Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera on Tuesday hit back at critics after making a false claim about AR-15s on air.
“Heard the Daily Caller and fellow travelers are ranting about my incorrect definition on-air of ‘AR’ as in AR-15,” he wrote on Twitter. “Whatever. Point is, there is no place (other than sporting clubs and similar skilled settings) for assault rifles. They’re substitute appendages.”
Heard the Daily Caller and fellow travelers are ranting about my incorrect definition on-air of “AR” as in AR-15. Whatever. Point is, there is no place (other than sporting clubs and similar skilled settings) for assault rifles.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) January 18, 2023
They’re substitute appendages.
When Greg Gutfeld asked what “AR” stands for on "The Five," Rivera responded, “automatic rifle.”
“No,” Gutfeld responded, shaking his head. “That’s not what it is.”
Geraldo Rivera just said with a straight face on The Five that the "AR" in AR-15 stands for "Automatic Rifle." pic.twitter.com/9HPkSlfdOT
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 17, 2023
“Well, all I know is that AR-15s have no place in American society other than sport clubs,” Rivera added.
The “AR” stands for the company that developed the firearm in the 1950s—ArmaLite—explains The National Shooting Sports Foundation, correcting false notions that it is an abbreviation for “assault rifle” or “automatic rifle.”
“AR-15 and other semi-automatic rifles are NOT ‘assault weapons’ or ‘assault rifles,’” the firearm industry trade assocation adds. “An assault rifle is fully automatic — a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.”