Old story I once told here in the infamous "Vaporized hog" thread, but it bears repeating:
A few years ago, in response to the rising social unrest of 2020, my parents each got a handgun and my brother got an AR- 15. All perfectly legal, and they responsibly use and keep those weapons.
One day, they took me to a shooting range with them. While I have never personally owned a firearm due to not feeling the need to do so (Though I have no problem with others doing so, as long as they do so legally, safely, and responsibly), I figured learning to use a gun is similar to learning to change a tire: A skill which I might never need to use, but which could in an emergency situation make a big difference.
Anyway, my brother was of course using his AR- 15, and we were firing at simple paper bullseye targets. At the end of the session, his target he was shooting at with the AR- 15 had quite a few bullet- holes (He's a pretty good shot), but was otherwise intact.
If an AR- 15 was the ultra- powerful, ultra- deadly Armageddon weapon that the DUmmies regularly portray it as being, capable of vaporizing hogs with one shot and causing serious injuries even if it misses by several inches, that flimsy paper target would have been completely obliterated.