BULLDOG
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- Jun 3, 2014
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- #61
And none of that has anything to do with the OP.The term assault rifle is a military term. I would edit the OP if knew how. If you want to hinge the entire discussion on one misused term while ignoring the body and purpose of the entire conversation, I suppose you can, but we both know the information I was asking for. Your post is interesting, but doesn't shed much light on the question.Some history. Nearing the end of WWII the Germans developed a weapon capable of firing ammunition less powerful than a standard military rifle round but able to fire in automatic mode. Fully automatic machineguns (firing full power military ammo but requiring a crew of men to be effective) and sub-machine guns that fired pistol ammo and could be used as effectively by a single person but was really only effective at relatively short (pistol) ranges had been around for years. This weapon is known as "Storm rifle" (except in German that I am too lazy to look up) because it was envisioned to be used by troops assaulting an enemy position using auto fire against the enemy while charging them to make enemy fire less effective. Hard to duck and shoot accurately at the same time. It was also found that the smaller lighter ammo was lighter and easier to transport and store. The Russians who encountered it on the battlefield were impressed and developed their own copy and called it an "assault rifle" which is known today as the AK. The American version that was developed is known as M-16. The M4 is a fiddled with version of the M-16. The term "assault weapon" is a civilian perversion invented for propaganda purposes in the attempt to include any and all weapons the speaker doesn't like.You are absolutely right. That is why I specifically excluded that capability from the discussion in the OP. Are you saying that the M4 and the AR15 are equivalent in everything but the multi-fire capability?Part of the actual definition of an assault rifle is that it is able to fire in fully automatic mode. AR-15s are simi-automatic and incapable of fully automatic fire. Weapons 101. A very high percentage of all firearms are simi-automatic and not assault anything. This is basic knowledge and essential for any rational discussion of firearms use.The M4 is the main rifle used by the US military, and no one could question that it is an assault rifle. The M4 is capable of full automatic fire, and 3 round burst, and the AR15 is not. Of course, it would be illegal, but the AR15 can easily be converted to allow those types of fire. Other than that difference, what makes an M4 an assault weapon, and an AR15 not?
There are currently 20 million AR-15 rifles in private hands.....how many are used in mass public shootings.....maybe 2 a year, if that, since handguns are the preferred weapon for mass public shooters.....and fully automatic weapons in crime are more rare than the same person getting hit by lightning multiple times....
You are wrong.......pointing out that there are 20 million AR-15 rifles in private hands is difference from the military M4 rifle....with very few in civilian hands. That too is a difference.
It's not a material difference in the way the guns work, as in a head to head comparison.