Member-only story
Brutality and the Mind of the AR-15 Killers
The ability to save children hit by rifle shells that exploded inside of them is not one that emergency room surgeons have. What were the killers thinking? Forensic psychologists weigh in.
Newspaper reports offer details about one of the favorite killing devices of mass murderers, the AR-15. “An AR-15 is a semi-automatic or self-loading rifle that has been called ‘America’s rifle’ by the NRA with well over 15 million sold by 2019. ‘Semi-automatic,’ as opposed to ‘automatic,’ means that the weapon’s operator must pull the trigger to fire each shot. The rifle then automatically reloads. An automatic weapon continues to fire as long as you hold down the trigger, and is (mostly) banned in the U.S.” It can, therefore, mow down people (children) like targets at a shooting range or wild animals in herds. Banned? Are they really banned? I don’t think so.
Forensic psychologists have studied the relationship between the use of AR-15 weapons and the psychological makeup of mass murderers. The AR-15 is the weapon of choice for some of the worst mass murderers in the US, although pistols kill significantly more people, according to news reports. According to one report, AR-15 ammo travels at a speed that is three times that of sound, making it a deadly weapon.
