What's an "assault weapon"?

unsung

In your words, not wiki's. I've asked numerous times for a definition but still haven't received one.

Many on here want "assault weapons" banned, I want to know what they are.

dimitrispearljam

i want all weapons banned...
you can even call them friendly weapons,sexy weapons,cool weapons
the weapons is the problem..

Slap upside the head

which word do you not understand the definition of?

Assault or weapon.

sparky_fry

An easily carried item that has the potential to injure or kill multiple people in matter of seconds. Of course i consider a hand gun an assault weapon.

Zoso

anything that could be used to assault kids in FIRST GRADE.... semi automatic weapons should be banned pure and simple. I don't give a fuck if people use them for hunting or 'self defense'.

dignin

unsung wrote:

In your words, not wiki's. I've asked numerous times for a definition but still haven't received one.

Many on here want "assault weapons" banned, I want to know what they are.

In my mind anything that has been designed for the modern military initially, would fall under the term "assault weapon".

I believe the only weapons that joe public should be able to own are hunting rifles that require you to reload after every shot.

gimmesometruth27

semi automatic or fully automatic rifles that soldiers would carry into a modern theater of war or battle that fire rapidly, have large magazines, and are designed with the sole purpose of killing people..

in short, military grade weapons that are not used for hunting. you would not hunt with an ak-47 or an uzi.

JimmyV

I'm not a gun expert so this might be far from accurate. To me, an "assault weapon" is any weapon designed not only to kill but to cause the maximum amount of damage to its target. A true hunting rifle does not apply because the goal of the hunter is to take down his/her target with the minimum amount of damage - whether it be to preserve edible meat or to have a trophy for the wall. An "assault weapon" by my understanding would never be used by a serious hunter. These are weapons whose only intended victims are human beings.

MotoDC

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

semi automatic or fully automatic rifles that soldiers would carry into a modern theater of war or battle that fire rapidly, have large magazines, and are designed with the sole purpose of killing people..

in short, military grade weapons that are not used for hunting. you would not hunt with an ak-47 or an uzi.

This is probably the only thing close to a workable defintion provided so far. That said, we'd still have to define, for example, what constitutes a "large" magazine as well as what the functional difference is between, say, an uzi that is limited to semi-auto and a glock.

blackredyellow

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

semi automatic or fully automatic rifles that soldiers would carry into a modern theater of war or battle that fire rapidly, have large magazines, and are designed with the sole purpose of killing people..

in short, military grade weapons that are not used for hunting. you would not hunt with an ak-47 or an uzi.

I'll take it a step further and include any semi-automatic rifle that can hold more than 5 rounds. Most of us picture an ar-15 or whatever, but you can buy a traditional looking semi automatic hunting rifle that they make extended clips for. In my opinion all semi automatic rifles should be outlawed, they have no place in hunting.

Zoso

blackredyellow wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

semi automatic or fully automatic rifles that soldiers would carry into a modern theater of war or battle that fire rapidly, have large magazines, and are designed with the sole purpose of killing people..

in short, military grade weapons that are not used for hunting. you would not hunt with an ak-47 or an uzi.

I'll take it a step further and include any semi-automatic rifle that can hold more than 5 rounds. Most of us picture an ar-15 or whatever, but you can buy a traditional looking semi automatic hunting rifle that they make extended clips for. In my opinion all semi automatic rifles should be outlawed, they have no place in hunting.

no one needs more then say 3 bullets at a time anyway for hunting... good point.

JonnyPistachio

JimmyV wrote:

I'm not a gun expert so this might be far from accurate. To me, an "assault weapon" is any weapon designed not only to kill but to cause the maximum amount of damage to its target. A true hunting rifle does not apply because the goal of the hunter is to take down his/her target with the minimum amount of damage - whether it be to preserve edible meat or to have a trophy for the wall. An "assault weapon" by my understanding would never be used by a serious hunter. These are weapons whose only intended victims are human beings.

+1

I always thought they were weapons intended for killing humans and were therefore mostly utilized by the military. They are useful for their ability to fire quickly...more bullets...more capacity...more killing.

blackredyellow

MotoDC wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

semi automatic or fully automatic rifles that soldiers would carry into a modern theater of war or battle that fire rapidly, have large magazines, and are designed with the sole purpose of killing people..

in short, military grade weapons that are not used for hunting. you would not hunt with an ak-47 or an uzi.

This is probably the only thing close to a workable defintion provided so far. That said, we'd still have to define, for example, what constitutes a "large" magazine as well as what the functional difference is between, say, an uzi that is limited to semi-auto and a glock.

Semi auto handguns are not worth fighting over, but i am good with a magazine size limit. I cant remember the old ban, but I think it was 12. I'd be fine going to 10 or even lower and get them closer to revolvers. That is the difference in uzis for me. The hold like 30 rounds.

blackredyellow

Zoso wrote:

blackredyellow wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

semi automatic or fully automatic rifles that soldiers would carry into a modern theater of war or battle that fire rapidly, have large magazines, and are designed with the sole purpose of killing people..

in short, military grade weapons that are not used for hunting. you would not hunt with an ak-47 or an uzi.

I'll take it a step further and include any semi-automatic rifle that can hold more than 5 rounds. Most of us picture an ar-15 or whatever, but you can buy a traditional looking semi automatic hunting rifle that they make extended clips for. In my opinion all semi automatic rifles should be outlawed, they have no place in hunting.

no one needs more then say 3 bullets at a time anyway for hunting... good point.

