The AR-15 is currently the most controversial gun in America. Even though the Orlando shooter didn’t use that exact type of gun, his assault rifle was a similar version of the original and at least 10 mass shootings have involved the AR-15.
Many Democrats have called for the type of weapon to be banned for civilian use. Republicans have shut down those calls, saying the gun is protected under the Second Amendment.
Now, family members of Eugene Stoner, the man who created the original version of the assault rifle in the 1950s, say he never intended the weapon for civilian use.
“Our father, Eugene Stoner, designed the AR-15 and subsequent M-16 as a military weapon to give our soldiers an advantage over the AK-47,” the Stoner family told NBC News late Wednesday. “He died long before any mass shootings occurred. But, we do think he would have been horrified and sickened as anyone, if not more, by these events.”
NBC granted individual members of the Stoner family anonymity so they could “speak freely about such a sensitive topic.”
Stoner, an ex-Marine, reportedly made millions from the design in military sales, but he never owned one personally or ever used it for sport, the family said.
“After many conversations with him, we feel his intent was that he designed it as a military rifle,” his family said.
The gun became available for civilian use in 1963, but didn’t gain wide popularity among civilian gun owners until after Stoner died in 1997 at the age of 74.
“What has happened, good or bad, since his patents have expired is a result of our free market system,” a member of Stoner’s family said. “Currently, a more interesting question is ‘Who now is benefiting from the manufacturing and sales of AR-15s, and for what uses?’”
Comments