In the former U.S. law, the legal term assault weapon included certain specific semi-automatic firearm models by name (e.g., Colt AR-15, TEC-9, non-select-fire AK-47s produced by three manufacturers, and Uzis) and other semi-automatic firearms because they possess a minimum set of cosmetic features from the following list of features:Semi-automatic rifles able to accept detachable magazines and two or more of the following:Folding or telescoping stockPistol gripBayonet mountFlash suppressor, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate oneGrenade launcher (more precisely, a muzzle device that enables launching or firing rifle grenades, though this applies only to muzzle mounted grenade launchers and not those mounted externally).Semi-automatic pistols with detachable magazines and two or more of the following:Magazine that attaches outside the pistol gripThreaded barrel to attach barrel extender, flash suppressor, handgrip, or suppressorBarrel shroud that can be used as a hand-holdUnloaded weight of 50 oz (1.4 kg) or moreA semi-automatic version of a fully automatic firearm.Semi-automatic shotguns with two or more of the following:Folding or telescoping stockPistol gripFixed capacity of more than 5 roundsDetachable magazine.
Semi-automatic rifles able to accept detachable magazines and two or more of the following:
Folding or telescoping stockPistol gripBayonet mountFlash suppressor, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate oneGrenade launcher (more precisely, a muzzle device that enables launching or firing rifle grenades, though this applies only to muzzle mounted grenade launchers and not those mounted externally).
Semi-automatic pistols with detachable magazines and two or more of the following:
Magazine that attaches outside the pistol gripThreaded barrel to attach barrel extender, flash suppressor, handgrip, or suppressorBarrel shroud that can be used as a hand-holdUnloaded weight of 50 oz (1.4 kg) or moreA semi-automatic version of a fully automatic firearm.
Semi-automatic shotguns with two or more of the following:
Folding or telescoping stockPistol gripFixed capacity of more than 5 roundsDetachable magazine.
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:10 (eleven years ago) link
I don't get up in arms about "assault rifle" and "assault weapon" - I think it's pretty clear that people mean military-styled semi-autos. The point they need to understand is that styling is pretty irrelevant.
Anyway an assault rifle, by definition, is capable of automatic fire. These have been highly restricted since 1934 and civilian production stopped completely in 1986. They're also pretty much never used in crimes.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:11 (eleven years ago) link
Is there an I Love Paramilitary Operations thread
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:11 (eleven years ago) link
Anyway an assault rifle, by definition, is capable of automatic fire.
well not by the definition of the old law....
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:12 (eleven years ago) link
Assault weapon is defined by the various AWBs, as CAD quoted.
re: grenade launcher, grenades are destructive devices subject to the same 1934-era restrictions as machine guns, etc..
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:12 (eleven years ago) link
Assault rifle and assault weapon are two different things. Assault weapon bans dealt with pistols, shotguns and other things as well.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:13 (eleven years ago) link
ok yes i see yr distinction
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:14 (eleven years ago) link
was it the assault weapons ban that everyone agreed was a total failure? i feel like the political capital needed to persistently improve gun control laws to the point where they need to be would be better spent on health care.
― Philip Nunez, Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:24 (eleven years ago) link
the whole BAN ALL GUNS stance, aside from being practically impossible, might only serve to alienate liberal gun owners who would otherwise endorse very strict gun control measures.
thank you gbx... I mean, I'm all for taking the Bakunin "I will continue to be impossible as long as all others are possible" stance, but it is alienating to a degree when it's served up w/condescension (which is not what anybody is doing on this thread this time around afaict).
― sleeve, Saturday, 15 December 2012 22:40 (eleven years ago) link
gbx, the 'banning and confiscating' left needs to exist to serve the purpose that the wacko bloc does to the right-wing. 'we need to be reasonable' ignores the fact that the left has been entirely too reasonable on this particular issue.
― iatee, Saturday, December 15, 2012 4:18 PM (2 hours ago)
don't know if anyone else has pointed this out but i just want to put this in my favorites tab or something to use the next time i or alfred or aero gets into it with iatee on the regular politics thread!
― k3vin k., Sunday, 16 December 2012 00:17 (eleven years ago) link
I think the existence of the far left on an issue strengthens the dems bargaining power it's just the far left simply doesnt exist w/ real voting power on many issues
― iatee, Sunday, 16 December 2012 00:22 (eleven years ago) link
and 'being really angry' doesn't make more people like you exist
― iatee, Sunday, 16 December 2012 00:23 (eleven years ago) link
unless you have angry sex
i'll post here what i posted in the Newtown thread:
Shouldn't this debate be a national referendum?
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 16 December 2012 00:30 (eleven years ago) link
Today in Guthrie, OK a 3 year old got a hold of a gun and shot himself in the head. So after all the media bombardment regarding guns, someone didn't think to put their gun where a toddler couldn't get it.
― *tera, Sunday, 16 December 2012 00:31 (eleven years ago) link
You want to make guns harder to get, work on it at the state level and in the courts.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Sunday, 16 December 2012 00:46 (eleven years ago) link
state and local laws are kinda worthless when you can buy guns in a different state/district and bring them in
― k3vin k., Sunday, 16 December 2012 00:49 (eleven years ago) link
but Texas is so big
― iatee, Sunday, 16 December 2012 01:02 (eleven years ago) link
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Sunday, 16 December 2012 07:07 (eleven years ago) link
I had to do a Ctrl-F to check to see if I still agree with what I've said in the past. Yup. I do.
