This book is the definitive work showing the central place of AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles in the American story. From the founding to the present, rifles and other firearms have played a pivotal role in American history. The story of America's rifle is largely the story of American history.

There are over forty-four million AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles owned by Americans. Popular adoption on such a monumental scale is indicative of more than a passing fad; only proven utility through long history creates such lasting-indeed growing-demand.

Since the founding of the American republic, rifles-beginning with muzzleloaders and later semiautomatics-have been at the center of American history and pre-history. This book, by renowned historian and attorney Stephen Halbrook, is the definitive account of this centrality of repeating rifles to the American story-from its conception to the present day.

Some factions of state and national politicians now seek to remake America in a different, novel image by rushing to ban and restrict access to firearms that have long been our heritage. As Halbrook decisively shows, theirs is a war against the Second Amendment and the tradition of freedom and self-sufficiency that has sustained our storied past. Our rights hang in the balance-not as lone pillars but, history shows, as dominos ready to fall in quick succession.