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An AR-15 is a semi-automatic, or self-loading rifle that has been called "America's rifle" by the NRA with well over 15 million sold by 2019. "Semi-automatic," as opposed to "automatic," means that the weapon's operator must pull the trigger to fire each shot. The rifle then automatically reloads. An automatic weapon continues to fire as long as you hold down the trigger, and is (mostly) banned in the U.S.

The AR-15, like its military version, is designed to kill people quickly and in large numbers, hence the term assault-style rifle, gun control advocates told NPR in 2018. They say it has no valid recreational use, and civilians should not be allowed to own them. They are legal in Texas for citizens over 18.

Feb. 14, 2018: Shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida leaves 17 people dead.

Oct. 1, 2017: The Las Vegas slaughter of 58 people.

Nov. 5, 2017: The Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting that claimed 26 lives.

June 12, 2016: The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 dead.

Dec. 2, 2015: The San Bernardino, Calif., shooting that killed 14 people.

Dec. 14, 2012: The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that took 27 lives

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But the guns were taken off shelves after President Bill Clinton signed a law in September 1994 banning what Congress called “assault weapons.” Prompted by a string of mass shootings — including one in 1989 in Stockton, Calif., in which five children were killed and 32 wounded in a schoolyard — the legislation stopped production of civilian rifles like the AR-15, and introduced the term “assault weapons” to the public.

Culturally, the ban did what marketers could not: In outlawing it, the government made the AR-15 tantalizing.

“If you want to sell something to an American, just tell him that he can’t have it,” said Mark Westrom, who owned Armalite, the gun’s original manufacturer

Hand Guns kill more people, but are not usually used in mass shootings. For that you need "America's Rifle"