G&A Man on the Street: What's Your Definition of an Assault Weapon?

Digging nails into a chalkboard sounds like smooth jazz compared to the ongoing exploitation of the term "assault weapon."

Knee-jerk media outlets are working mercilessly to gain support for the leftist gun-control agenda. Unethical journalists have formed an entire vocabulary of gun-demonizing terms, leading those who know nothing about guns to believe that "assault clips" are more dangerous than walking down a dark alley at night in Chicago.

Just as a reminder, firearms don't have a brain, they don't have feelings and they can't make their own decisions. Calling a semi-automatic rifle an "assault rifle" brands an inanimate object with a negative connotation. In reality, the terms "freedom defender" or "modern musket" should be the politically-correct terms when referring to an instrument which nobly protects American liberties.

According to the NRA-ILA Glossary, "[if the term 'assault rifle' is] applied to any semi-automatic firearm regardless of its cosmetic similarity to a true assault rifle, the term is incorrect." A true assault rifle is a select-fire weapon capable of continuously firing rounds as long as the trigger is depressed, or until it runs out of ammo. Real assault rifles are heavily regulated by the BATF, and require an extensive registration process for private civilian ownership.

Semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 shoot only one shot per trigger pull. Much to the surprise of people who rely on the evening news to learn about guns, the "AR" in "AR-15" stands for "Armalite," the name of the company that originally manufactured the rifle.

With all the misleading information forced upon the American public, the editors at G&A hit the floor of the 2013 NRA Show to find out your definition of an assault weapon.