20 Jun 2022 2:01 pm
thank you for your informative and respectful answer.Skans » 20 Jun 2022, 1:54 pm » wrote: ↑ An "Assault Rifle" is a full-auto (actually select-fire) relatively light-weight rifle. By light weight, I mean it doesn't take more than one person to carry it or operate it. The term originates from Sturmgewehr (literal translation "Storm Gun") - the German WWII StG44, which to you would look something like an AK-47. Because it is full-auto and not semi-auto, they are highly regulated under the National Firearms Act.
An "Assault Weapon" is a made up term. It is a rip-off or take off of the long recognized term "Assault Rifle". The term Assault Weapon has no intrinsic meaning outside of how it is defined in various pieces of legislation. Originally, the term was used in the Federal Assault Weapon Ban. It described various features which were mostly cosmetic and had little or nothing to do with the gun's function. Other state Assault Weapon laws have different definitions. Most Gun People, will tell you the term is meaningless. I tend to disagree, since the federal Assault Weapon's ban did actually define what an Assault Weapon is. The problem is, that since the ban sunsetted, there really is no one definition of what an Assault Weapon would be, and it has no root historical definition.
However, generally speaking, non-gun people view Assault Weapons as semi-auto firearms (as opposed to full-auto where you just hold the trigger down and it automatically chambers rounds, fires on and on) which looks "military", with pistol grips and rails to mount optics, laser-sights, flashlights, etc. Since the Assault Weapon ban, non-gun people view "Assault Rifles" as those types of weapons banned by the federal Assault Weapon ban, but which are categorized as rifles (long-gun) as opposed to pistols. And, this is where the disconnect and confusion comes in when gun-people discuss guns with non-gun people.