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AgingAmerican

(12,958 posts)
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 12:13 PM Feb 2013

What Right-Wing Media Won't Tell You About Assault Weapons



Conservatives in media have adopted the false National Rifle Association claim that the term "assault weapon" was invented by proponents of assault weapons bans in order to arbitrarily single out certain firearms for further regulation. However, before the gun industry trade association attempted to rebrand assault weapons as "modern sporting rifles" in 2009 -- a change in terminology also adopted by the NRA -- the gun industry and firearm publications routinely used the term assault weapon to describe the very military-style semi-automatic rifles that would be covered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein's assault weapons ban.

...

As Sen. Feinstein prepares another hearing on gun violence for later this month, members of right-wing media are now dishonestly attempting to hide the history and special capabilities of assault weapons.

...

The truth is that military-style semi-automatic rifles were called assault weapons because that is what gun manufacturers and gun enthusiasts called them. The term has played a key role in the ongoing effort of the gun industry to rebrand and market military-style weaponry to civilians.

More here..

We hear a lot of the same memes here on DU from some gun folks. Now we know where they come from. The FOX/GOP propaganda complex.
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What Right-Wing Media Won't Tell You About Assault Weapons (Original Post) AgingAmerican Feb 2013 OP
I got it from "Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act" krispos42 Feb 2013 #1
Thank you for this AgingAmerican Feb 2013 #2
It might well have been used previously krispos42 Feb 2013 #5
isn't that odd, the nra doesn't agree?!?!? farminator3000 Feb 2013 #3
The term Assault Weapons was used by Gun Digest in 1986... jmg257 Feb 2013 #4

krispos42

(49,445 posts)
1. I got it from "Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act"
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 12:28 PM
Feb 2013

Itself part of the "Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act", which created the legal term, defined it, and banned guns that fit in that definition, in Title 18, Sections 921 & 922 of the United States Code.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c103 :./temp/~c103wIXklO:e644150:

(boldface mine)

(a) RESTRICTION- Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

`(v)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon.

`(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the possession or transfer of any semiautomatic assault weapon otherwise lawfully possessed under Federal law on the date of the enactment of this subsection.

`(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to--

`(A) any of the firearms, or replicas or duplicates of the firearms, specified in Appendix A to this section, as such firearms were manufactured on October 1, 1993;

`(B) any firearm that--

`(i) is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action;

`(ii) has been rendered permanently inoperable; or

`(iii) is an antique firearm;

`(C) any semiautomatic rifle that cannot accept a detachable magazine that holds more than 5 rounds of ammunition; or

`(D) any semiautomatic shotgun that cannot hold more than 5 rounds of ammunition in a fixed or detachable magazine.

The fact that a firearm is not listed in Appendix A shall not be construed to mean that paragraph (1) applies to such firearm. No firearm exempted by this subsection may be deleted from Appendix A so long as this subsection is in effect.

`(4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to--

`(A) the manufacture for, transfer to, or possession by the United States or a department or agency of the United States or a State or a department, agency, or political subdivision of a State, or a transfer to or possession by a law enforcement officer employed by such an entity for purposes of law enforcement (whether on or off duty);

`(B) the transfer to a licensee under title I of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 for purposes of establishing and maintaining an on-site physical protection system and security organization required by Federal law, or possession by an employee or contractor of such licensee on-site for such purposes or off-site for purposes of licensee-authorized training or transportation of nuclear materials;

`(C) the possession, by an individual who is retired from service with a law enforcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited from receiving a firearm, of a semiautomatic assault weapon transferred to the individual by the agency upon such retirement; or

`(D) the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a semiautomatic assault weapon by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer for the purposes of testing or experimentation authorized by the Secretary.'.

(b) DEFINITION OF SEMIAUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPON- Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(30) The term `semiautomatic assault weapon' means--

`(A) any of the firearms, or copies or duplicates of the firearms in any caliber, known as--

`(i) Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all models);

`(ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil;

`(iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70);

`(iv) Colt AR-15;

`(v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC;

`(vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9, and M-12;

`(vii) Steyr AUG;

`(viii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and

`(ix) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as (or similar to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12;

`(B) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of--

`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;

`(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;

`(iii) a bayonet mount;

`(iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor; and

`(v) a grenade launcher;

`(C) a semiautomatic pistol that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of--

`(i) an ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip;

`(ii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;

`(iii) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the firearm with the nontrigger hand without being burned;

`(iv) a manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded; and

`(v) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; and

`(D) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least 2 of--

`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;

`(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;

`(iii) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 5 rounds; and

`(iv) an ability to accept a detachable magazine.'.

krispos42

(49,445 posts)
5. It might well have been used previously
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 08:51 PM
Feb 2013

Feinstein based her '93 legislation on stuff California passed in the late '80s, which I assume had been made an issue in the press in the years prior.

I don't know if "assault weapon" was little used term thrust into the spotlight by the press or the politicians, or if it simply gained ground as a method to differentiate between "tactical" and "sporting" guns.


I do know it is ambiguous and arbitrary; Feinstein's '93 language and her '13 language are different. In 2013, it takes fewer characteristics to be declared an "assault weapon" than before.

farminator3000

(2,117 posts)
3. isn't that odd, the nra doesn't agree?!?!?
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 03:04 PM
Feb 2013

From 1943 to 1984, newspapers used the slang term "assault weapon" to describe everything from baseball bats to battle tanks, and snow plows to rocket launchers. Gun control supporters began calling semi-automatic rifles "assault weapons" in the 1980s, decades after many of the rifles had become popular.

from gun control facts dot puke

SNOW PLOWS?!?!!?


jmg257

(11,996 posts)
4. The term Assault Weapons was used by Gun Digest in 1986...
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 03:11 PM
Feb 2013

"Testing the latest in full auto & semiauto centerfires, rimfires
and shotguns"..."current approaches to military, LE & sporting use"

The Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons

[IMG][/IMG]

[url=/][img=][/url]


An AK .22 is in there, the AR-180, the AUG, the SAR 48, Uzis, the Daewoo...
all those classic AWs.

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