Is a semi automatic rifle an assault rifle?

Well played, Lumpy … I’m against any law that interferes with my ability to mitigate my own risk profile. So I’m perfectly fine with background checks for all gun transactions, I’m okay with gun registration. I’m against restrictions on semi-autos and clip capacities (although from what Honey Boo Boo says about Australian laws, I’d be okay owning a semi-auto).

The last thing my community needs is a wounded mountain lion running around because I was too busy fooling with the damn bolt to get another half dozen rounds off.

Fuck him.
He’s arguing that the debate should be about people’s perception of reality, which is utterly and totally fucked. You argue from facts, or you go home along with your shit opinions.

From the linked article -

Umm… What the Fuck?

Ask an anti-gun Democrat what guns are for, they’ll say shooting innocent people. To this Democrat that’s all they’re “good” for.

Ask a pro-gun Republican what guns are for, they’ll say sporting, self-defense, overthrowing tyrannical government, varmint hunting, etc etc etc

“Shit opinion”? Well, I guess … the guy writes cartoons … I once witnessed Charles Schultz of “Peanuts” fame officiate a hockey game, it wasn’t pretty …

Quoted from the article:

IOW, he’s suggesting extremely tongue-in-cheek that the Democrats are the party of black inner-city criminals.

Every incarnation of the “assault weapons” ban has been advocated by some ignorant gun control enthusiast’s perception of reality.

I’m not so sure of that … perhaps we should let the ignorant gun control enthusiasts take a crack at the problem … just got to be better than what the US Congress could come up with.

The lack of a buffer tube in the piston rifle makes it, when equipped with a folding stock, significantly shorter and easier to conceal than an AR-15 style rifle. This seems like a pretty salient difference in the context of gun control.

Huh! I hadn’t thought of that, my AK has a folding stock.

Note that the minimum length under the NFA is 26 inches, anything that is shorter cannot have a buttstock or will require a NFA tax stamp. Seeing as most men have a back that is 17 and 21 inches long it is not really that easy to conceal. A guitar case would easily hide a full length AR15 with much more ease. As long as it is not capable of being fired by external controls while enclosed in the container it is legal.

I think the objection from the firearms enthusiasts is that the media calls everything that even slightly looks like an AR15 and AR15. This is similar to the dog banning efforts that call any dog that looks anything like a staffordshire terrier a pit bull. As a Siberian Husky owner I have the frustration of having a dog that is on the “dangerous breed” list due to this same issue. This despite the reality that Siberians are typically non-protective of either their area and or humans to almost a fault. The reality is that any dog that looks anything like a spitz is labeled a husky in not only the media but even in police reports.

As an example that may be more relatable, lets say people wanted to ban neo-nazi message-boards as a case can be made that they are just as responsible for a large portion of lone wolf terrorist attacks as rifles. If they called for the banning of vBulletin most dopers would immediately discount the people calling for such legislation as ignorant and label the actions as a witch hunt. The fact that people cannot tell the difference between an AR15 and a Sig Sauer MCX is an immediate red flag for enthusiasts that the media or legislators are completely ignorant on the topic.

I agree that its not really a big deal if someone doesn’t know the difference between direct impingement and pistons. The retarded idiocy of assault weapons bans does not rely on this difference.