General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Expired Assault Weapons Ban Would Have Covered Rifle Used In Colorado Shooting [View all]chapel hill dem
(228 posts)The AR-15/M-16 was put into service during the Viet Nam war as a replacement of the M-1/M-14 rifles. The ammo for the M-16 (5.56 mm or .223 caliber) is much smaller than the .30 caliber rounds used by the earlier guns. Roughly, three M-16 rounds weigh as much as one M-14 round.
The smaller ammunition was designed to horrifically wound, but not instantly kill the enemy. This is important since a wounded soldier takes another two soldiers/medics to treat and diminishes the enemy's force. A clean kill is ignored by the enemy, but a screaming soldier demands attention. If the enemy declines to treat the wounded soldier, or shoots the wounded soldier, it demoralizes the other enemy soldiers.
If the Aurora shooter had used an AK-47 (7.62 mm), then more people would have died instantly.