The Truth about “Assault Weapons”
There has been much talk lately about “Re-instating the
assault weapons ban” and “taking AK-47s out of the public sector”. There has apparently been some major
confusion on the part of many people as to what this means, and what the ban
really is.
First of all, you must understand that there is no such
thing as an “assault weapon”. That name
is a purely political term. There are
three basic classes of firearms: Single shot, semi-automatic, and fully
automatic.
·
A typical single
shot firearms can be represented in several ways.
o
First by a “break
open” style shotgun or rifle. These
models have no internal magazine and can only hold the one round that is
chambered. These types of firearms are a
design holdover from early 1800’s [1] and are still commonly used in bird
hunting today.
Single shot firearms can also be represented by lever action or pump action rifles and shotguns – the type often portrayed in Wild West films. These types of firearms may have an internal magazine that can hold several rounds, but fire only once before requiring the shooter to manually chamber and cock the weapon. These are also design holdover from early 1800’s [1] and are still commonly used today.
And lastly, they can be represented by bolt action rifles which firearms may have an internal magazine that can hold several rounds, but fire only once before requiring the shooter to manually chamber and cock the weapon.
To put it more simply, you pull the trigger once, it goes bang once.
Single shot firearms can also be represented by lever action or pump action rifles and shotguns – the type often portrayed in Wild West films. These types of firearms may have an internal magazine that can hold several rounds, but fire only once before requiring the shooter to manually chamber and cock the weapon. These are also design holdover from early 1800’s [1] and are still commonly used today.
And lastly, they can be represented by bolt action rifles which firearms may have an internal magazine that can hold several rounds, but fire only once before requiring the shooter to manually chamber and cock the weapon.
To put it more simply, you pull the trigger once, it goes bang once.
·
A semiautomatic
firearm is a model that uses the action from the firing of one round to help
the shooter by chambering and
cocking the next round.
o
A typical semiautomatic firearm can be
represented by a “double action” revolver, similar to or eveolved from the
S&W designs in the 1850’s.
Likewise, a semiautomatic firearm can be represented by a modern “semi” handgun, such as the popular Glock – commonly used for home defense, concealed carry, and police issue sidearms.
And finally, (and most significantly) a semiautomatic firearm can be represented by Represented by a typical moderns hunting or sport gun, such as the M14 ranch rifle, Benelli Nova duck hunters shotgun, or the popular and customizable AR platform sport rifle.
The significant factor here is that these modern firearms are typically capable of adding on various conveniences, like flashlights or other accessories in a manner similar to mounting a scope. This apparently makes the gun lobbyists nervous.
Despite the fact that the firearm now as a “scary flashlight” attached to it, you pull the trigger once, it still just goes bang once.
Likewise, a semiautomatic firearm can be represented by a modern “semi” handgun, such as the popular Glock – commonly used for home defense, concealed carry, and police issue sidearms.
And finally, (and most significantly) a semiautomatic firearm can be represented by Represented by a typical moderns hunting or sport gun, such as the M14 ranch rifle, Benelli Nova duck hunters shotgun, or the popular and customizable AR platform sport rifle.
The significant factor here is that these modern firearms are typically capable of adding on various conveniences, like flashlights or other accessories in a manner similar to mounting a scope. This apparently makes the gun lobbyists nervous.
Despite the fact that the firearm now as a “scary flashlight” attached to it, you pull the trigger once, it still just goes bang once.
·
A fully
automatic weapon is one that uses the action from the firing of one round
to both re-chamber and cock the weapon AND fire the next round automatically.
o
These
are known as Machine guns and Submachine guns.
To put it more simply, you pull the trigger once, it goes bang MANY times.
Fully automatic weapons are typically used by the military for fire suppression and rapidly firing at targets from a (typically) close range.
To put it more simply, you pull the trigger once, it goes bang MANY times.
Fully automatic weapons are typically used by the military for fire suppression and rapidly firing at targets from a (typically) close range.
The term “Assault weapon” is intended to conjure images of a
shooter aggressively engaging targets with the capacity and speed of a fully
automatic weapon (ie: in a military style assault). This term is used to describe semi-automatic
weapons, despite the fact that semi-automatic weapons would be ineffective at
assault style fire suppression or at rapidly firing at multiple targets from
close range.
The term was used by the anti-gun lobby and aimed at semiautomatic
firearms that looked like fully automatic firearms. If a semiautomatic firearm had any
conventions or features that made it’s use more convenient to the gun owner,
such as an adjustable length stock for taller shooters, or more comfortable
pistol grip, or a replicable magazine, it was labeled an “Assault weapon” and demonized.
The purpose in using this terminology is to shift the discussion of gun control from a logical debate to an
emotionally charged rhetoric. In
this way, they could confuse and panic more people into agreeing to further
limit an individual’s gun rights.
Regardless of what side of the gun-control argument you are
on, do not let yourself be fooled into mischaracterization of the facts or
irrational thinking.
We chastise those who would judge a person by their skin color
as illogical, irrational and biased.
Doing the same with a firearm - to create confusion and fear - just because of the way it looks is just as illogical, irrational
and biased.
Should we outlaw a toy BB gun or NERF gun because it LOOKS like a
military weapon? No. Why?
Because it does not function like a military weapon. It is not fully automatic.
A so called “Assault weapon” is no more dangerous than any
other modern hunting rifle. It functions
the same way, has the same rate of fire, and even uses the same common
ammunition.
There is no such
thing as an “Assault Weapon”. Don’t fall
for the rhetoric. Don’t perpetuate the
lie.
