Let's Talk About It

This is the AR-15 rifle also referred to as the .223 rifle, a civilian version of the U.S. military's standard-issue M-16, as intended "for law enforcement, security and private consumer use."

The Bushmaster .223 comes with a 30-round magazine, enabling the shooter to fire all 30 rounds, one for each pull of the trigger, in a minute or less. John Allen Muhammad, the D.C. sniper, and his youthful accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, used a Bushmaster .223 in nine of 10 sniper-style murders that terrorized the Washington area in 2002.

Many AR-15s have ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartel pistoleros, including the Bushmaster .223 that was later used to kill four police officers and three secretaries in Acapulco.

Since the federal law banning assault weapons expired in 2004, the weapons are sold legally but the purchasers must sign a U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives document saying they are buying the guns for themselves.

The NRA decries the name "assault weapon" and refers to high-powered guns as "modern sporting rifles."

Timeline of Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting:

9:30 A.M. gunman forces himself into building, armed with .223 AR-15 rifle plus handguns

9:36 A.M. 911 call received

9:38 A.M. by all accounts shooting spree ended, gunman plus 25 others dead or dying

So essentially 8 minutes is all it took for the .223 assault rifle to do its job.