The AR 15 Semi-Automatic is Not an Assault Weapon

The two guns used by the shooter in the Orlando nightclub massacre that left 49 dead are high-capacity, quick-reload weapons commonly found in gun stores across the country. The AR-15 can fire up to 950 rounds per minutes (that's almost 16 per second). Later, a civilian variant was designed.

The shootings are sparking debate about whether to revive and update a lapsed assault weapons ban.

Fellow travelers like Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association, the Republican Congress and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump also conspire in betraying the nation during wartime by ensuring that homegrown radical Islamists can engage in mass slaughter.

AR stands for Armalite, not assault rifle. Both sides agree that such weapons are used in only a tiny fraction of gun crimes.

But gun control advocates say any legitimate use of the weapons pales next to their ability to quickly inflict mass casualties.

"Anytime you have hate or bigotry of any kinds combined with weak gun laws you have devastating violence", Thorne said. Even most mass killings are carried out using other types of weapons such as handguns, he says.

In the wake of the Sunday morning shootings at Orlandos Pulse night spot, the presumptive presidential candidates spoke out on different sides of the issue. On Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton described the rifle as a "weapon of war" that should be banned, and President Obama concurred.

But in the tri-state, getting one of the weapons - or any other so-called assault weapon, for that matter - isn't as easy as it is in other states.

But in truth, one could really make-do with the semi-automatic weapon as it came to them. The M-16 is an automatic weapon - hold the trigger and multiple rounds can be fired.

"Some states have a magazine limit of 10 or 15 rounds". Their retail prices vary but are often around $1,000. The 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in 2004, applied to 118 models and variations. Manufacturers were able to continue making similar weapons with slight design changes.

Adam Lanza, the gunman behind the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, used an AR-15 and its 30-round magazine to kill 26 people in under five minutes, USA Today reports. An attempt to impose a federal ban on assault weapons failed the next year, when Republicans in the U.S. Senate joined with some Democrats to block the proposal.

Since then, similar firearms have been used in other mass shootings, including the attacks in San Bernardino, California, at a military center in Chattanooga, and an OR community college. A modified AR-15 was used to kill 14 people past year in the San Bernardino shootings. Dozens more were injured before Mateen was killed by police. Those willing to shell out a significant sum of money can get their hands on an automatic AR-15 or, by jumping through some hoops set up by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, purchase an auto sear, a device which converts a semi-automatic into an automatic.

Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, CT and NY passed laws to restrict access to semi-automatic "assault weapons".