Assault weapons

In the terminology of anti-gun politicians and the anti-gun lobby, an **assault weapon** is defined as a scary-looking firearm that is supposedly designed for military combat and unsuitable for civilian ownership. The choice of words is enough to convince large swaths of the population that such weapons should be banned or severely restricted, even though such legislation does little to stem gun crime.

The reality is that assault weapons are no more deadly than other firearms that remain legal and unrestricted. Most weapons defined as assault weapons, such as rifles of the AR-15 or AK-47 models are designed to fire intermediate caliber ammunition at best, or .22 Long Rifle. Yet, politicians often deem a .22 LR rifle as a dangerous military assault weapon while deer rifles chambered in .308 Winchester or above are ignored.

## Definition

Since the late 1980s, numerous US states have enacted legislation to ban the sale and possession of firearms that are define as assault weapons. Contrary to popular belief, the term "assault weapon" does not refer to fully automatic firearms or machine guns, but rather to semi-automatic firearms with certain features that are purely cosmetic in nature.

For example, the New York State SAFE Act of 2013 defines a rifle as an assault weapon if it has a detachable magazine combined with at least one of the following features. Pistols and shotguns are subject to similar regulations.

* A folding or adjustable stock
* A thumbhole stock
* A pistol grip
* A bayonet lug
* A foregrip
* A flash suppressor
* A muzzle brake
* A threaded barrel, or
* A grenade launcher

Prohibitions on assault weapons in most other states/municipalities have similar definitions, although they can vary.

While New York State does not ban any model of firearm by name, the assault weapons legislations of most other states that have such laws also ban certain firearms by name, such as the Colt AR-15.

## Misconceptions

Firearms that are labeled as "assault weapons" by the media and politicians carry a certain amount of stigma. Many people ignorantly believe myths and lies about such firearms, including the following.

1. Assault weapons are high-powered firearms with no legitimate use for hunting, self-defense, or sport.
2. Assault weapons are fully automatic firearms designed for combat use only.
3. Assault weapons are a major contributor to the gun violence epidemic in the US.
4. The Founding Fathers could not have imagined assault weapons.
5. Nobody needs an AR-15 to hunt.

Most rifles that are covered by assault weapons legislation are intermediate caliber rifles. Semi-automatic versions of the AK and M-16 (or AR-15) are intermediate caliber rifles; they are well below the caliber of deer rifles, which are commonly chambered in .308 Winchester or 30-06. In addition, shotgun slugs are much larger than the 5.56 NATO or 7.62 \* 39 in terms of diameter.

As defined above, assault weapons refer to semi-automatic firearms with features that are only cosmetic in nature. There is nothing about pistol grips that make them more dangerous than traditional stocks, and most of the banned features are utterly cosmetic and not functional. The hype over assault weapons is more emotional than logical. In addition, the most commonly used firearms in homicides are handguns, not AR-15 rifles. Even pistols that are defined as assault weapons such as the Uzi, MAC-10, or TEC-9, are not ideal for crimes as they are much more difficult to conceal.

The muskets argument has been invalidated numerous times. It is demonstrated that high-capacity, rapid-fire guns existed during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The purpose of firearm ownership in the US is not just for hunting, but ultimately for defense against tyranny.

## Effects of Legislation

Legislation banning or restricting the ownership of assault weapons has largely proven to be unsuccessful and ineffective in reducing crimes. While the AR-15 rifle is vilified by the anti-gun lobby and politicians, rifles are used to commit fewer than 300 murders per year in the United States. This goes to show that restrictions on such firearms are not rooted in logic but are more emotions-based, which is the same logic for the entire ideology of totalitarianism or authoritarianism.