This is in response to Peter P. Sirois’s Oct. 6 letter, “AR-15s made to kill people.” A-15’s were designed and made for the military, and for the same reasons they make a good military rifle, they are a great choice for a hunting rifle. They are safe, durable, adjustable and ergonomical.

I looked for a rifle for my 10-year-old grandson to hunt with. The choices were youth models that he would outgrow in about two years. But the AR rifles had an adjustable stock that he could grow with. The optics were adjustable. The recoil was mitigated by a gas release system. The sling allows for the rifle to be carried in a safe manner, always pointed to the ground. The rifles just fit him better than the traditional rifles. I did not care about high-capacity magazines; Maine law only allows a five-round magazine for hunting.

Sirois states that he uses a 30-30 rifle. I am 62 years old and hunted at 10 years old with a 30-30 Winchester rifle, a “traditional deer rifle,” but as I got older I found it to be one of the most unsafe rifles to use. You load six rounds into a tube magazine, and to unload you have to put each round back into the chamber before ejecting them, with the hammer back and the gun ready to fire on each round ejected (that’s six potential accidental discharges).

I now have two AR platform rifles for hunting. I discard the high-capacity magazines and buy the five-round magazines for hunting. According to Sirois’s logic, if Remington started making 50-round magazines for the traditional 742 Woodmaster then the Woodmaster should be banned as well as the Browning BAR, Winchester 100, etc., etc.

It’s not the rifle. The AR rifle is a great hunting rifle. I hunt with the AR rifle, and I am no murderer.

 

Dan Murray

Belgrade

« Previous

Councilor: Waterville leaders should welcome input

Next »

Don’t stand for economic profiling