― Aimless, Sunday, 16 December 2012 18:47 (eleven years ago) link
me either
― k3vin k., Monday, 17 December 2012 04:18 (eleven years ago) link
this is as good a time as any for people to read stevens' dissent in heller:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZD.html
― k3vin k., Monday, 17 December 2012 04:19 (eleven years ago) link
so so so so so so so many people, including liberals, just credulously absorb as fact the conventional wisdom that the second amendment gives people the absolute right to privately own guns and that the history of jurisprudence on the issue supports that. it's a much bigger problem than people being mean to 'liberal gun owners' (lol)
― k3vin k., Monday, 17 December 2012 04:47 (eleven years ago) link
I'm not talking about being "mean" to liberal gun owners, I'm talking about basic coalition building
― tiniest homeless (jjjusten), Monday, 17 December 2012 04:49 (eleven years ago) link
http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/12613/large/TMW2012-12-19colorKOS.png?1355584910
― Gollum: "Hot, Ready and Smeagol!" (Phil D.), Monday, 17 December 2012 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
more gun shops than grocery stores, McDonald's
http://www.businessinsider.com/more-gun-stores-in-america-than-grocery-stores-2012-12
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 20:25 (eleven years ago) link
it's not actually true, only more than supermarkets ie grocery stores w/ 2m+ in sales
― iatee, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 20:27 (eleven years ago) link
assuming the figure includes big box chains that sell guns as well
― an eagle named "small government" (call all destroyer), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 20:28 (eleven years ago) link
If a big box sells guns, it is a gun store. (shrugs)
― Aimless, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 20:49 (eleven years ago) link
yeah i don't really disagree
― an eagle named "small government" (call all destroyer), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 20:49 (eleven years ago) link
bump
― sleeve, Thursday, 20 December 2012 02:01 (eleven years ago) link
you needn't
― mookieproof, Thursday, 20 December 2012 02:06 (eleven years ago) link
you shan't
― Online Webinar Event for Dads (harbl), Thursday, 20 December 2012 02:10 (eleven years ago) link
Out of curiosity I looked at the Walmart site. Found this nifty gun:
http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/79/86/81/44/0079868144115_180X180.jpg
Which it outright delineates as" for use in law enforcement, military operations, the sporting field and competitive shooting."
Notice the order there.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 20 December 2012 02:11 (eleven years ago) link
should have added "and shoplifters"
― NINO CARTER, Thursday, 20 December 2012 02:46 (eleven years ago) link
New York State Common Retirement Fund reconsidering how much of its http://news.yahoo.com/newtown-backlash-prompts-gun-investment-overhaul-032547862--sector.html50 billion it invests in gun manufacturers, Smith & Wesson stocks drop 10%
I'm not entirely clear as to the causality of those two sentences, but a 10% drop may well explain any new eagerness to find solutions by its spokesmen ie the NRA.
― Andrew Farrell, Thursday, 20 December 2012 03:41 (eleven years ago) link
Haha thanks there auto-convert - the figure is $150 billion.
― Andrew Farrell, Thursday, 20 December 2012 03:43 (eleven years ago) link
Already interesting feature on "Fresh Air" focusing on the proliferation of assault weapons in American society. I guess guns like the AR-15 were designed c. Vietnam, following studies that revealed most soliders were not using their guns for accuracy but to simply spray bullets randomly in burst all over the place at short to medium range. Now moving on to the flaws of the '94 semi-auto assault weapon ban, and how/why Bushmaster flourished post ban...
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:18 (eleven years ago) link
Interesting, Hunting has apparently been on the decline, which has emphasized the marketing of so-called "tactical" rifles that mimic military design.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:22 (eleven years ago) link
"Tactical" is just a marketing term in macho-world, correct? Otherwise, meaningless.
― rihanna, will you ever win? (suzy), Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:24 (eleven years ago) link
"tactless" doesn't have the same ring to it
― If I was a carpenter, and you were a douchebag (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:31 (eleven years ago) link
meaningless, for sure. it's mil-speak, so it has that battlefiled aura, but there isn't a firearm in the world that couldn't be called "tactical".
― Aimless, Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:33 (eleven years ago) link
New York State Common Retirement Fund reconsidering how much of its http://news.yahoo.com/newtown-backlash-prompts-gun-investment-overhaul-032547862--sector.html50 billion it invests in gun manufacturers, Smith & Wesson stocks drop 10%I'm not entirely clear as to the causality of those two sentences, but a 10% drop may well explain any new eagerness to find solutions by its spokesmen ie the NRA.
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, December 19, 2012 10:41 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Institutional investors probably make up a large percentage of the holders of gun stocks. If they're increasingly going to be considering dumping their holdings, that's going to drive down the stock a lot. Selloffs cause price drops, and, somewhat circularly, rumors of big selloffs cause big selloffs.
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:43 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, "tactical" is just a word to sub for "assault."
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:53 (eleven years ago) link
I'm more bothered by the implications of "tactical" as a marketing term than I am by the specs of the weapons actually.
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:54 (eleven years ago) link
Tactical marketing.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 20 December 2012 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
I mean I'm more bothered that there's an significant-sized demographic who sees "tactical" use as an important feature.
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:11 (eleven years ago) link
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Thursday, December 20, 2012 12:11 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
otm
― well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:19 (eleven years ago) link
not sure its an important feature to them as much as a cool sounding buzzword, which is equally troubling
― tiniest homeless (jjjusten), Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:21 (eleven years ago) link
I mean it definitely seems to feed some fantasy beyond just protecting your home against rapists or w/e
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:22 (eleven years ago) link