Joe Biden, for example, has said that an AR-15 bullet can explode in the body.
Gretchen Carlson’s post on X took ignorance about the weapon to a new level, claiming “ordinary people” didn’t have them before 2004 and that if we “could fix” that mistake, we could save thousands of lives.
Ordinary people didn’t have AR-15s before 2004. They’re not some time-honored American tradition, they’re a recent mistake that we could fix and save thousands of lives in the process. https://t.co/IlJ4FuadBP
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) October 30, 2023
The internet responded with an impressive ratio, letting her know that “many ordinary people” have owned this gun since its development in 1959. She was even awarded a Community Note.
Carlson did not like to be told that she was wrong. So she made a video as a response. This only made things worse. Carlson’s video was full of errors, revealing even more ignorance.
A quick message regarding my recent tweet about AR-15s.
CC: @benshapiro @Mediaite @shannonrwatts pic.twitter.com/rIaX2Qju3c
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) October 31, 2023
She gave a big round of applause to those who said that only “ranchers” or “a few animal control people” owned the gun prior to 2004. Gretchen: No, it was all sorts of people, because it was accessible to everyone. Given the facts, her snarky remarks were ridiculous. She didn’t know what she was saying.
Carlson was not finished. She then went off track when she began to criticize people for their math.
She said “And since we are all math lovers, here are some more numbers that appear relevant,” as if she thought she was on to something. She claimed that in 1992, AR-15s accounted for about 21 out of 100 firearms manufactured in the U.S. By 2020, AR-15s will make up almost half of all guns manufactured in the U.S.
Um, Gretchen? 1 in 5 is the same as 21 out of 100. Twenty-one percent is the same as twenty percent. Even if you were right, it would mean that the number of AR-15s has decreased, not increased as you claim. She doesn’t know what she is saying or how to do the math.
She raged, “There are more than 20,000,000 AR-15s in closets and cabinets.” “There’s also this, in 2023, our country will have 560 mass shootings, and we still have two more months left in the year.” This is not the norm. “A world where everyone has AR-15s would be a helluva lot more dangerous than a world without them.”
There are so many things wrong to unpack.
The fact that there were 20 million AR-15s but only 560 mass killings seems to disprove the notion that the AR-15 is a mass killer. This would mean that a vast majority of these millions of guns were not used to kill anyone.
Second, 560 mass shootings are at best a questionable figure. Most mass shootings do not involve an AR-15. The majority of gun-related deaths involve handguns. Only a small percentage involves rifles and a much smaller number uses AR-15s. Carson does not bother to mention how many of these alleged mass shootings used an AR-15. She has failed to prove her point.
Third, 20 million sounds like an “arm in common use”, and is therefore protected by the Constitution. She just smeared herself with her own statistic.
The weapon is not the problem. The killers’ mentality is the problem.
A quick message regarding my recent tweet about AR-15s.
CC: @benshapiro @Mediaite @shannonrwatts pic.twitter.com/rIaX2Qju3c
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) October 31, 2023
1992 nearly 21 in 100, 2020 almost 1 in 5… 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/5wklclUvqT
— @stevenvoiceover (@stevenvoiceover) November 1, 2023
I noticed you didn’t mention how many of those “mass shootings” were perpetrated with AR-15s. Is it because they make up less than 3% of them?
Also, civilians have owned AR-15s since the 1960’s and we will continue to do so long after you’re gone. 🇺🇸🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/e4EZTsExvV
— Ex Umbris Designs 🇺🇸🤘🏻 (@ExUmbrisDesigns) November 1, 2023