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What are assault weapons, exactly, and why are they so slippery to define?
The current definition of an assault weapon is part of the gun problem in this country. No one can seem to agree on a good definition. People have politicized the definition into a stalemate. The New York Times, in an article in 2013, lamented defining these guns “could never be comprehensive enough to remove them from the market”.
When the government passed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice defined them as “semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use.”
Current terms and definitions
After the Highland Park parade my family survived, I noticed reporters called them “long rifles”. After the Nashville shooting last week, they called them “AR-Style” weapons.
Anti-gun people argue that a designation should apply to semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines, flash suppressors and folding stocks.
The 2nd amendment people argue these guns are used for shooting and hunting. They want the term assault weapon o be designated for fully automatic weapons. They think accurate terms are…
