Following the tragic shooting incident in Maine, gun control activists swiftly took to social media to advocate for stricter gun regulations and even an outright ban on firearms. However, many of these activists were met with backlash for spreading misinformation about AR-15s and other popular firearms.

First and foremost, much of the discourse revolved around the AR-15, a common target for gun control advocates. The AR-15, which has long been used as the “boogeyman” for politicians who want to ban guns, became the center of attention once again after the horrific events in Maine unfolded. Despite activists jumping to blame the well-known rifle, the shooter in this instance did not use an AR-15 to carry out his attack. This did not stop outlets like CNN, however, from falsely claiming the gun was used.

“Investigators searched Card’s car yesterday and recovered a .308-caliber AR-15 rifle,” CNN reported. This statement, however, is factually correct — the AR-15 is not chambered in .308.

Joy Behar, a co-host on “The View,” also contributed to the misinformation campaign by making inaccurate claims about AR-15s. She suggested that shooting a deer with an AR-15 would render it inedible because “you basically demolish the animal.” In reality, AR-15s are not typically used for hunting large game like deer due to their chambering in .223/5.56, which lacks the stopping power required for ethical big game hunting. In layman’s terms: the caliber is commonly considered too small to humanely hunt large animals.