A top college American football player is ditching his AR-15 nickname because of its association with mass shootings.

Anthony Richardson had used the moniker because it matches his initials and shirt number – and even used a gun scope design on some of his branded clothing line.

But the University of Florida quarterback tweeted he would now simply go by “AR” and is also coming up with a new logo.

The AR-15 semi-automatic rifle was used to murder 19 children and two teachers at a school in Uvalde, Texas, in May.

The same type of weapon has been used in other mass shootings, including the killing of 60 people in Las Vegas in 2017, and the deaths of 17 students at a Florida school in 2018.

Richardson said he’d made the decision to stop using his nickname after “discussions with my family and much thought”.

He posted: “While a nickname is only a nickname and ‘AR-15’ was simply a representation of my initials combined with my jersey number, it is important to me that my name and brand are no longer associated with the assault rifle that has been used in mass shootings, which I do not condone in any form.”

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Richardson made his debut with the Florida Gators last season and ESPN calls him an “enormous talent” who is among the top prospects to make the NFL.

Meanwhile, amid the fallout from the Uvalde shooting, the debate over US gun control continues.

The House of Representatives is meeting on Wednesday over proposals to ban certain semi-automatic weapons after a previous federal ban expired in 2004.

Meaningful changes to gun laws in the US are always vigorously opposed by the gun lobby and most Republicans.

However, last month the most significant reforms in decades were passed, including tougher checks for buyers aged under 21 and funding for states to bring in “red flag” laws to take weapons away from people considered a threat.

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