Today I was listening to Gun Talk Utah on the radio. The “Expert” was talking about gun registration being the first step to gun confiscation. OK fair enough, but then he says “Assault Rifle, what ever that is? Nobody has ever told me what that means…”. It occurred to me at that moment, That sounds ridiculous. We all know where the term “Assault Rifle” comes from, we all know how it is misused, we all know why it’s used. In this case and to be honest most cases, when I hear that response “What is an Assault Rifle” I cringe, that response makes us look stupid. When asked why can’t the “Experts” say it like it is? Assault rifles are a military instrument not available to civilians. AR Does Not stand for Assault Rifle. Or at least something like that…
I’ve said it before, and will say it again. A few years ago, anytime someone brought up a semi auto sporting rifle and called it an assault rifle, they got corrected. Then, the narrative got effective, and even our pro 2a groups started calling anything black with a pistol grip an assault rifle. That’s when I stopped most of my support of these groups.
Best I know, a requisite is that an assault weapon is full auto capable. Not full semi…full.
As I harp…
Not large cap mags…normal cap mags
Not assault… sporting
Not sniper rifle… precision rifle
What pro 2A groups calls semi-autos assault rifles?
I also disagree with “sporting rifle”. That’s right up there with “nobody needs a ___ to hunt”. Calling it sporting sounds like relegating the Second Amendment to hunting and sports.
It’s a “rifle” or a “semi automatic rifle”, and if we’re being really specific, an AR-type or AR-15 style rifle.
I also don’t understand why anyone with related knowledge, or love for 2A, would ever utter assault “anything” or gun violence.
Not calling an AR an assault rifle, necessarily, but no longer correcting those that do. Suddenly an AR is synonymous with assault. Quite sure I’ve gotten emails from the NRA and GOA using the term though, no quotes around it.
I understand the term “sporting” as it was explained as a lightweight, quick handling firearm, and oftentimes carbine length. Sports car…not used for sports necessarily, but same thing, light, quick handling etc.
Going from my M1a or RPR to my 12.5, 14.5, even 16" AR…feels sporting. Suddenly I’m standing up and doing drills. 
I try showing people the fun of shooting, and bringing up the 2a and need to defend it after some of those people accepted my offer to go shoot and got more involved.
Assault rifles are like Santa, The Easter Bunny, and Cupid.
They dont exist.
Okay then, how about an AK? It was designed for military use as an assault weapon in 1947 and is still being brandished by countless armies, militias, terrorists, freedom fighters and rebels around the world.
If it is not full auto is it no longer an “assault” rifle? Says who? I understand that is the general consensus among gun people, but otherwise, who decides one way or another? Does an AK identify as a “sporting rifle” depending on the whim of who’s holding it?
Yes, as discussed, people do frequently misuse terms. The “assault rifle” term has been discussed at least several times on this site. Here, and here are just two examples.
Assault rifle - Wikipedia
An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles were first put into mass production and accepted into widespread service during World War II. The first assault rifle to see major usage was the German StG 44,
You need a good meme of that for us.
For me, here’s why it matters.
While people can call anything any name that they like, (I can call my toaster a duck if I want to) others don’t have to go along with it. When they do, we get things like leverage as a verb…and we’re stuck with it forever. We’re closing in on the same for assault rifle and so much more.
I would simply challenge the speaker instead of going along with it to make them feel more comfortable (knowlegable, which they aren’t). We’re all responsible to keep our lauguage correct.
A sudden physical attack!
Maximum capacity frying pan
My frying pan is not capable of assault unless “I” decided to implement such an attack. If I own an assault “rifle” that means I own an assault car (been in three accidents, lifetime) I have an assault bat, I keep an assault Swiss Army Knife in my pocket, and my dog, must be considered an “automatic assault dog”!
If I hit you with the butt of my bolt action .22, 30 times, rest my arm and repeat, would that be considered an attack with a high capacity automatic assault rifle? Can’t put that past any Blue state DA.
If they want to play the assault game, then we were assaulted January 20th, 2020! Every time I fill the gas tank it’s an assault! Groceries, taxes, interest rates, I’m being mugged/robbed daily! That’s felony without the aggravated part! Not really sure about the aggravation on their part and their malice and premeditation! Not to mention lying in wait! 47 years???
THAT’s aggravated assault with intimidation and at my age it constitutes a higher penalty!
The one I fear the most here is “should of”
Because it sounds like should’ve.
It’s should have there is no such thing as “should of”!
This is all wordplay, intended to support disarming effort against law-obedient citizens. This should be countered by memes of the prosecutor in the Rittenhouse trial, pointing an AR at the jurors with his finger on the trigger. “Trust the experts”.
Another silly term used in 2A community is “battle rifle”.
Another common term used by gun grabbers is, “weapons of war.”
Can appreciate this post as the terms around “AR, assault, automatic, and rifle” are confusing and misunderstood by some in society. The terms “AR” is a generalization, misunderstood, and misused, in my opinion.
Preaching to the choir, but the rifles commonly sold are not automatic, like they are in the military, where one can hold the trigger down and the bullets continuously fly (not sold in stores). Semi automatics require the shooter to let go and repress the trigger each and every shot. They are different. For those new to this industry. Please correct me if I am wrong on that.
Personally, I don’t envision a need for a semi rifle, but for a rare situation, so rare that despite being a firearms rights supporter, I’m less inclined to support semi auto rifle rights; But strongly support semi auto hand gun rights.
Before we make purchases, I suggest potential buyers “check their local listings” laws, city, County, state, where they would be residing in, to help them remain legal, and to reduce their anxiety of breaking the law.
Each city, county or state may have already defined in their written law, what’s legal or not. It’s one thing to disagree, and fight against it, I respect that. But my point is protecting one from breaking the law, read the fine print on the laws, they are very detailed as to if a rifle is allowed to be semi auto or not, length, material, number of rounds/capacity, whether or not they have accessories on the front of the barrel/business end, grips, the material of the front of the rifle, under the barrel, and even the caliber size.
It’s not as simple as “Assault Rifle”, though I think once we break it down, it’s better understood and conversations can be had, with more transparency.
For me, when a loved one is thinking about their purchase/investment, it hits home, wanting them to be safe but also not have to live in fear of breaking the law.
Stay safe, and stay legal.
IMHO, danger to society from semi-auto rifles used criminally, is a great deal less than from handguns. Reason being, ease of concealment. Statistics will confirm that most crimes with firearms involve handguns.
If they succeed in banning semi-auto rifles, it will be used as precedent in attacking the social dangers of semi-auto handgun
I have heard assault used for pistols having more then 10 rounds in the magazine.
OK, I’ll take the bait.
On what basis should a law-abiding citizen of a democratic republic be denied access to the same tools that the government ‘of the people and for the people’ loans to 18-year-old enlistees?
Not sure I was baiting you, It’s pretty well known, like it or not, having fully automatic weapons in the United States is illegal for just about everyone.