I love this so much.
And they are right. Back in the early 90s, the most popular rifle in the US was the venerable lever action in 30-30. But America has one inherent “problem” in our cultural DNA and that is The Forbidden Fruit Effect:
The forbidden fruit effect describes just this – that items become more attractive simply because they have been forbidden. People are known to be curious about unpleasant or risky stimuli (Hsee & Ruan, 2016; Oosterwijk, 2017).
It was the Clinton’s Administration and Democrat congress who forced upon the country the so-called (and badly designed) Assault Weapons Ban which made gun owners everywhere go”Hey, if DC hates them that much, there has to be something about them I may like about them.”
And thus, suddenly millions of Americans became enamored of the AR platform. It now stands as the most popular rifle in the country and probably with more units floating around than over a century worth of production of lever action rifles.
Every time the Gun Control Clique in Government comes with announcements about how this time, they will pass the final legislation to ban AR 15 and other rifles, more ARs and components suddenly invade the shipping system on their way to private hands, to Citizens’ hands.
I really don’t see an issues with that.
All these lunatics are bleating the same tired crap … ban the tool!! Be soft on criminals.. fuk em. obammy did more for firearms than the nra.. We the People are winning..
While I do agree there is some percentage of AR-15 buyers over the past thirty-three years who did buy one because of the so called, “Forbidden Fruit” effect, I believe most buyers, or the majority of buyers, made the decision to purchase one because of the firearm’s design characteristics, such as diverse usability, and the fact it was a military style weapon, and also it was Hollywood’s new too cool for school, bad ass gun.
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I bought a Thompson M1 because it was a Movie Gun. It was very much too cool for school back in the early to mid-seventies. All my friends wanted to hang with me after they saw me using it at the old rock quarry. Then next up in the too cool for school category was the Rifleman’s Gun. Chuck Conner’s gun was just bad to the bone, I had to have an 1892 Winchester 44-40
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TV movies I believe had more to do with why the general public choose the guns they wanted to buy. Ya, some people said, because it’s forbidden, I have to have one, and yes Clinton and Obama (and now Obama-Biden) caused the spike in AR-15 gun buying, but I don’t believe it was due to being a forbidden fruit, but instead due to believing the AR-15 being correctly cast as the best gun for defensive usages, both for the military and the public. When Clinton attacked this gun, they bought out of fear that they would miss out on the best general-purpose gun on the market.
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In other words, there is built into the effect of forbidden fruit the idea of being a rebel against government control. or against any form of control—you can only have two cookies David, and no more. The minute mom left the kitchen I ate a dozen more before she returned. It made me feel good to break the rule and partake in what was forbidden. I don’t see this effect being the main driver here with this weapon. “It’s not my father’s gun, look at it, I want one of those”…. effect is I believe the main driver.
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I think the AR-15 is targeted by the government because it’s the best all-around gun for…. any job one considers worth doing. I can carry my LWRC custom weapon all day hooked to a full pack and don’t even know it’s there and it does everything very well.
Don’t forget that Ted “chappaquiddick” Kennedy tried to ban the 30-30 as ‘armor piercing’.
TantivV, since you mentioned it, I’d thought I’d post a quote on this subject from good ole Teddy
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“In a recent report, the ATF identified three, .223 and the 7.62 caliber rifles, as the ones most frequently encountered by police officers. ……Another rifle caliber, the 30.30 caliber, was responsible for penetrating three officers’ armor and killing them in 1993, 1996, and 2002. This ammunition is also capable of puncturing light-armored vehicles, ballistic or armored glass, armored limousines, even a 600-pound safe with 600 pounds of safe armor plating. It is outrageous and unconscionable that such ammunition continues to be sold in the United States of America.” – Ted Kennedy