What is an Assault Weapon?

AzogtheDefiler

The Pale Orc
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Aug 4, 2018
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I thought it was a fully automatic weapon but now people are saying semi - auto weapons are assault weapons. Which is it?!?!? Maybe if people could agree on an operational definition we could more properly debate the topic?!?!?!?!?!?!

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/21/def...sault-weapon-is-a-very-contentious-issue.html

“AR-15-style rifles are NOT ‘assault weapons’ or ‘assault rifles,’ according to NSSF’s website. “An assault rifle is fully automatic — a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.”

States also tend to have different definitions in gun laws for what is an assault weapon or assault rifle, and it often changes when lawmakers seek to close what they perceive as loopholes.
 
I thought it was a fully automatic weapon but now people are saying semi - auto weapons are assault weapons. Which is it?!?!? Maybe if people could agree on an operational definition we could more properly debate the topic?!?!?!?!?!?!

Definition of what’s actually an 'assault weapon' is a highly contentious issue

“AR-15-style rifles are NOT ‘assault weapons’ or ‘assault rifles,’ according to NSSF’s website. “An assault rifle is fully automatic — a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.”

States also tend to have different definitions in gun laws for what is an assault weapon or assault rifle, and it often changes when lawmakers seek to close what they perceive as loopholes.
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I thought it was a fully automatic weapon but now people are saying semi - auto weapons are assault weapons. Which is it?!?!? Maybe if people could agree on an operational definition we could more properly debate the topic?!?!?!?!?!?!

Definition of what’s actually an 'assault weapon' is a highly contentious issue

“AR-15-style rifles are NOT ‘assault weapons’ or ‘assault rifles,’ according to NSSF’s website. “An assault rifle is fully automatic — a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.”

States also tend to have different definitions in gun laws for what is an assault weapon or assault rifle, and it often changes when lawmakers seek to close what they perceive as loopholes.

Back at the end of WWII, the term "assault rifle" meant a fully automatic hand held rifle with a short barrel. However, the antigun politicians used it to describe weapons that were merely semiauto. They wanted to mislead people into thinking they were banning automatic weapons, when actually they were not.
 
To the OT- a rock. A fist. A spoon. Not dressing properly. Not saying something in PC (which changes with the wind)- the constitution- verbal refuting- not being a godvernment zealot/acolyte. Man made climate change denial- anything they believe assaults their authoritarian views-
 
I thought it was a fully automatic weapon but now people are saying semi - auto weapons are assault weapons. Which is it?!?!? Maybe if people could agree on an operational definition we could more properly debate the topic?!?!?!?!?!?!

Definition of what’s actually an 'assault weapon' is a highly contentious issue

“AR-15-style rifles are NOT ‘assault weapons’ or ‘assault rifles,’ according to NSSF’s website. “An assault rifle is fully automatic — a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.”

States also tend to have different definitions in gun laws for what is an assault weapon or assault rifle, and it often changes when lawmakers seek to close what they perceive as loopholes.

Back at the end of WWII, the term "assault rifle" meant a fully automatic hand held rifle with a short barrel. However, the antigun politicians used it to describe weapons that were merely semiauto. They wanted to mislead people into thinking they were banning automatic weapons, when actually they were not.


That is called the anti-gun bait and switch....
 
The terms 'assault rifle' and 'assault weapon' are not interchangeable. 'Assault rifle' has a specific military term; the most notable characteristic of the assault rifle is the selector switch, that allows the wielder to select between fully automatic, three-round burst, and semi-automatic fire. A semi-automatic AR-15 is therefore, strictly speaking, not an assault rifle.

'Assault weapon' has no specific term, so people will generally use it however they like. Pro-gun control people tend to use it to refer to any weapon they don't like, and pro-gun rights people tend to point out how if taken super-literally, it can be used to describe a rock or a stick, and it's therefore a silly term.

And then a bunch of other terms such as 'machine gun,' 'long arm,' 'sporting rifle,' and so on show up, and the whole arena gets muddied up so no one knows what they're talking about - which is kind of normal in modern politics.

I try to encourage people to use 'semi-automatic rifle' when they're talking about semi-automatic rifles. Sometimes they listen.
 
and when the government makes this an assault weapon

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Clayton will back them 100%.
 
I thought it was a fully automatic weapon but now people are saying semi - auto weapons are assault weapons. Which is it?!?!? Maybe if people could agree on an operational definition we could more properly debate the topic?!?!?!?!?!?!

Definition of what’s actually an 'assault weapon' is a highly contentious issue

“AR-15-style rifles are NOT ‘assault weapons’ or ‘assault rifles,’ according to NSSF’s website. “An assault rifle is fully automatic — a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.”

States also tend to have different definitions in gun laws for what is an assault weapon or assault rifle, and it often changes when lawmakers seek to close what they perceive as loopholes.
Bash someone's head in with a hammer and you have an "assault hammer."
Stab someone in the chest with a knife and you have an "assault knife."
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
 
What constitutes an assault weapon is determined by law-making bodies – not by the military, gun manufacturers, or posters on internet message boards.


You tend to be consistent wrong on gun issues. Legislatures and courts define what constitute assault weapons and, at the end of the day, what constitutes an assault weapon is cosmetic features and not the capability of the weapon:

Assault weapon - Wikipedia
 

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