The AR-15 is a symbol of liberty or loss, depending on whom you ask
A new book, “American Gun”, explores the fraught history of a firearm
ONE OF THE first people to shoot an AR-15 was John Wayne in 1957. Wayne, then the face of American masculinity and the gunslinging West, was at a nearby shipyard repairing his boat when he heard that ArmaLite, a small gunmaker, was testing a new kind of firearm; he dropped by to try it. The AR-15 would go on to become one of America’s most famous and controversial weapons: the gun with which not just real war, but culture war, was fought.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Going great guns”
Culture October 7th 2023
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