NASCAR appears to be the latest to succumb to anti-gun hysteria and ban advertising for certain types of guns, in particular so-called “assault style weapons” and “sniper” rifles. After refusing ads from K-Var and Dark Storm Industries, the racing behemoth has been quiet about their gun advertising policy. This distinctly left of center shift on policy surprised and angered many gun owners and racing fans. After all, NASCAR attracts a particular demographic that has a strong overlap with gun ownership. So what’s going on, and why is this a big deal, and for that matter, just what kinds of guns are making NASCAR squeamish?
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What the Heck is an “Assault Style Weapon?”
The term assault weapon is a politically loaded term and has varied context in common use over time. Allegedly coined by Adolf Hitler in reference to the revolutionary StG-43 and related variants, assault rifle originally referred to a carbine with select fire (semi-auto and burst or full auto capability) using an intermediate cartridge (somewhere between a handgun and the large rounds like 8mm Mauser or .30-06 of WWII) with a removable magazine. Various ergonomic features exist on “assault weapons” such as a protruding pistol grip, muzzle brake or flash hider, some sort of barrel shroud or handguard and often stocks that can be folded for transport or adjusted to fit individual users.
None of these features (pistol grips, adjustable or folding stocks, removable magazines, barrel shrouds, muzzle brakes, etc…) were new to the firearms industry. In fact, some date back hundreds of years in common use. Combining them all into a new, more ergonomic and user friendly package was new, and it sparked a revolution in firearms design which quickly bled over to the civilian world.
In the 1980’s, when tough guy action movies dominated popular culture, the term assault weapon was picked up by the gun owning public. It simply was the name for a gun that had a number of ergonomic and style features. By this point one or two generations of Americans had grown up with these modern designs and little thought was given to the only words they had to describe them.
Anti-gun politicians who seem constantly terrified of anything that isn’t Elmer Fudd’s shotgun or great grandfather’s hunting rifle latched onto the phrase and vilified it beyond recognition. In the process, they created a legal and cultural fiction that if you have the wrong set of ergonomic or cosmetic features, a gun has no legitimate use. This is the lie that NASCAR seems to have swallowed, and it is a morally reprehensible betrayal of their loyal fan base.
Over 50 years after the first commercial sale of the AR-15, we call these guns what they are. Modern sporting carbines – although the design is well over half a century old, so vintage sporting carbine might be more accurate. The push for more accurate and less charged language has caused the anti-gun left to shift terms again, and adopt the phrase “assault style” weapon. It’s not an assault weapon, but looks like one, so it must be scary! Either way, NASCAR has swallowed the lies perpetuated by the anti-gun left hook, line, and sinker.
Sniper Rifle or Deer Rifle?
Telescopically sighted rifles were used in the first half of the 19th century for hunting. During the American Civil War, they rose to some prominence, but very little serious military use of scoped rifles would occur until WWI. Meanwhile, the sport shooters and hunters who pioneered the innovation of scoped rifles were embracing them more and more. The race was on to develop better optics. Today, gun owners can buy optics at nearly any price point that are superior to those used by any military through much of the 20th Century.
So what is a sniper rifle? Well…
You see NASCAR, it’s impossible to define a sniper rifle because today’s modern high end target guns and military sniper rifles are often literally one and the same. The civilian owned ones might look prettier, but when the US government wants a sniper rifle, they usually end up buying off the shelf sporting rifle components and bolting them together just like any sport shooter would.
In fact, from those first crude sniper rifles, to weapons fielded by today’s Navy SEALS, the only real difference between a deer rifle, sniper rifle or elite competition gun is …nothing. So we beg the question, sniper rifle, deer rifle, or long range precision target rifle? And what ad agency executive decided a scoped rifle was bad?
We can’t figure out what makes a sniper rifle different than a match rifle or hunting rifle. But we know we’ve got a few guns in our safe with scopes on them. Apparently we aren’t allowed to talk about accurate rifles anymore, lest somebody sipping a soy latte in Seattle or New York City get offended.
American Gun Owners Betrayed
Anytime there is a mass shooting, it is understandable that people get angry, confused and even cautious. Private companies have every right to decide what they are going to allow or market, and they have to be aware of market and social pressures, or even pressure from their insurance companies or lawyers.
Apparently NASCAR chose to disregard that portion of their market who fully support civil rights. They instead have chosen to sanitize gun ownership. Why? Nobody knows, and the people who do know aren’t talking. More companies are bowing to pressure from anti-civil rights organizations and giving in to a narrative that certain types of guns are unacceptable for ownership and should be removed from our memory.
Appeasing the increasingly disconnected reality of the left is never the answer. As they demand further compliance with their agendas, and insist on rigid acceptance, companies and people will find themselves trapped in a Maoist nightmare world of self denunciation and group shaming.
NASCAR can make whatever choices they want in regards to advertising, and their fans and customers can choose how they want to spend their money. The old saying “get woke, go broke” exists for a reason, and NASCAR may find themselves on the wrong side of their (former) fans wallets.
