University of Wyoming College of Law Law Archive of Wyoming Scholarship Faculty Book Chapters Faculty Scholarship 5-5-2020 In-Depth Explanation of Firearms and Ammunition George A. Mocsary University of Wyoming - College of Law, [email protected] Nicholas James Johnson Fordham University - School of Law, [email protected] E. Gregory Wallace Campbell University - Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, [email protected] David B. Kopel Government of the United States of America - Independence Institute, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.uwyo.edu/book_chapters Recommended Citation Mocsary, George A.; Johnson, Nicholas James; Wallace, E. Gregory; and Kopel, David B., "In-Depth Explanation of Firearms and Ammunition" (2020). Faculty Book Chapters. 4. https://scholarship.law.uwyo.edu/book_chapters/4 This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Law Archive of Wyoming Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Book Chapters by an authorized administrator of Law Archive of Wyoming Scholarship. 15 1 2 3 In-Depth Explanation of 4 5 Firearms and Ammunition 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 This is online Chapter 15 of the second edition of the law school textbook Firearms Law 17 and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy (2d ed. 2017). The 18 printed book, by Nicholas J. Johnson, David B. Kopel, George A. Mocsary, and Michael P. 19 O’Shea, consists of Chapters 1 through 11. More information and additional materials 20 are available at https://www.wklegaledu.com/johnson-firearms-law-2. The printed book 21 may also be purchased from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble (bn.com). The companion 22 website for the book is firearmsregulation.org. 23 The online chapters, by Nicholas J. Johnson, David B. Kopel, George A. Mocsary, 24 and E. Gregory Wallace, are available at no charge from either https://www.wklegaledu. 25 com/johnson-firearms-law-2 or from the book’s separate website, firearmsreglation.org. 26 They are: 27 28 12. Firearms Policy and Status. Including race, gender, age, disability, and sexual 29 orientation. 30 13. International Law. Global and regional treaties, self-defense in classical inter- 31 national law, modern human rights issues. 32 14. Comparative Law. National constitutions, comparative studies of arms issues, 33 case studies of individual nations. 34 15. In-Depth Explanation of Firearms and Ammunition. The different types of fire- 35 arms and ammunition. How they work. Intended to be helpful for readers who 36 have little or no prior experience, and to provide a brief overview of more com- 37 plicated topics. (This chapter.) 38 16. Antecedents of the Second Amendment. Self-defense and arms in global histori- 39 cal context. Confucianism, Taoism, Greece, Rome, Judaism, Christianity, Euro- 40 pean political philosophy. 41 42 Note to teachers: Chapter 15, like all of the online chapters (and like the printed 43 Chapters 1 through 11), is copyrighted. You may reproduce this online Chapter 15 without 44 charge for a class, and you may have it printed for students without charge. We ask that 45 you notify the authors of such use via one of the email addresses provided on the public 46 website for this textbook. Of course, you may choose to use only selected pages, and you 47 may supplement this chapter with materials you choose. However, this chapter may not be 48 electronically altered or modified in any way. 49 525 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3524083 WK_FRRP_2020_Ch15.indd 525 Manila Typesetting Company 07/16/2020 11:25AM 526 15. In-Depth Explanation of Firearms and Ammunition 1 Many aspects of gun policy are driven by the mechanics of firearms. Knowl- 2 edge of how firearms and ammunition operate is thus essential to careful think- 3 ing about firearms law and the Second Amendment. People who learn, shape, 4 and review laws should make every effort to understand basic facts about the 5 operation and use of the firearms involved. Unfortunately, this does not happen 6 in many instances. Consider, for example, the public debate over so-called 7 assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. Here are a few examples of false 8 or misleading claims about their functioning: 9 10 • Both a former United States President and the head of a prominent gun 11 control advocacy group have described “assault weapons” as firing like 12 machine guns. They confuse semi-automatic with fully automatic firearms. 13 • Two federal appellate courts have declared that the semi-automatic-only 14 AR-15 rifle is a “weapon of war” made to be used on the battlefield. Yet no 15 national military force actually uses semi-automatic-only rifles in combat. 