I grew up hunting. If you need more than 3 shots you are either screwing around or just wildly shooting at a running animal, which is dangerous, as you can't be fully aware what is behind what you're shooting at.

MotoDC

bry wrote:

I grew up hunting. If you need more than 3 shots you are either screwing around or just wildly shooting at a running animal, which is dangerous, as you can't be fully aware what is behind what you're shooting at.

Magazine capacity: so we're down from 12 to 10 to 5 to 3 within the first page of the thread. The 2nd amendment has nothing to do with hunting, so I doubt this approach will go very far in terms of legislation.

bry wrote:

Semi auto handguns are not worth fighting over, but i am good with a magazine size limit. I cant remember the old ban, but I think it was 12. I'd be fine going to 10 or even lower and get them closer to revolvers. That is the difference in uzis for me. The hold like 30 rounds.

Fair enough. So we can make uzi's legal so long as we limit magazine capacity to <pick a number depending on the anti-2nd amendment person you're talking to> and ensure they aren't full auto.

Seems like the main thrust of the argument here is to limit capacity and fire rate. Do we really need to define "assault weapon" further?

Hmm but what about shotguns? As I understand it, it's easy as pie to convert a standard 12-gauge to carry at least 8 shells. Shotguns can be semi-auto. I assure you shotguns cause far more destruction at short range than a long-barrel "assault" rifle.

Abe Froman

unsung wrote:

In your words, not wiki's. I've asked numerous times for a definition but still haven't received one.

Many on here want "assault weapons" banned, I want to know what they are.

I think your question has been answered.

blackredyellow wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

semi automatic or fully automatic rifles that soldiers would carry into a modern theater of war or battle that fire rapidly, have large magazines, and are designed with the sole purpose of killing people..

in short, military grade weapons that are not used for hunting. you would not hunt with an ak-47 or an uzi.

I'll take it a step further and include any semi-automatic rifle that can hold more than 5 rounds. Most of us picture an ar-15 or whatever, but you can buy a traditional looking semi automatic hunting rifle that they make extended clips for. In my opinion all semi automatic rifles should be outlawed, they have no place in hunting.

sparky_fry wrote:

An easily carried item that has the potential to injure or kill multiple people in matter of seconds. Of course i consider a hand gun an assault weapon.

mydogmookieblaylock

I assume the reason no one had previously answered your question is because no one believe you didn't actually know the answer.

pjradio

unsung wrote:

In your words, not wiki's. I've asked numerous times for a definition but still haven't received one.

Many on here want "assault weapons" banned, I want to know what they are.

UnSung...Would like to know, given the many responses here, if have you recieved your answer yet? Or are you still in need of further insight.

blackredyellow

MotoDC wrote:

bry wrote:

I grew up hunting. If you need more than 3 shots you are either screwing around or just wildly shooting at a running animal, which is dangerous, as you can't be fully aware what is behind what you're shooting at.

Magazine capacity: so we're down from 12 to 10 to 5 to 3 within the first page of the thread. The 2nd amendment has nothing to do with hunting, so I doubt this approach will go very far in terms of legislation.

bry wrote:

Semi auto handguns are not worth fighting over, but i am good with a magazine size limit. I cant remember the old ban, but I think it was 12. I'd be fine going to 10 or even lower and get them closer to revolvers. That is the difference in uzis for me. The hold like 30 rounds.

Fair enough. So we can make uzi's legal so long as we limit magazine capacity to <pick a number depending on the anti-2nd amendment person you're talking to> and ensure they aren't full auto.

Seems like the main thrust of the argument here is to limit capacity and fire rate. Do we really need to define "assault weapon" further?

Hmm but what about shotguns? As I understand it, it's easy as pie to convert a standard 12-gauge to carry at least 8 shells. Shotguns can be semi-auto. I assure you shotguns cause far more destruction at short range than a long-barrel "assault" rifle.

The second amendment doesn't mention hunting, but it also doesn't mention mass shootings or semi-automatic weapons. But it does reference a "well regulated" militia... I'm still waiting for that part in quotes. And if these wanna me militia types are so gung ho on assault rifles, maybe they should actually join a militia like the national guard.

And depending on what your definition of short range is, I might argue the "far more destructive" part. That aside, I'd much rather have a situation where a guy gets off 7-8 shotgun shells and has to reload one by one, then a guy with quickly exchangeable 30 rd magazines.

JimmyV

Where did the OP go?

Cosmo

unsung wrote:

In your words, not wiki's. I've asked numerous times for a definition but still haven't received one.

Many on here want "assault weapons" banned, I want to know what they are.

...
A civilian derivative of a military styled, long barreled gun that is capable of firing multiple rounds from a high capacity magazine. Examples of such a weapon is an AR-15, AK-47, AK-74, etc...
This also includes short weapons, such as the Uzi, Mac-10 and Tec 9 automatic pistol. Pretty much any weapon that is magazine or drum fed that is capable of being converted from a semi-automatic state to fully automatic.
...
Weapons such as the .50 caliber sniper rifle should fall into the banned from civilian use because we really don't want anyone outside of our military and/or law enforcement listing 'Sniper' as their occupation.... do we?
...
Weapons that do not fall under this classification. Bolt or lever action rifles up to .30 caliber. Non-drum loaded shotguns. Revolvers and semi-automatic pistols (with no greater capacity than 13 rounds, or the nominal length of the grip). A .357 or .38 caliber is sufficient for home defense... as is a 9mm or .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun. .30 caliber hunting rifles and shotguns are capable sporting rifles.