This misconception is pet peeve number 44. Assault weapons and assault rifles are 2 different things.
The term "assault rifle" has been defined since WWII and is an evolution of the battle rifle. The traditional definition is "
A military rifle, capable of controlled, fully-automatic fire from the shoulder, with an effective range of at least 300 metres". Wikipedia actually has a pretty good discussion of the definition of "assault rifle", where it came from, and how it differs from"assault weapon". Even if you discount Wikipedia, one can consult the references which include
US Army documents for the matching definition.
The term assault weapon as now used was created by the gun control crowd for the Federal Assault Weapon Ban to cover scary military-style semi-automatic rifles, pistols and shotguns. Again,
Wikipedia has some good information and references here.
Websters, and a few other online dictionaries, are wrong. Other reputable sources, like
Encyclopedia Britanica, continue with the traditional definition, although even they have begun to conflate the two terms.
If I want to put on my conspiracy hat I would wonder if the traditional definition of "assault rifle" is being expanded to incorporate semi-automatic assault weapons to further some form of gun-control purposes. IMNSHO folks like the Brady crowd do not want people to understand the differences, and the implications of these differences; they'd rather the sheeple think of them as one and the same.
Nope. Neither
Mass General Laws nor the
United States Code define the term "assault rifle". They both define the term "assault weapon" in conjunction with the state <spit> and repealed federal AWBs specifically to exclude automatic or select fire weapons.
See above for references.
Kevin9: +1 to you for a well thought out and constructed post (unlike my original). Let me take a moment to clarify my position. The point I was trying so ineffectively to make, was that while there is some evidence that the term is used incorrectly, there is also documentation that would justify the use of the term, by those not intimately familiar with military weapons development, obscure army training manuals, or articles written by gun aficionados.
My intent, in listing the sources that I did, was to show that a non-gun expert could easily point to reputable sources like Webster’s to justify the use of the term. While you and other may feel that Webster’s is wrong, pointing to other documents with different definitions simply illustrates the fact that there is an inconsistent definitions of the word. However it does not prove Websters to be wrong. In terms of the difference between Assault Rifle and Assault Weapon, I get the origins. However, the point is not whether gun enthusiasts like you and I get it, but whether it is reasonable for a non-gun enthusiast/expert (i.e. the Media) to get the distinction.
In fact, entering the term “rifle” in the Encyclopedia Britannica, (a source you referenced) will generate this result:
rifle
weapon
Main
firearm with a rifled bore—i.e., having shallow spiral grooves cut inside the barrel to impart a spin to the projectile. The name, most often applied to a weapon fired from the shoulder, may also denote a rifled cannon; but though field guns, howitzers, pistols, and machine guns have rifled barrels, they are not normally referred to as rifles.
So it is no surprise to me that people not intimately familiar with firearms would see assault rifle and assault weapon as being one and the same.
Especially when the MGL defines Assault Weapon, like this:
“Assault weapon", shall have the same meaning as a semiautomatic assault weapon as defined in the federal Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(30), and shall include, but not be limited to, any of the weapons, or copies or duplicates of the weapons, of any caliber, known as: (i) Avtomat Kalashnikov (AK) (all models); (ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil; (iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70); (iv) Colt AR-15; (v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR and FNC; (vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9 and M-12; (vi) Steyr AUG; (vii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and (viii) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as, or similar to, the Street Sweeper and Striker
What I would propose is that out side this forum, let’s continue to educate friends family and others on the important distinctions between legal and illegal gun ownership, differentiate between semi and select fire, and continue to stress that crazy people kill other people, the guns themselves are simply the tool of choice. But on this forum, where all of this is known, can we stop feeling the need to point out every single instance where someone uses the term Assault Rifle or Assault Weapon? It’s getting old, it wastes bandwidth, and it’s educating no one.
Thanks,
Chris
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Dude, way too much info ![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
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