans have been upheld as consistent with the Second Amendment.

Sources:

Incident No. PA 20-971719 “Pennsylvania State Police Public Information Release Report,” (July 12, 2020).

“St. Matthews Police Arrest Suspect After Man Shot in the Head at Jamestown Apartments,” WDRB.com (July 13, 2020).