Assault Weapons Definition

As the United States Defense Department’s Defense Intelligence Agency book Small Arms Identification and Operation Guide explains, “assault rifles” are “short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachine gun and rifle cartridges.”[21] In other words, assault rifles are battlefield rifles that can fire automatically.[22]

Weapons capable of fully automatic fire, including assault rifles, have been regulated heavily in the United States since the National Firearms Act of 1934.[23] Taking possession of such weapons requires paying a $200 federal transfer tax and submitting to an FBI background check, including ten-print fingerprints.[24]

Many civilians have purchased semiautomatic-only rifles that look like military assault rifles. These civilian rifles are, unlike actual assault rifles, incapable of automatic fire.

Based on these two definitions, since the AR-15 is designed for civilian use, it, therefore, doesn’t fit the definition of an “assault” weapon. This then begs the question of why the association is being made in the first place.

“They are trying to make you think …’ an AR-15, nobody needs that.’ An AR-15 is just a rifle unless it has a fully automatic switch on it and then it becomes a machine gun — and you can’t buy that.”

Machine guns, or automatic weapons, are reserved for the military but they can be purchased for a relatively high cost after a very lengthy background check and licensing procedure.

“It’s a way to demonize something for a political agenda and misconstrue [the guns] and the public on the Second Amendment,”