Co-hosts on “The View” regurgitated false claims about AR-15-style rifles while demanding a ban on them Friday.
A mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, left 18 people dead on Wednesday, and the suspect, Robert Card, is still at large, according to Fox News. Sara Haines said she would support an assault weapons ban while discussing the incident and said that they shouldn’t be used for sporting purposes, which Joy Behar agreed to. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Praises Australian Gun Ban After Maine Shooting)
“I would love to see an assault weapons ban,” Haines said. “Like President Reagan, I don’t believe they’re a sport or hunting instrument. It’s like shooting fish in a bucket.”
WATCH:
A 2022 study by Winchester Ammunition noted that 56% of those who used a centerfire rifle for recreational shooting used a “modern sporting rifle,” which includes the AR-15, according to the National Shooting Sports Federation. AR-15s have also been used for self-defense and competitive shooting.
“Also, if you shoot with an AR-15, let’s say you shoot a deer, you can’t eat it because you basically demolished the animal,” Behar said.
Multiple variants of the AR-15 for hunting exist, according to a 2017 Gun Digest article in 2017. They have also become more popular for deer hunting as the rifle has been easy to configure, according to a 2013 article on RealTree.com.
Ar-15’s also have the ability to make quick follow-up shots, which is listed as an advantage for deer hunting by NorthAmericanWhitetail.com.
Co-host Sunny Hostin claimed on the show that the 1994 ban on so-called assault weapons reduced mass shootings, but multiple studies, including a review of studies by Rand Corporation, found that the 1994 ban on certain semi-automatic firearms did not have any such effect.
WATCH:
Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden released statements Thursday calling for the renewal of a ban on certain semi-automatic firearms.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimated that over 24 million “modern sporting rifles” are “in circulation” in a July 2022 release.
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