# Why I Keep AR-15 Platform Rifles **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-keep-ar-15-platform-rifles/810269 "2018-03-08T23:54:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-keep-ar-15-platform-rifles/810269/301 "2018-03-18T19:56:34Z")
Just remembered this is an AR-15 thread. Did it get hijacked? Derailed? I own AR-15s because they are relatively inexpensive. They’re quality, versatile rifles that offer limitless customization. I shoot competitively and hope to one day place in the top 100 at the National Trophy Match. Shooting AR-15s outside of work also helps me hone and maintain my skills as a professional soldier as well. I’m not big into hunting, and I’ve killed more deer with a bow than I have with a firearm. But I _have_ been hog hunting once, and I took an AR-15. I think that if I lived somewhere with gophers, coyotes, or a hog infestation, an AR-15 would be a great firearm to have. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-keep-ar-15-platform-rifles/810269/302 "2018-03-18T20:47:16Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > That’s actually why I was curious to ask him about the suicide thing and why a gun would have possibly made it happen, versus the other (seemingly to me) more peaceful and readily available methods. When I hear those suicide-related gun control arguments, they’re usually followed up with something like, “in country X, this particular gun-control law resulted in an 80% reduction in _gun suicides_”, without discussing the more important issue of _total suicides_. Since there are claims that less guns might result in fewer suicides, not just fewer gun suicides, I am curious to understand why that might be true. You’ve touched on some good points about number of steps and ease of use. But easier than pills? I’d be interested in hearing as much as k9befriender is willing to share on that subject. They are not really all that readily available. Pills? I’d have to go get some. I don’t even know what types I would take for maximum effect. I don’t think I could intentionally cut myself. There isn’t anything nearby that I could jump off of. Really, anything else means I need to get out of bed, even, when I could just off myself without even standing up if I happened to have a particularly bad morning. I would on some days wake up, realize I had no reason whatsoever to get out of bed, and just kinda wish I had an alternative to facing another day. Had I had a gun at the ready I would have had an alternative to getting out of bed. Please note, I am not in such a state anymore, and I don’t know for sure that I would have actually done anything had I had the means when I was going through some shit. But at the same time, I don’t know that I will not go through such a state again, now when it may occur. I don’t think anyone else really does either. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-keep-ar-15-platform-rifles/810269/303 "2018-03-18T20:49:11Z")
Thank you for sharing. I’m glad that you’ve found your reason to get out of bed. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-keep-ar-15-platform-rifles/810269/304 "2018-03-18T21:22:17Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Just remembered this is an AR-15 thread. Did it get hijacked? Derailed? I think it got shot to pieces. Good on you, for the competitive shooting - it’s one of those skills that always amazes me. I’ve done my share of it with bolt action, semi-autos, targets, and shotguns/clays, and I’m by no means the greatest at it, but sometimes I surprise myself. It takes precision, the same precision used in one of my other hobbies, macro photography. And I’ve also shot archery - I got pretty good at that too but gave it up as I didn’t have a convenient place to do it for a while. and It’s my understanding that the AR platfom is widely used for hunting small game from long distances, something with certain barrels that can be added to it having an extremely flat trajectory or something [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-keep-ar-15-platform-rifles/810269.md?page=15)