16 • Another federal appellate court described “assault weapons” as being 17 “designed to spray fire rather than to be aimed carefully.” Multiple 18 courts have asserted that pistol grips on AR-15 rifles are designed for 19 spray-firing from the hip. The assertion is false. AR-15s, like all so-called 20 assault weapons, are intended to be aimed. “Shooting from the hip” is 21 a disparaging term used to describe the reckless act of discharging a 22 firearm without aiming. These judges lacked rudimentary knowledge 23 about the function of such firearms. 24 • A congressman declared after the Orlando nightclub shooting that 25 semi-automatic-only AR-15 rifles fire “700 rounds a minute.” After the 26 Parkland, Florida school shooting, a prominent Harvard law professor 27 tweeted that the AR-15 rifle “easily fires over 10 rounds per second.” A 28 semi-automatic rifle fires only one round with each pull of the trigger. 29 The congressman and law professor were giving rates of fire for fully 30 automatic weapons, not semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15. 31 • One congresswoman who was the prime sponsor of federal legislation 32 to ban large-capacity magazines explained that the millions of such 33 magazines already in circulation would be disposed of once the ammu- 34 nition in them had been shot. She failed to understand that magazines 35 can be reloaded and reused. 36 • Another congresswoman who had sponsored federal legislation ban- 37 ning “assault weapons” with certain features like “barrel shrouds” was 38 asked in a media interview whether she knew what a barrel shroud is. 39 She admitted, “I actually don’t know what a barrel shroud is. I believe 40 it’s that shoulder thing that goes up.” Barrel shrouds (or handguards) 41 cover the barrel on an AR-15-type rifle. 42 • Still another congresswoman who had introduced gun control legisla- 43 tion stated that she has “held an AR-15 in my hand” and that it is “as 44 heavy as 10 boxes that you might be moving” and fires a .50 caliber 45 bullet. The AR-15 rifle ordinarily weighs 6-8 pounds unloaded and most 46 commonly fires a .223 caliber bullet. 47 • A former Vice-President advised his radio listeners to buy a double-bar- 48 reled shotgun for self-defense rather than an AR-15 rifle because the 49 AR-15 is “harder to aim” and “harder to use.” In another interview, he advised keeping intruders away from one’s house by “fir[ing] the Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3524083 WK_FRRP_2020_Ch15.indd 526 Manila Typesetting Company 07/16/2020 11:25AM A. Introduction to the Parts of a Firearm 527 shotgun through the door.” The AR-15 actually is easier to handle and 1 aim and has much less recoil than a shotgun, and firing a shotgun 2 through an entrance door is unlawful in many circumstances, especially 3 if the shooter cannot see who’s on the other side. 4 5 This chapter is designed to help the reader understand the basics of how fire- 6 arms and ammunition function. Part A presents the basic parts of a firearm with 7 summary diagrams. Part B describes the various components of firearm ammu- 8 nition—the bullet, case, primer, and gunpowder. Part C discusses the operation 9 and safe handling of modern firearms. Part D focuses on the three major types of 10 modern firearms—handguns, rifles, and shotguns—explaining their specific fea- 11 tures and uses. Part E examines specialty types of firearms and accessories, includ- 12 ing those covered by the National Firearms Act (machine guns, bump-stocks, and 13 silencers or suppressors), as well as muzzleloaders and armor-piercing ammuni- 14 tion. Part F covers nonfirearm arms such as stun guns, edged weapons, air and 15 paintball guns, bows, chemical sprays, and blunt weapons. 16 In the printed textbook, the history and effects of developments in fire- 17 arms and ammunition technology are covered in Chapters 2.I, 3.D.2, 4.E, 5.C, 18 6.F, and 7.C. 19 20 21 22 A. Introduction to the Parts of a Firearm 23 24 25 A firearm uses the energy created by ignition of a chemical compound (gun- 26 powder) to launch one or more projectiles out of a metal tube called a barrel. 27 Consider a simple firearm, a single-shot rifle: 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Single-shot rifle, with breech open. Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3524083 WK_FRRP_2020_Ch15.indd 527 Manila Typesetting Company 07/16/2020 11:25AM 528 15. In-Depth Explanation of Firearms and Ammunition 1 The major parts of a firearm are labeled in the diagram. The firearm is 2 fired by pressing the trigger with a finger.