4 ms·

Note how people in the pro-gun community almost always prefix the phrase "assault weapon" with the disclaimer "so-called". Why? Because precision in language is

Note how people in the pro-gun community almost always prefix the phrase "assault weapon" with the disclaimer "so-called". Why? Because precision in language is important. Seems a little hypocritical to demand precision from one side and embrace fluidity of the language on the other.

hga 14y ago
Your statement is nearly self-refuting, since I myself go no further than using scare quotes, as do many others. We do this because it's 100% a political and legal term, and of course propaganda. One good definition coming from a politician's mouth would be "any scary looking gun I think I can get banned". If you expect the gun owning community to embrace it, well, you're already disappointed. And by definition it can't be a precise term, unless we're talking about "an assault weapon as defined by [this specific law]." We talk about "assault rifles", but even then there's a lack of precision. The original Nazi StG 44 is one, but the Swiss StG 57 is a battle rifle, in fact, it's so heavy at 12.5 pounds that with its standard 24 round magazine it's just about a machine rifle. StG is for Sturmgewehr, literally storm rifle in German. There's also a lack of precision in that many, including myself, call semi-auto versions of them assault rifles, even though by the strict definition they can't be since one of the points of using an intermediate power round is to allow (more) controllable full auto firing, military ones are "selective fire" (although there's a common trend to max that out at 3 round bursts for greater control and conserving ammo). The extremes in the gun community for naming them run from the NSSF's "modern sporting rifle" (they're the lobbying etc. group for manufacturers, distributors, retailers and range operators) to just recently, when Obama's threatened executive actions were unspecified, "Regime Change Rifles" from about the most rabid without being bat-shit crazy* of the "3 percenters". * I.e. about as rabid as RMS but less "crazy".
- MartinCron 14y ago
  I just wanted to thank you for engaging me in a polite and civil way. That is a precious rare thing in political discussions, especially gun discussions. I feel like I've learned a lot from your contributions here.
  - hga 14y ago
    You're very welcome, and I'm glad to hear that my primary goal of education has been successful.

hga 14y ago

Your statement is nearly self-refuting, since I myself go no further than using scare quotes, as do many others. We do this because it's 100% a political and legal term, and of course propaganda. One good definition coming from a politician's mouth would be "any scary looking gun I think I can get banned". If you expect the gun owning community to embrace it, well, you're already disappointed. And by definition it can't be a precise term, unless we're talking about "an assault weapon as defined by [this specific law]." We talk about "assault rifles", but even then there's a lack of precision. The original Nazi StG 44 is one, but the Swiss StG 57 is a battle rifle, in fact, it's so heavy at 12.5 pounds that with its standard 24 round magazine it's just about a machine rifle. StG is for Sturmgewehr, literally storm rifle in German. There's also a lack of precision in that many, including myself, call semi-auto versions of them assault rifles, even though by the strict definition they can't be since one of the points of using an intermediate power round is to allow (more) controllable full auto firing, military ones are "selective fire" (although there's a common trend to max that out at 3 round bursts for greater control and conserving ammo). The extremes in the gun community for naming them run from the NSSF's "modern sporting rifle" (they're the lobbying etc. group for manufacturers, distributors, retailers and range operators) to just recently, when Obama's threatened executive actions were unspecified, "Regime Change Rifles" from about the most rabid without being bat-shit crazy* of the "3 percenters". * I.e. about as rabid as RMS but less "crazy".

MartinCron 14y ago
I just wanted to thank you for engaging me in a polite and civil way. That is a precious rare thing in political discussions, especially gun discussions. I feel like I've learned a lot from your contributions here.
- hga 14y ago
  You're very welcome, and I'm glad to hear that my primary goal of education has been successful.