The attempt to assassinate former President Trump at a rally Saturday marks another grim milestone for one of the most popular U.S. rifle styles. Thomas Matthew Crooks used an "AR-style 556 rifle," the FBI said, reports The Hour in Norwalk, Conn. That places the weapon in the same family as the AR-15 and its many offshoots, one of which was used in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. The weapon was likely purchased by Crooks' father, officials said.
"In Pennsylvania, an 18-year-old can legally buy an assault weapon, can carry it around in public, fully loaded, can have a large capacity magazine. All of that's legal," said former Connecticut state Sen. Michael Lawlor. "None of that's legal here in Connecticut," The Armalite weapons company first developed the Armalite Rifle 15 — or AR-15, as it's come to be known — for the U.S. Army. Armalite sold the design to the Connecticut company Colt in 1959. Colt sold a fully automatic version called the M-16 to the U.S. military, and, in 1964, marketed a semi-automatic version called the AR-15 to the public. This is where a key distinction comes in that often gets muddied in public debates over these rifles. Weapons that aren't automatic, like the bolt-action rifles often used for hunting, must be cocked after they're fired to load a new round in the chamber.