Family of AR-15 Inventor Eugene Stoner: He Didn't Intend It for Civilians [More]Note they provide no direct quotes or documentation. It's all what they say he would have thought. To suggest that he did not know his semi-auto design would be available to the civilian market and not subject to NFA '34is absurd. And he died a millionaire.
I see his hand-wringing heirs aren't rejecting any of their inheritances...
I'm not done with this. If I find anything worth adding, I will.
He did intend for it to be sold to civilians
ReplyDeleteRead the "great rifle controversy" if you can find a copy for less than $200.
The original AR-10 was to be a "s[porting Rifle". the are 15/16 was redesigned for the military, but the -15 was marketed to everyone.
Why, exactly, should I CARE what Stoner's intentions were? With all due respect for the man (and that's a lot), his alleged views on the civilian ownership and use of his design don't really interest me. Henry Ford endorsed the Nazis...should I stop driving F-150's? (Or, more accurately, should the government forbid ownership of F-150's?)
ReplyDeleteWe have a complex government hierarchy to enact laws and decide what's legal and illegal, and control and punish misusers. The original inventor's 'will' ends pretty much when s/he submits it for patent rights and sale for profit.
That said, I also doubt this allegation. Stoner had plenty of time to make his objections known, if he'd had any, and this 'revelation' coming only after his death seems awfully fishy.
And also, the point about none of the heirs rejecting their inheritance is quite telling.
Thank you for sticking with this one, Mr. Codrea. I'm certain you'll find heaping helpings of Katie Couric-type editorial discretion here, and it needs to be shouted from the mountaintops.
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