IN THE HEADLINES: Joe Scarborough Claims AR-15s Are ‘Deadlier’ Than The M16s Used During The Vietnam War

Here is the story:

Joe Scarborough Claims AR-15s Are ‘Deadlier’ Than The M16s Used During The Vietnam War

Here is the pull-quote from the story:

“I’ve said this before, I said it a couple weeks ago, and I’ll say it again. This style weapon, deadlier than what we had our soldiers carry around during Vietnam,” Scarborough said on his show Monday morning.

Here is what you need to know:

If we assume Scarborough was thinking about the M-16 when he mentions Vietnam, then he is factually wrong. The M-16 was derived from the AR-15. Essentially, they are the same weapon. The biggest difference is that, with the AR-15, you have to pull the trigger every time you want to fire a bullet, but the M-16 had an automatic setting that allowed you to pull the trigger once and the gun would fire until the magazine ran out of bullets. By the measure most people would use to compare the two guns, the M-16 is far more dangerous than the AR-15.

Here is the take-away:

Do not allow yourself to be distracted by the argument about which gun is more dangerous. Do not get distracted by debates over whether Scarborough is intentionally lying or just ignorant. Instead, focus on what Scarborough is trying to do.

Scarborough is trying to scare you — period! Once you see and understand that scaring you is the real goal here, ask yourself:

Why is he trying to scare you?

That is the question you should ask yourself. All the rational answers are bad, but I’ll leave those up to you. If you think I am wrong about this, and you believe there are ‘good’ reasons for scaring people, please, post them in the comments section below. I need to know what they are — for my own edification.