The modern liberator...

In 1942, the United States deployed “FP-45”, also known as the “Liberator”, in occupied areas during WWII. Its multiple components were farmed out to different manufacturers, and it was designated as a “Flare Projector” to hide its true nature. In short, it was intended to be a single-shot .45ACP pistol. It had 23 parts, mostly made from stamped steel, and was designed to be fired from a distance of less than four feet. Its' intended use was to kill or incapacitate a Nazi soldier, so a resistance fighter could take his weapons.

Now enter the 21st century. Today, the most popular model of rifle sold in America is currently the “AR15-type”. The AR15, originally designed by the Armalite Corporation as a selective-fire successor to the 7.62x51-chambered AR10, had its patent rights purchased by Colt. The AR15 “Sporter” semi-auto-only variant legal for civilian purchase was first introduced to the US market in 1963, roughly 50 years ago.

While it is not difficult to convert a civilian AR15 to a full-auto version, it is also not widely considered “readily convertible” because of the parts needed. A third pin hole in the receiver must be drilled in a very precise location and at a very precise size, and five additional parts must be acquired. While the full-auto bolt carrier has been readily available for use in civilian rifles for years, most manufacturers keep stringent controls on the sale of full-auto fire control group parts such as selector switches, triggers, hammers, and sears.

Even so, every single other part group on an on a military-issue M16A2, M16A3, M16A4, or M4 (henceforth referred to in this post as the “M16”) will fully interchange with the civilian-legal semi-auto AR15 rifle. One of the biggest selling features of most name-brand versions of the AR15-type rifles on the civilian market is the fact that they are “military-spec” on every level except for the fire control group.

Because of its origin as a military rifle that is still in use, along with its modularity, ergonomics, and familiarity, the AR15/M16 rifle is almost universally standardized as the issued long gun amongst domestic law enforcement agencies throughout the United States of America.

So, let's go over a few facts here.

1. The AR15 rifle is the most popular civilian rifle ever sold or manufactured in the United States of America.
2. Almost every part of the AR15 rifle is interchangeable with the M16 rifle, including its fire control group if the sear pin hole is drilled in the proper place/size and the FCG is replaced as a whole group.
3. Almost every SWAT team in the United States utilizes an AR-type rifle, as does almost every police department that issues a non-shotgun alternate firearm to its patrol officers.
4. Every federal agency in the US issues an AR-type rifle to its agents as a standard-issue long gun.
5. Even though some NATO member-nations do not use AR-type rifles, they are part of the Standardization Agreement (“STANAG”), and will use AR-compatible magazines and ammunition.

With those facts in mind, you may remember the first paragraph of this post, regarding the FP-45 “Liberator” pistol, and its intended use. It was designed to be used by “resistance fighters” in an occupied area, it was intended to be used to kill a member of an occupying force so that person's weapon and ammunition could be acquired and used by the resistance.

Now imagine that the “occupying force” was using, as its standard-issue firearm, a rifle almost identical (save for a few mechanical parts that are easily swapped over) to a rifle commonly-owned by the people whose land they are occupying. The occupied people own a rifle that has the same capacity as the occupiers' rifle, with the exception that it is not a “full-auto” or “burst-fire” rifle. The ammunition and magazines are fully-interchangeable, and may be shared amongst those with both pre-existing semi-auto rifles AND newly-captured fully-auto rifles.

An occupying force would be in a world of shit, would they not?

Ever think maybe that might be why they don't want us to have 'em?