Why does the press refer to a handgun as "a semi-automatic" handgun?

Question

Are they trying to "hype" the situation and make it more dangerous and dramatic than it is. Are they trying to imply that it was a fully automatic handgun(like a machine gun?)
All pistols, automatics and revlovers are semi- automatic except for ancient civil war era handguns. Semi-automatic means every time you pull the trigger, one round goes off. Its does not mean when you pull the trigger and as long as you leave it depressed the weapon will continue to fire. That is "fully automatic". Semi- automatic is almost an oximoron. Every pistol, even a tiny twenty-two calibur revolver is "semi-automatic".
"The bad guys "opened up" with semi-automatic pistols", is a joke, and seems to be an attempt to over dramatize the situation.

Answer 1

It makes guns sound scarier, and pushes the far left agenda to scare the populace into totally banning guns.

Answer 2

If a person refers to a " Pistol ", " Revolver ", or " Handgun " should the person listening need to then ask a question to determine which exactly the two are speaking of ? Is the purpose of a proper use of terms in the English Language to convey a complete and descriptive thought both in the conversation then understand ? Ahh, this brings us to a point I often make. Very often those who are very knowledgeable about a subject have a very difficult time answering a question, or speaking to address a subject without having to have specification to know how to provide an answer that will not cover days of disorientation, and yet actually provide the information requested. So personally in my mind, We have Rifles, Shotguns, and Handguns. To describe which type of handgun, I may drop the phrase " handgun " and refer more specifically to a Revolver. Now the person I am speaking with understands wholly what I am talking about. Is that not the proper use of our English Languge ? To continue, ( as I do, too often ) If we may be speaking of something that is not one that fall into the normal description of Rifle, Shotgun, or handgun, we could skip Handgun, A Revolver does not correctly describe it, so may be we need to be specific, and call it a Derringer for instance. Or, a single shot Handgun. See, in my mind when speaking with another shooter, I envision handgun to be one without a shoulder stock that is meant to be or can be held and fired in ONE hand. This is similar to the term " Longun " does that cause you to envision, a handgun in your mind ? Of, course not. The terms are considered universal by some, and more of a complete detail to others. I believe we are speaking of conveying a precise complete thought to another. And there in is the conundrum of the use of Handgun, Revolver, and Pistol. Now that really mucks things up in your mind doesn't it ? But, you asked.....

Answer 3

FYI: Ruger Blackhawks are "single action only" and are not "semi-auto", and are not "ancient", so your claim that all guns of that type are "ancient" is inaccurate. Some guys like their pistols that way. It also seems interesting that when the press is accurate and calls something by what it actually is that it gets criticized for being accurate! What does the gun manufacturer say in the manual? It says "semi-automatic" handgun... if it is. Also, as you have probably never been in the business of selling newspapers, perhaps you don't get it that a little drama helps sell papers. Watch the movie "The Shipping News", and you will understand a little better. Also, the word is "caliber", not "calibur". Personally, I like the DAOs.

Answer 4

Your description of semi-automatic is not completely accurate. It means that after you fire, the gun loads and most importantly cocks the hammer for the next round. In modern pistols, you can shoot the gun as fast as you can pull the trigger. As opposed to a dirty harry type handgun for which you must manually pull back the hammer between each round which takes significantly more time. You are correct about fully automatic in which it keeps firing as long as you hold the trigger down.

Answer 5

A revolver has what, 6 shots. There are single shot pistols. A Glock holds 22 or 23 rounds. There's one reason right there. You can't say a revolver can fire as fast as a clip gun or reload as fast. There's two more. So that's why the distinction, in a crowd you can do a lot more damage with a semi-auto.

Answer 6

A Semi-automatic (also known as self-loading) pistol is a type of handgun that can be fired in semi-automatic mode, firing one cartridge for each trigger pull until running out of stored ammunition. This type of firearm uses a single chamber and a single barrel which remain in a fixed linear orientation relative to each other while being fired and reloaded semi-automatically

A pistol or handgun is a small firearm intended to be used with one hand

Answer 7

Fully-automatic = fires as long as the trigger is pulled on a chambered live round and held, until ammo runs out.

Semi-automatic = loads another round and cocks the hammer, will fire on each trigger pull until ammo runs out.

Double-action revolver = trigger pull rotates the cylinder containing the ammo, cocks the hammer and fires the round.

Single-action revolver = trigger pull fires the round, which was rotated into firing position only after shooter has separately ****** the weapon by pulling back the hammer (which also rotates the cylinder).

Answer 8

PY mentioned the "Dirty Harry style" revolver that he said had to be manually ****** before firing. In the movie Harry used a S&W 29 which is a double action revolver. It can be fired by cocking the hammer (single action) or just by pulling the trigger (double action). As too your question, the liberal media would love to see the country disarmed. I guess their constitutional right to free press is guarenteed but my 2nd amendment right to own a firearm is out-dated.

Answer 9

2. (of a firearm) automatically ejecting the cartridge case of a fired shot and loading the next cartridge from the magazine but requiring a squeeze of the trigger to fire each individual shot.
–noun 3. a self-loading rifle or other firearm

Answer 10

It means you can repeatedly pull the trigger and fire rounds without reloading. It is somewhat misleading, but it goes back to when there were some weapons that were single load, single shot.

Answer 11

This is a semi-intelligent question. What would you suggest as an alternate way to differentiate between automatic and all the rest?

non-automatic?

semi-manual?

single shot?

semi-automatic is as good as any other.

I'll take one of those cookies.