What is the definition of assault rifle?

Question

I have seen many definitions.

One is that it is a weapon that can switch between semi-automatic and fully automatic fire. But, a Thompson sub-machine gun can also do this and it is not an assault rifle it is a submachinegun. Another definition is that it fires an intermediate round, something between a rifle round and a pistol round. An AR-15 fires an intermediate round and it is just a semiautomatic rifle that looks "mean"....I don't consider it an assault rifle, it is just a semi-automatic rifle to me.

The phrase seems bogus to me. It seems that whenever someone wants to make a gun look "bad" they call it "assault rifle". "Assault" also means "attack" so it also seems like the definition depends on what you are using it for. You could assault someone with any rifle...does that mean a bolt action .22 cricket is an assault rifle too?

I feel that if there is no definite defintion that everyone honors and that we should just make up a new term and scrap "assault rifle".

I pretty much have a good idea of what they are, the definition dosn't seem to be rock hard to me though. A lot of people seem to like to distort it into being something it isn't. I tihnk we should make a new term and first thing make an accurate definition. Assault Rifle was supposedly coined by Hitler and was not really defined at the time of it's making thus allowing for all manner of interpretations. I know several people who thing my SKS is an assult rifle just because because it has a bayonet, a grenade launcher and looks kind-of-ish-like an AK-47.

I just think Assault Rifle has been too over used, over defined and has just become a bad phrase.

Now select fire can't be right because the MP43/44 is only semi-auto and full-auto. There is no burst fire mode. If we make it have 3 fire modes the original assault rifle will no longer be an assault rifle. If we count 2 fire modes things like Thompson's will be assault rifles and they are not rifles. I find that every option contradicts itself in some way....this is a very complex problem, we are trying to undo 60 years of error.

Answer 1

Mr Coulter,

You already hit the nail on the head, Select fire is the only criteria that is concrete in the definition of assult rifle. They have been regulated since 1938, I think, and all the rest of their criteria are merely cosmetics.
Banning things that look scary is a verry scarything to behold.
Most people in the US don't know a glock from an 1911, and are quick to jump on the bandwagon of I voted to protect myself from those bad things.
Sheep make me sick.
But I am a sheepdog, and choose to look after the sheep.
Do they thank all of us sheepdogs? No they don't.
They just see our capacity for violence, (Teeth) and fear us the protector.
The next time someone starts to tell you that Assult weapons are bad, ask them to describe one.
They probably can't, it is black is the best answer I have heard.
You need to explain to them that firearms are tools, and inanimate objects, with no will of their own. Therefore a firearm could not assult anyone.
Its the guy pulling the trigger who is doing the assult.
As for the guy quoting Wikipedia, Well you get what you pay for.
Anyone can edit that thing, it is only usefull for laughs.

Answer 2

Bound's hubby here:

The term "assault rifle" is a manifestation of the liberal media and the gun-banning liberals. If you look at the contemporary "Assault Weapon bans", you will find that the esteemed legislators classified anything that looked like it could be found in the military as an "assault rifle". Using this same litmus test, visualize any four wheel drive being banned because it was military in origin!

Use as a barometer, the NRA's rules for high power rifle competition ... there are two divisions: Match Rifle and Service Rifle. Service rifles include any "issue-rifle" or civilian equivalent ... so you have the M1 Garand, the M14 (or its civilian equivalent, the M1A) and the M16 (or the civilian equivalent, the AR15 type rifles).

The major difference between the M1 and M14 is the M14 has a detachable box magazine, and in its original configuration ... capable of fully automatic fire. The M1A by manufacture and design can only be fired semi-automatically.

The same differences exist between the M16 and the AR15 types.

How politicians define an assault weapon is purely arbitrary. About 15 years ago, the Graves Bill was introduced in the NJ legislature, and it defined ANY rifle originally manufactured with a bayonet lug as an assault rifle ... this included Model 98 Mausers and '03 Springfields ... neither of which produced the same volume of fire as an M14 or an M16 on full auto.

Yes, during WWII, the Germans did develop an "assault rifle", but conceptually, the US military did not pursue this concept. The military has continued to follow a watered-down philosophy that the American military is composed of "riflemen". [Only the Marines follow a true doctrine of rifle marksmanship.]

Our military produces and trains its troops with Service Rifles, most of which today fire rifle cartridges (the M16s 5.56 NATO round is the .223 Remington, a rifle cartridge) either semi-automatically, fully-automatically, or in most cases, burst-fire.

Let's call our military rifles and their civilian equivalents exactly what they are, Service Rifles ... nothing more or less!

Answer 3

AMEN! But the true "assault rifle" is capable of select-fire, not just semiauto-fire. Hardly anything that is labeled as an "assault rifle" these days meets that criteria unless it is coupled with a Class III stamp or an illegal conversion. Either let's stick with the correct definition and only use the term on firearms that meet ALL the criteria to be called an "assault rifle" or let's just drop it altogether. It's just a way for the media and anti-gunners to demonize firearms that they fear. When they accomplish this, they will move on to the rest of our firearms. California has banned the .50 BMG rifles because "it is the sniper-rifle of choice of terrorists." I have news for you. If care is not taken in wording legislation against .50 caliber rifles, most of us will not be able to own a muzzleloader bigger than .45 caliber. I'm sure that terrorists would just love to carry my .50 caliber muzzleloader against anything that any police department could muster against them! Sorry, sarcasm doesn't come across well in the written language.

Answer 4

The above answers are correct and are based on Dept. Of Defense definitions. But there was a time when the word "clip" literally mean a strip of steel that shells slid into for quick loading into an internal magazine. That term became slang for "magazine" and now the words "stripper clip" (stupid in my opinion) are used. Why is this relevant? Because definitions change over time and "assault rifle" is losing its true definition based on public ignorance.

Answer 5

An assault rifle is an automatic rifle or carbine firing ammunition with muzzle energies intermediate between those typical of pistol and battle rifle ammunition. Assault rifles are categorized between light machine guns that are intended more for sustained automatic fire in a support role, and smaller submachine guns that fire a handgun cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge. Assault rifles are the standard small arms in most modern armies, having largely replaced or supplemented larger, more powerful battle rifles, such as the World War II-era M1 Garand and Tokarev SVT. Examples of assault rifles include the M16 rifle and the AK-47. Semi-automatic rifles, including commercial versions of the AR-15, are not assault rifles as they lack the capability for automatic fire.

Famous assault rifles includding AK-47 & M-16.

Answer 6

Rifle that can be fired semi to auto a standard weapon soldiers are issued for peace time and war time use.

Answer 7

An assault rifle is a semi-automatic rifle that looks military....

Answer 8

the term "assault rifle'' is a buzz word created by the liberal, anti-gun media meaning in full or semi- auto, high capacity, clip fed rifle. to me, assault weapons are any weapon used to assault someone, whether its a rifle or a shovel.
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Answer 9

" I tihnk we should make a new term and first thing make an accurate definition."

Try this on for size.
Homeland defense rifle.

Answer 10

In the socialist state of Kalifornia it's official: an assault weapon is anything they say it is