AP Photo/Alex Brandon

One of the hardest fights we have on our hands as pro-gun advocates are defending our right to own an AR-15. The controversial weapon is one of the most popular firearms in the country, yet its use in several high-profile mass shootings has placed it in the anti-gun crosshairs. There’s virtually no Democratic candidate for president who isn’t calling for a ban on the weapons to some degree.

However, part of that is because the media hasn’t been willing to report on why these firearms are beneficial to the average citizen.

It doesn’t help, though, when media darlings who know less than toe fungus about guns start spouting off their opinions.

David Hogg, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting survivor-turned-gun control activist, tweeted on Friday that if you need an AR-15 to defend yourself, then you’re a terrible shot.

Hogg was responding to a tweet saying an AR-15 is similar to a handgun in that it only fires one bullet with each pull of the trigger. The future Harvard student had tweeted earlier how he does not want to take anyone’s firearms because he had grown up cleaning and shooting guns.

https://twitter.com/konig__ryan/status/1124673364243755009

Hogg then responded you need more target practice if you need an AR-15. The popular modern sporting rifle typically comes with 30 round magazines, but they can hold more with larger magazines.

If you need an AR-15 to defend yourself you need more target practice because you’re a terrible shot. https://t.co/IDRkInhaCZ

— David Hogg 📢 (@davidhogg111) May 4, 2019

Hogg’s tweet comes shortly after President Trump invited two people who used an AR-15 to stop attacks on stage with him during the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meetings and Exhibits.

Trump allowed Mark Vaughan, an Oklahoma County Reserve deputy, who stopped a knife attack that took place at work with his AR-15 that he had in his car, and Stephen Willeford, an NRA firearms instructor who stopped the mass shooting at a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church to share their stories.

Hogg’s comments betray precisely why no one should listen to him on guns in any way, shape, or form. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about.

Now, anyone familiar with firearms will tell you that the AR-15 isn’t the best gun for every situation. They suck for concealed carry, for example. However, they’re useful for taking on an attacker armed with a long gun or one who is hurting people but isn’t close enough to stop with a handgun.

It’s also useful if multiple assailants attack you in your home. It happens, especially if you’re someone who won’t be cowed by local gangs or other groups of criminals.

Further, Hogg shows how little he understands the dynamics of defensive shooting.

For one thing, the other guy gets a vote. In other words, he isn’t going to stand there and wait for you to shoot him. He’s going to move, which makes it much harder to hit your target. Paper on the range doesn’t move, but people do, so a few rounds aren’t going to cut it.

Even if you do hit them, there’s no guarantee that you’ll stop the attack. People get shot and keep fighting all the time. The way the body functions means a gunfight will trigger the fight or flight response, which creates a set of circumstances where people have been shot and didn’t even know it until the fight was over. Couple that with people who may know they’re hit but figure they’re going to die if they don’t kill you first and you may need more than a handful of rounds.

A desire for greater round capacity has nothing to do with being a bad shot, but everything to do with understanding the environment.

Hogg, the master gunner that he isn’t, doesn’t understand that. Why would he? He scorns gun people and the gun lifestyle many of us embrace. He made his name trying to take a steaming dump on all we hold dear. He has no reason to learn better.

However, for young Mr. Hogg, it might be beneficial to know that folks like us aren’t exactly up for taking tactical advice from someone who knows nothing about the tools being used, how a law-abiding citizen might employ those tools or much of anything else. But if you keep making comments like that, we’ll still have plenty of reasons to laugh at you, so there’s that.