3 March 2018

An Assault Weapon is not a Thing

Another mass shooting brings more headlines about banning assault weapons.

This seems like a good time to recall that “assault weapon” is not an actual category of weapon.

In describing types of weapons being sold, there are three main criteria:

• Is the weapon automatic, semi-automatic or double-action?
• Is the ammunition clip removable?
• How large is the clip of ammunition?

Anything other definition is simply cosmetic (which is why the previous “assault weapon” ban failed).

Fully automatic, semi-automatic, and double action:

• A fully automatic weapon continues firing while the trigger is pulled. These are military weapons, illegal everywhere in the US.
• A semi-automatic weapon fires each time the trigger is pulled. No other action is necessary. Almost all pistols and most rifles fall into this category.
• A double-action weapon must be cocked between shots. Many double-action weapons are still sold, mainly hunting rifles.

A removable clip means that the weapon can be reloaded quickly, simply by changing the clip.

A large clip means that the weapon does not need to be reloaded as often.

Many, many people already have guns that use removable clips. The AR-15, one of the best selling rifles, uses removable clips.

Because of this, it is virtually impossible to limit the use of removable clips without completely banning rifle ownership.

It would be much more productive to:

• limit clip size
• limit the number of loaded clips that can be carried at once

This would avoid pushing many of the buttons of gun owners and it would go a long way towards reducing the capacity of a motivated killer to shoot many people in a very short time.

Assault rifles are fully automatic weapons used by the military. They are illegal in the United States and are rarely or never used in mass shooting.

“Assault weapon” is a term used by the press to describe semi-automatic rifles with large, removable clips.

Banning large clips is the only way to reduce ownership of what the press calls assault weapons.

This article represents an attempt to add information to the debate about types of guns that should be legal to own. It would be far more useful to remove the ban on a national database of gun owners, and at least as important to improve background checks, waiting periods and punishment practices for crimes committed using guns.