Editorial

Reporter Compares Shooting An AR-15 To A ‘Meteor’ Striking The Earth

AR-15 (Credit: Shutterstock/ Mendenhall Olga)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
Font Size:

Kevin McCallum isn’t a big fan of AR-15s.

McCallum recently wrote about his experience at a Vermont gun shop for SevenDaysVT.com, and he had an all-time comparison when talking about shooting the most popular rifle in America. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)

He wrote the following in part about his experience letting it rip with an AR-15 at a range in Waterbury owned by Henry Parro:

When ready, I lined up the target in the cross hairs, pulled the stock onto my shoulder, squeezed the trigger and — BA-BOOM!!!!!

It is difficult to describe the impact — physical and personal — of that first shot. It felt like a meteor had struck the earth in front of me. A deep shock wave coursed through my body, the recoil rippling through my arms and right shoulder with astounding power. Being that close to an explosion of such magnitude — controlled and focused as it was — rattled me.

I honestly didn’t think was real when I saw it blowing up on Twitter. I thought there was no way in hell a grown man compared shooting a rifle chambered in .223/5.56 to a meteor hitting the earth.

Yet, it’s 100% real as wild as that sounds.

This isn’t as bad as when a guy went on CNN and appeared to fire an AR-15 with his eyes closed while leaning backwards, but it’s not too far behind.

I know young kids raised shooting AR-15s where I grew up. It’s a round used to kill coyotes. It’s not a nuclear weapon and it’s nothing like a meteor.

The recoil is so light that you could hold the rifle against your nose. How do I know that? It’s happened before.

It is painful listening to people who know nothing about guns try to talk about them, and it’s why so many pro-gun individuals just tune individuals like McCallum out as soon as they start talking. While I’m sure McCallum is a nice guy and we’d find plenty of topics to discuss over cold beers, firearms wouldn’t be one of them.

If you’re so scared of an AR-15 that you think the recoil and firing process is similar to a meteor, then guns just aren’t for you.

It’s okay. You can find a different hobby. Maybe chess is your thing because AR-15s are clearly too scary!