Countering the assault rifle comment

Assault Description;

An assault is the act of inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both. The U.S. Army defines assault rifles as “short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between sub-machine gun and rifle cartridges.” … It must be capable of selective fire. AR-15 style rifles are NOT “ assault weapons” or “ assault rifles .” An assault rifle is fully automatic, a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.
So, if you did not know that you did not own an assault weapon, now you do.

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I don’t understand how 2a folks went from the 90’s “there is no way to classify a rifle as an assault rifle” to the current views, “this is an assault rifle: x, y, z.” If someone uses a crayon in an assault, then I would refer to it as “the assault crayon,” and consider those still unboxed as just crayons.

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Being a Marine I have to consider myself as an assault weapon and when I build a fence I use an assault hammer, I hope that wasn’t a fence of.

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In which publication does the US Army define “assault rifle”?

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I didn’t realize the Marines still taught fencing. :smile:

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@Ouade5

  1. C. Taylor The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat , [ISBN] 0-87947-308-8)
  2. F.A. Moyer Special Forces Foreign Weapons Handbook , [ISBN]( [0-87364-009-8]
    “US Army intelligence document FSTC-CW-07-03-70, November 1970”](http://gunfax.com/aw.htm)
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Todd, I have had an aversion to the term “Assault Rifle” for some time. To me a better term would be “Advanced Rifle” or “Adaptive Rifle”. These terms would be much less scary to the know-nothings in Congress. I don’t know of a term that could be used to remove the stigma that surrounds this weapon. Maybe others can come up with a safer name that could be used, what do you think?

Larry

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It is the term that is grossly miss used. That is why I even posted it. A military assault is a fast action to overcome the enemy with a massive amount of rounds to over take and control of an area. This is done with M-60, SAW, M-16 with auto-burst switch ,50 cal. Machine guns, and if lucky Cannon fire(Howitzer). [ Drill Instructor SGT. Greyless ]

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I wouldn’t count either of those as doctrine. I’ve never seen the term ‘assault rifle’ in any official Army publication (AR, FM, TM, ADP, etc). I think some anti-gun news organization found an old memo that used it once and they hung their hat on it. But I’ve yet to find the mythical Army Assault Rifle.

I can’t say it doesn’t exist, only that I’ve never found it. That’s why I had to ask.

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How about… ready for this? “Armalite”. I know… it’s a stretch for anti-gunners to catch onto. It’s only been on the market for over 60 years… give 'em a bit more time.

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Regardless of where the term “assault rifle” came from (and I have also seen information that it came from the Germans in WWII, but not going to get into it), the media have latched on to it and are running with it. It is a scary sounding term, and as we are seeing here, even within the gun community, there is debate as to its origin and true definition. So, they are exploiting it while we argue amongst ourselves. The liberal media controls the narrative and are intellectually dishonst. A journalist has the professional and moral obligation to research, fact check, and present a story in as truthful manner as possible. Yet, when you look at the term assault rifle, or how the media constantly purposely misleads the story to make it seem that full auto firearms are legal. They have even made up terms like “fully semi automatic.” We as knowledgeable gun owners laugh and cringe when we see the utter stupidity when politicians try to explain the dangers of firearms.

So, one can go back and read some of my posts on being kind to new shooters, especially people who have bought their first guns during the recent pandemic or civil unrest. Remember this is how many of those new shooters have received their firearms education and help them. What are you doing as a gun owner to help correct this misinformation? Perhaps re-education is an opportunity to introduce an anti-gun person to safe and responsible shooting.

Also, has not been mentioned in this thread, but since we are talking terminology, I am going to throw it out there. Please never refer to guns as weapons. I know its common usage, but it sends the wrong message. Firearms are tools, nothing more, nothing less. Sorry for the rant guys.

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I’ll get into it, even though I’m not a subject matter expert. According to Wikipedia, you’re right. The first “assault rifle” is the German StG 44. The Germans called it the “Storm Rifle.”

Having referenced Wikipedia, though, it also says the M16 is an “assault rifle,” so there is a definite position the editors have taken. They’re citing as proof an article from “The Atlantic,” that well-known, objective journal of firearm history.

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I also gleaned this nugget from Wikipedia:

According to the Associated Press Stylebook, the media should differentiate between “assault rifles”, which are capable of fully automatic firing, and “assault weapons”, which are semiautomatic and “not synonymous with assault rifle”.

So if you wonder why the news so consistently gets this wrong, it’s because the leading authority of firearms, the AP, decided that any semi-automatic firearm is an “assault weapon.”
:interrobang:

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And the difference between a rifle and a weapon is?

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A rifle is a tool. A baseball bat is a weapon.

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I have commonly seen them referred to as “Modern Sporting Rifles” or MSR

This past legislative session in Virginia they tried to pass an “assault weapons ban” and it literally included pretty much every semi-automatic rifle, handgun, and shotgun.

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Any tool used to unlawfully physically another person physically, or threaten to harm another person with, would be an “assault weapon,” depending on the legal definition of “assault” where the incident took place. Every other definition just seems silly. How can a firearm be an “assault weapon” if I’m using it to defend myself from an assault?

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Not to mention using the term, translated into English from German( Sturmgewehr), and coined by Hitler himself. Shame on these people.

Sturmgewehr literally translates to “Storm gun.”
Sturm means storm. Gewehr could be any type of firearm, either a rifle or smoothbore.

I suppose I understand why this is now translated as “assault rifle,” but people that make that translation seem to be taking a modern term and equating it to an older concept in another language. It’s not a 1:1 translation.

Great weapon, I have one. I have never been a fan of the AR platform, but when the Armalite became avaiable to me I had to jump, now I am a fan.

Larry