Why Do We "Need" The "Black Guns"?

Ah..... the black gun...... that which we love, lust after, loath and fear. It could be said that the genre was invented by the Germans during the last great unpleasantness.

The Sturmgewehr STG44, generally thought of as the progenitor of all modern military assault rifles. In fact, when translated, "sturmgewehr" literally means assault rifle. According to legend, it's a name selected personally by Hitler himself! So, right from the very beginning, the entire genre has a blackmark against it. And if that wasn't enough, probably the most direct descendant that exist today was/is the primary infantry weapon of the "Evil Empire" as well!

As if that's not enough, it's commonly seen as the weapon of terrorist as well. 

While on the other hand, we Americans like to think of ourselves as being the descendants of the Minuteman...

The ultimate "brown gun" hero. The story-line being that we're frontiersmen who had to take our Kentucky Rifle off the mantle when we are forced to defend our homes and freedoms. As a nation of hunter/marksmen using our deer rifles to pick off the enemy. You can decide for yourself whether that's myth and legend based on truth or otherwise. The fact is; that is how we view ourselves, so it's very jarring for certain segments of our population to accept that anyone would find anything other than a the traditional bolt-action hunting rifle to be enough.

In fact, we went down this road so far that, while the military of most of the world was using AKs (the 47 part means 1947), we decided the M-14 would be our weapon of the future.

Don't get me wrong: it's a very fine weapon. But the reality is that, it's really an updated M-1 Garrand, which was our main battle rifle during WWII! A weapon designed for open battle fields where uniformed soldiers lined up several hundred yards apart and shot at each other. I'm sure you're aware, that, that's not how modern wars are fought! Then this happened.....

We decided that it'd be a good idea to pick up where the French left off in Indo-China (otherwise known as Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos). And we noticed  our allies seemed to be somewhat challenged from a stature standpoint. Therefore, the rather large, .30 caliber (.308/7.62x54) M-14 was simply too big, plus the ammunition was too heavy. I'm not going to get into the political morass of how we got into the M-16 today. I'll just say that what was originally the Armalite AR-10 chambered in 7.62 then became the AR-15 in 5.56 and thus was born the M-16. Ultimately, this would be the beginnings of the modern "AR" platform. Please note that the "AR" stands for Armalite Rifle, and NOT Automatic Rifle! By the mid-60s this would become the standard battle rifle of the American military. However controversy would continue to stalk it for the next few of decades. 

By the 90's though, with the introduction of the A3, then the A4 version, the AR/M-16 has developed into a fully mature product and is now the dominant semi-automatic rifle in the United States and in the world as a whole.....that's not an AK..... My take on why this has become the commercial success is that it's the right combination of several factors.

One, we are not a society of hunters any more. I'd say that most people who shoot have never been out in the field stalking game of any kind. Therefore, to them; shooting isn't about a very few carefully aimed shots. Gun owners go to a range or out to the country somewhere and shoot a lot of ammo at iron/paper targets, or dangerous cans, fruits and vegetables. Hence the semi-auto taking over from the revolver and bolt-action rifle. When I was last "into guns" 25 years ago, I was part of the majority as the owner of a Ruger revolver. Now, I'm again in the majority as the owner of a "high-capacity" 9mm, polymer framed semi-auto. 

We also see society in a very different way. It's not the world of Andy, Aunt Bea, and Barney Fife any more. Whether it's purely perception or fact, people feel that the "controls in society" are tenuous at best. That at any given time, we could have an across the board terrorism attack, war with rouge states (eg. North Korea, Iran, etc) and/or a societal breakdown of  "Rule of Law" could happen for a people at any time. Therefore, people who believe this need to engage in self-protection. Meaning the perceived need for military type firearms. Whether that is reality or paranoia, that's for everyone to decide on their own. As for me, I'm leaning toward the direction of believing that modern American society is very fragile and that the behavior of the average person has far few controls than there used to be. Am I fearful and afraid to go to "sketchy" places? No; I've always been adventurous and pretty much willing to go most anywhere, but at the same time, I'm attentive to my surroundings.

This is why I plan to complete the classwork necessary to get a "concealed carry" permit, which is know as a CHL (Concealed Handgun License) here in Texas. Why? Everyday, you see more and more stories of "road rage" turned bad, or the really unfortunate scenario of "active shooter". I simply have no intention of not having options to defend myself and my family. 

Does that mean that I'm not a believer in the whole "prepping" concept. Let's just way that I'm listening and I could definitely see some of the discussed scenarios happening! What am I doing about it? I'm building a an AR. I'm not in a panic, but I'm building one and will keep a stock of ammunition around!