The starting quarterback for the University of Florida, Anthony Richardson, announced Sunday that his nickname, “AR-15,” would no longer be used in affiliation with his brand or time on the field.
Richardson said he decided to retire the nickname “AR-15” and remove the scope reticle from his apparel line because of its association with the highly politicized rifle, according to the tweet.
“While my nickname is only a nickname and ‘AR-15’ was simply a representation of my initials combined with my jersey number, it is important to me that my name and brand are no longer associated with the assault rifle that has been used in mass shootings, which I don’t condone in any way or form,” Richardson’s statement said. (RELATED: CNN Just Invents The Definition Of An Assault Rifle)
Richardson, named to the Southeastern Conference All-SEC Freshman Team as a redshirt freshman, will compete with Ohio State transfer quarterback Jack Miller.
Richardson and his team are working on transitioning from using “AR-15” to a new logo and nickname using just his initials “AR” and his full name, according to his statement.
— Anthony Richardson † (@GVOaant) July 17, 2022
The recent mass shootings have several public figures calling for action, including former college basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The former Duke coach called U.S. gun laws “disgusting” in an appearance on SiriusXM in June.
“What the hell are we doing? You know, we’re not taking care of our people,” said Krzyzewski. “And we can go into the guns. Like, you need an automatic weapon? You gotta be kidding me. You got to be kidding me. It’s disgusting.”
In 2019, a pregnant woman in Florida used an AR-15 to defend her husband and child from two violent intruders.
Her husband credited his wife for saving their lives and said the AR-15 “evened the playing field” for his 8-months pregnant wife.