Modern Sporting Rifles

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) announced a new media campaign yesterday aimed at dispelling the anti-rights crowd's myth that "you don't hunt with assault weapons" and other misinformation about the AR-15 platform. There are a good number of gun owners as well who don't think an individual needs to own an AR-15, or as NSSF said in it's release, the "new sporting rifle."

Today's AR-15-style modern sporting rifles are just another step in the evolution of the tools hunters and target shooters use to enjoy their activities. These rifles may not look like current hunting rifles, but remember, your current hunting rifle probably doesn't look much like your grandfather's rifle either.

NSSF will use a multi-pronged campaign utilizing print, video and Web-based components to reach as wide an audience as possible. It will emphasize educating sportsmen whose preference for "traditional-looking firearms" can lead them to misunderstand AR-15-platform rifles and to even describe them using terms such as "assault weapon," which inadvertently plays right into the anti-rights crowd's attempts to ban these rifles.

Ads have already been placed in major firearm and sporting magazines such as Field & Stream and Outdoor Life as well as outdoor cable television networks. The campaign's materials can also be seen on a dedicated web site, that will expand on the educational messages delivered in the media campaign for an even better understanding of how civilian sporting rifles have evolved from military rifles over time.

Included on the web site is a timeline of military-to-civilian rifle evolution, interactive features that identify the components and functionality of modern sporting rifles, and video. There is also a section on the web site, where gun owners can arm themselves with the facts to correct the anti-rights crowd's misinformation about these popular rifles.