Gersh Kuntzman a reporter for the "New York Daily News"recently did a report on the AR-15 Rifle. He visited a gun store in Philadelphia to test out the rifle having never fired a gun before. After he fired the gun, he claimed to have gotten PTSD. “It felt to me like a bazooka — and sounded like a cannon…The recoil bruised my shoulder, which can happen if you don’t know what you’re doing. The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick. The explosions — loud like a bomb — gave me a temporary form of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.”

I remember, at seven years old, my grandpa teaching me the fundamentals of how to shoot guns and do so safely. Being 19 now, I have had the opportunity to fire multiple types and calibers of guns ranging from little .22 long rifles to a 300 Weatherby Magnum. The AR-15 fires a .223/5.56 caliber round which is a relatively small caliber. I have a decent amount of experience with this firearm being I am the owner of one. The first point the reporter makes is how firing the gun felt like a bazooka. For those who have not fired an AR-15, it is far from what the reporter makes it out to be.

Like most firearms, it is loud when you shoot it. He claims he suffered a bruised shoulder after he shot it which is highly unlikely to be true. The rifle has one of the most little recoil compared to most guns I have fired. He also claims the brass casings that are ejected after being fired disoriented him as they flew past his face. In the video it shows him holding the rifle on his right shoulder which is the same side as where the brass casings are ejected which would make it very difficult to see especially as he claims it "flew past my face." He also says that the "smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick." The range he was firing at was indoors which are highly ventilated to dispel gasses from the range and I have never met someone who said the gas from shooting guns was "disorienting."

As for his claim about the destruction, he would have been firing at a paper target so I am not sure how putting holes in paper could be as destructive as he says. He then goes to say shooting gave him a "temporary form of PTSD," which, personally, I don't believe. Another point to add is that the video never shows the reporter actually shooting the gun so there is no actual proof he ever even fired it. As I said before, I have been able to fire many different types of firearms including ones much bigger than an AR-15 and in my experience have never seen anyone come away from shooting claiming to be more scared of guns after shooting one, most of the time they walk away with a smile on their face. Many people including me see this as another sorry way to try do demonize firearms, especially the AR-15, the AR-15 is one of the most capable and safe firearms for military, police and civilians alike but once again the mass media wants to paint a picture of this gun being a big, bad, evil weapon of terror.