To the editor:

In “The AR-15 is indeed an assault-style weapon,” (letter to the editor, June 8), which was prompted by a May 25 letter of mine, the writer makes several inaccurate statements. Accurate information is crucial when trying to solve any problem. That is certainly true when it comes to gun violence, a problem that is clouded by misinformation.

The writer claims that I said the AR-15 is not an “assault style weapon.” I did not. I wrote that AR-15s are not “assault weapons,” “weapons of war” or “battlefield weapons.” The accurate description of an assault weapon is a fully automatic, also called a submachine gun. AR-15s are not capable of fully automatic fire and are not used on the battlefield by our military. 

An AR-15 can be said to be assault “style” in that some versions of it resemble military rifles. But they are unquestionably not assault rifles, according to the accurate definition. 

In the 1950s a propagandist for an anti-firearms organization got the idea to purposely mislabel AR-15s as assault weapons to scare the public into supporting their gun-control agenda. 

It is illegal under Rhode Island law for a private citizen to possess an automatic firearm. 

The writer goes on to mention ARs with 20-round magazines. Last year the Rhode Island legislature made the possession of magazines holding more than 10 rounds illegal. 

The hysterical jihad to ban AR-15s is based on misinformation and the notion that doing so will make a big difference in gun violence. It won’t.

First, most homicides are committed by career criminals and urban street gangs. They seldom use rifles, far preferring illegally gotten handguns. Criminals will of course pay no attention to gun bans.

Second, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that less than 3.2 percent of all homicides are carried out with rifles.

Third, of all the studies of the 1994-2004 national AR ban, the most authoritative was by the CDC, which could find no connection to any decrease in gun violence.

So experience and logic show that banning AR-15s will not make a significant reduction in gun violence. 

The debate on how to reduce gun violence is clouded with misinformation, much of it intentionally spread by organizations funded by leftist billionaires. These men are surrounded by armed guards yet apparently think their vast wealth gives them the power to limit your right to defend yourself and your family.

We cannot make real progress on reducing gun violence until we ignore the misinformation and hype and base our efforts on facts, logic and reality.

David Huth

544 Boyds Lane

Portsmouth