This time last year the Washington Post threw together this interesting piece that caught my attention:

The AR-15, the military-style rifle that a gunman used to kill 17 people at a South Florida high school Wednesday, is at once a ferociously powerful weapon, a symbol of freedom and individualism, and an object of despairing worry about the future of democracy.

It is, depending on which political and social camp you belong to, “America’s rifle,” a way to “Control Your Destiny” or a killing machine that has no legitimate place in civilian life.

Biased in journalism? Maaaybe…

The AR-15 — its initials come not from “assault rifle” but from its original manufacturer, ­Armalite — is a descendant of the machine guns Nazi infantrymen used against Soviet forces in World War II.

– Marc Fisher, The AR-15: America’s Rifle or Illegitimate Killing Machine

Your daily history lesson.