Stop using the term “assault weapons”

Stop using the term “assault weapons”

Back in May, I wrote [1] about gun rights and ownership as well as ideas to address the epidemic of gun violence the USA experiences which no other developed nation does. In the intervening time, I came to believe that we need to stop using the term “assault weapon.” We need to stop for several reasons:

1. It literally has no real meaning
2. It allows opponents of reasonable regulations to play word games regarding equipment
3. It fails to define the parameters we need to address or regulate equipment

I have begun using the term “military designed” or “designed for military use” as the proper terminology.

The spark for this idea is when advocates for regulation of AR-15 style rifles call them assault rifles, opponents quickly retort that the AR-15 has never been used by the military, which is technically true. But- the AR-15 WAS designed for the military. This is well documented that AJ Stoner designed the rifle for military use [2], including the nature of the ammunition and ballistics.[3]

But if we use the term “military design” we can rebut all the ludicrous assertions by the gun lobby.

Bazookas are designed for military use. One would never think a bazooka should be in civilian hands. Ditto with rocket propelled grenades, regular grenades, cannons, shoulder fired missiles, and on and on.

Opposite that are handguns and shotguns. Yes the military uses these weapons, but these were never specifically designed for military use.

If we focus on the concept of “designed for the military” then address features which make the AR-15 so lethal and destructive, we can begin identifying the specific items which need to be regulated, whether it is ammunition (based on the lethality of the ballistics), large capacity magazines (which allows shooting more people without need to reload frequently), folding stocks (which allow for easy concealment) etc.

[1]
https://dennisbmurphy.medium.com/lets-talk-about-laws-and-then-gun-laws-1ea3e1fbced3

[2]
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1981/06/m-16-a-bureaucratic-horror-story/545153/

[3]
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/why-the-ar-15-is-so-lethal/545162/