AR15
Type of site | Web forum |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Headquarters | Dallas/Fort Worth,Texas ,United States |
| Owner | 2nd Adventure Group |
| Founder(s) | Edward Avila |
| URL | ar15 |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Users | 10 million (2013)[1] |
| Launched | 1996 (as mail list) |
| Current status | Active |
AR15is a firearm-enthusiastweb forum[2]founded as amail listin 1996 and headquartered in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It migrated to abulletin board system,then finally a website which the owner called "the largest firearms website in the world",[3][4]with 10 million users in 2013.[1]The company that owned the website also manufacturedAR-15rifles and was founded in 1996 by Edward Avila, who moved it fromFarmington, New York,to Texas after passage of theNew York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Actin 2013.[3]
The forum was described byPoliticoas a significant "cyberspace" forum for discussion of thebump stockcontroversy in 2014.[5]The website was the subject of confusion over a 2020 Canadian government ban on anairsoft gun,leading to a demand by 170,000 petitioners for an apology to gun owners.[6]
It was bought in 2019 by 2nd Adventure Group, a holding company owned byPete Brownelland Frank Brownell that also owns the online retailer Brownells.[7]
Removal from servers
[edit]The site'sDomain Name System(DNS)registrar,GoDaddy,removed the site from its servers in 2021 following theU.S. Capitol attack.[8][4]GoDaddy toldAxiosthat the action was due to the site's failure tomoderate content"that both promoted and encouraged violence".[9]
TheNational Shooting Sports Foundation,in a message from its president, condemned what it called the "de-platformingof gun sites "as a" dark harbinger "for discussion of controversial issues and an" indiscriminate silencing of opinion and debate ".[10]
As of January 2021[update],the DNS registrar for the AR15 domain isEpik.[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^abSwaine, Jon (2013)."Automatic for the people: America's obsession with automatic weapons".The Daily Telegraph.London, UK.
- ^Stephanie Clifford,Shop Owners Report Rise in Firearm Sales as Buyers Fear Possible New Laws,New York Times(December 22, 2012).
- ^abMelody Burri (December 8, 2013)."Business blames SAFE Act for move from Farmington".Daily Messenger.Canandaigua, New York.
- ^abMichael Lee (January 11, 2021)."Amazon partner GoDaddy boots gun site from its servers".Washington Times.
- ^Valentine, Matt (December 1, 2014),"The Gunfight in Cyberspace",Politico
- ^Snyder, Jesse (13 May 2020). "Trudeau's gun ban appeared to target coffee and a toy;Confusion Conservatives want ban lifted, apology for gun owners".National Post.Ontario, Canada. p. A.6.
- ^F Riehl (5 June 2019)."ARFcom Interest Purchased by Brownells' Holding Company, 2nd Adventure Group".Ammoland Shooting Sports News.Ammoland, Inc.RetrievedJanuary 20,2021.
- ^"GoDaddy removes gun forum website AR15 from its servers".Fox News. January 16, 2021 – viaYahoo! News.
- ^Lachlan Markay (January 13, 2021)."GOP digital operatives aim to avoid" deplatforming "".Axios.
- ^Bartozzi, Joe (January 15, 2021)."DE-PLATFORMING OF GUN SITES IS A DARK HARBINGER".NSSF official website.National Shooting Sports Foundation.
- ^ar15 DNS record viaWHOIS,accessed January 16, 2021
- ^Allyn, Bobby (February 8, 2021)."'Lex Luthor Of The Internet': Meet The Man Keeping Far-Right Websites Alive ".NPR.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-02-09.RetrievedFebruary 9,2021.