LogFAQs > #896746295

After seeing a lot of misinformation surrounding "assault weapons" so I am making a thread to clarify a few things.

First of all, what is an "assault weapon" compared a normal weapon? It means nothing. Absolutely nothing. The term "assault weapon" was made up by propagandists to make guns seem scarier than they actually are.

You might think of the class of weapon "Assault Rifle." Believe it or not this name was also coined by propagandists to make a gun seem scary. But it is partially based on the translated name of the StG-44, "Sturmgewehr 44" a revolutionary rifle made in Nazi Germany and the name coined by the big man himself Adolf Hitler. The name meaning "Storm Rifle" or "Assault Rifle" in English.

Informally the name "Assault Rifle" has been used to identify rifles that are designed around the intermediate cartridge. During World War 2, we used much larger cartridges for rifles than what are used today. But what was found after extensive study was that soldiers were fighting each other much closer than the range the rounds were designed for. What they found was that soldiers couldn't actually SEE as far as their effective range, let alone place precise shots. Thus, a rifle designed around a medium size cartridge was made. Thus allowing guns to be lighter, smaller, more complex, have lesser kick, etc.

You might be thinking about the AR-15, an "assault rifle" many people are calling for a ban for. The AR-15, which stands for "Armalite Rifle 15" was designed specifically for modular capability. Its revolutionary design is why it is so enduring after all these years. It continues to be popular to this day due to the continuing advancements in the field of modification and attachments for guns. So you can "bling it out" so to speak ;p. The civilian model has a maximum rate of fire of 45 bullets per minute, requiring an individual trigger pull every shot, as machine guns are (mostly*) outlawed.

So you might be asking yourself. "Why in the world are civilians buying military grade weapons? Isn't that excessive?"

Military grade weapons aren't "deadlier" than what civilians have. They just have different goals in mind. A military weapon has to contend with harsh conditions, supply lines, easy to dismantle and put back together, be relatively light, etc etc. Basically has to be designed around life in the military. Military weapons are made specifically to fight other militaries. While they can be used for terrorism, military weapons are not necessarily "Deadlier" in the case of a terror attack than a civilian's weapon.

The typical shooter, which targets vulnerable installations such as schools or concerts, wants a weapon that they can conceal, easily operate and discharge as many rounds as possible. If they use the AR-15, it's usually because that's all they have. The AR-15 is quite a popular gun. An average handgun will do as much as damage, if not more. As evidenced by the Virginia Tech shooting, which used exclusively handguns.

As for why we should ban them? I have no idea.

*You can buy a machine gun legally, but only guns that were made before the ban in 1986. Every one of the remaining legal machine guns are placed under close watch, are valuable collector's items and require a special license to own and operate.