Ben Stein: Ban AR-15s Because They Make Nerds Feel Like Rambo

During Wednesday’ episode of Your World with Neil Cavuto, former game show host and social commentator Ben Stein criticized AR-15s as firearms that enable nerds to go into a gun shop and walk out feeling like Rambo.

“I think it’s a damn good idea to ban the AR-15,” Stein said. “An AR-15 is a weapon that’s extremely seductive, it looks like a weapon of war. Makes a person who’s a big nerd be able to go into a gun shop, buy it, come out feeling like he’s Rambo.”

The former President Nixon speechwriter said when someone takes the AR-15 or one of “its many, many, many cousins” and mix “them up with violent video games…[it is] a recipe for disaster.”

Moreover, Stein contended that the AR-15 is not practical for private ownership because it is “not an ideal target shooting weapon, not an ideal hunting weapon, not an ideal home defense weapon.”

https://youtu.be/eL_ecVyiVHc?t=12m25s

It should be noted that Stein’s claim runs completely counter to those put forward by ATF Associate Deputy Director Ronald Turk. On January 20, 2017, the Washington Post published a “White Paper” from Turk wherein he suggested the sporting and hunting applications for AR-15s had reached such a point that the ATF needed to amend past studies on the firearm.

Turk wrote, “The use of AR-15s, AK-style, and similar rifles now commonly referred to as ‘modern sporting rifles’ has increased exponentially in sport shooting. These firearm types are now standard for hunting activities. ATF could re-examine its 20-year-old study to bring it up to date with the sport shooting landscape of today, which is vastly different than it was years ago.”

In other words, the AR-15 and its “many, many, many cousins” are widely used for hunting and shooting sports.

After pushing an AR-15 ban, Stein said, “I’m a big Second Amendment guy.” He then added, “But the Second Amendment is not to have military style weapons in the hands of civilians.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.