What is an Assault Weapon?

What is an “assault weapon?”

California says that it is this:

“12276.1 (a) Notwithstanding Section 12276, “assault weapon” shall also mean any of the following:

  • A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
  • A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon.
  • A thumbhole stock.
  • A folding or telescoping stock.
  • A grenade launcher or flare launcher.
  • A flash suppressor.
  • A forward pistol grip.
  • A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
  • A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches.
  • A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
  • A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer.

(B) A second handgrip.

  • A shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon without burning his or her hand, except a slide that encloses the barrel.
  • The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.
  • A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
  • A semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following:
  • A folding or telescoping stock.
  • A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon, thumbhole stock, or vertical handgrip.
  • A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine.
  • Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.

“Assault weapon” does not include any antique firearm.

The following definitions shall apply under this section:

“Magazine” shall mean any ammunition feeding device.

“Capacity to accept more than 10 rounds” shall mean capable of accommodating more than 10 rounds, but shall not be construed to include a feeding device that has been permanently altered so that it cannot accommodate more than 10 rounds.

“Antique firearm” means any firearm manufactured prior to January 1, 1899.

This section shall become operative January 1, 2000.”

Ok, so if I take my rifle, and because I’m short with short arms, I add a telescoping stock so I can reach the trigger…now it’s an “assault rifle?” Really?! What, are you afraid of an attack by short people?

Of course, I’m not going to argue that we probably shouldn’t get to have grenade launchers…but civilians aren’t allowed to have grenades anyway – so who cares? All you would get to do is launch tennis balls or something with it.

…and the list goes one…and 90% of the things on the list are cosmetic.

So why is everyone SO concerned about assault weapons, but not about anything else? I have no idea. My guess is that the media has hyped up the term so much that the uneducated are just latching on to the term.

A lot of people thing “AR” stands for “assault rifle.” It doesn’t. It stands for ArmaLite rifle, which is the company that first developed it in the 1950s. AR is a BRAND NAME – like Kleenex.

I think what the media is trying to do is talk about military weapons versus civilian weapons. I hate to break it to you, but the public isn’t permitted to own military weapons – because many of them have the capability to be fully automatic. Civilian rifles can only go 1 bullet to 1 trigger press and THAT’S IT. Which brings us to more confusion.

People get all up in arms about the idea we can have “semi-automatic” weapons. What they don’t realize is that “semi-auto” just means that the gun has the ability to fire a round, and eject the brass and load another round without having to open up the gun. It is still just 1 bullet to 1 trigger press. This is in contrast to a revolver, when after you shoot all of your rounds, you have to open up the gun and dump the brass out. THAT IS THE ONLY DIFFERENCE. So what? Non-semi-auto guns still shoot the same amount of bullets in the same caliber!

Basically the media has picked up on the term “assault rifle” because it gets people’s attention. I hate to break it to you, but ASSAULT RIFLES ARE ALREADY ILLEGAL!

We really can’t limit the public’s access to rifles any more than we already have without seriously violating the Second Amendment by eliminating entire classes of firearms that are no more dangerous than your made-from-wood hunting rifle. It is the PEOPLE that get their hands on ANY gun when they shouldn’t that do the damage.

Wake up, people. You’re being fed language superficially to draw your attention away from ineffective bureaucracies that have taken hold in our schools and governments. Our country has always been armed – and we have never had this number of school shootings before. In the past, school shootings were adults going after kids. Now it is kids going after kids…but why? Our kids are more drugged and controlled today than they ever have been…I don’t know what the problem is, but it is a big one!

Instead of screaming about “OMG ASSAULT WEAPONS” when “assault weapons” are already illegal and only in the hands of the military, why don’t we spend all this time and money to find out why kids are going after other kids? Hm?

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