Includes bibliographical references and index.

"The epic history of the AR-15 rifle, America's most controversial weapon"--,Provided by publisher.

In the 1950s an obsessive firearms designer named Eugene Stoner invented the AR-15 rifle in a California garage. He sought to devise a lightweight, easy-to-use weapon that could replace the M1s touted by soldiers in World War II. What he did create was a lethal handheld icon of the American century. McWhirter and Elinson track the AR-15 from inception to ubiquity. How did the same gun represent the essence of freedom to millions of Americans and the essence of evil to millions more? Shunned by gun owners at first, the rifle's popularity would take off thanks to a renegade band of small-time gun makers. By the 2000s it would become the weapon of choice for mass shooters, prompting widespread calls for proscription even as the gun industry embraced it as a financial savior. The book is a moral history of contemporary America's love affair with technology, freedom, and weaponry. -- adapted from jacket