Mr. Jefferson’s Assault Rifle

High-capacity magazine? Check. Capable of firing 22 aimed shots in a minute? Check. A military weapon? Check. Manufactured during the American Revolutionary War? Check. The Girandoni was 22-shot, magazine-fed, nearly silent .46 caliber repeating rifle issued to elite Austrian troops from 1780-1815. Thomas Jefferson purchased two of these rifles, which he sent west with Lewis…

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Marines Returning To Iwo Jima On 70th Anniversary Of Famed World War II Battle

Hershel “Woody” Williams is returning after 70 years to Iwo Jima, where a flamethrower saved him from Japanese bayonets and where he earned the Medal of Honor. His grandchildren urged him for years to relive the war on-site at annual ceremonies to commemorate the Marine Corps‘ bloodiest battle — the conquering of an 8-square-mile Pacific…

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