ALBANY ‒ Over the past decade, the popularity of the Armalite Rifle-15 in its many variants has not only become the most popular rifle sold in the United States but a topic of heated debate. One side contends that the firearm is merely a semi-automatic version of its military predecessor, the M-16, which was developed during the Vietnam War. The other side contends that although it does not have the capacity to fire in a fully automatic mode, it is nonetheless a weapon of war with no purpose as a sporting firearm.
In many ways, it’s ironic that a gun that was not designed for warfare is now the poster child for this argument. Particularly since American sportsmen have been buying the actual weapons of our country’s wars for more than 150 years and using them in the field with…..