From wiki. - An assault rifle is a select-fire (either fully automatic or burst capable). Semi-Automatic is not select fire. Hence Airman’s description is not an Assault Rifle.
My point was merely that “assault rifle” and “assault weapon” are not coequal terms; in other words, all rifles are weapons, but not all weapons are rifles. Like I said, it was a nitpick. But there are plenty of things like machine pistols out there that are non-rifle assault weapons.
These discussions often center on the Assault Weapon ban and how the Feds defined them. I think part of the problem is that those that know very little about guns get these terms mixed up, or interchange them. And then mix up the differences between semi and full auto or select fire.
Yes, Doors did use the term ‘Rifle’ (it would be more accurate to say carbine probably. Or leave any such designation off entirely). But Assault Rifle has a very specific definition, and part of that is select fire. As I said, Airmans description is that of an Assault Weapon (semi-auto being the difference). That happens to be a rifle.
IMHO, it is best to stick to the terms as how they are defined.
Somebody at work left a pile of old Guns and Ammo magazines in the break room. The issues I looked at were filled with ads for AR style rifles specifically marketed for hunting. They are very popular for hunting non-game varmints such as coyotes, prarie dogs and wild pigs. The standard .223 round most often used in an AR is considered to have insufficient stopping/killing power for a humane kill on larger animals such as deer.
One of the brilliant things about the AR is that it is a modular desighn and various parts can be swapped depending on what you want to do. Several companys are now offering replacement bolts, barrels and magazines to allow use of bigger calibers suitible for deer, antelope etc. The 6.8mmSPC is one example. I don’t hunt but I would guess that most people using ARs for hunting do not load the full 30 rounds in the mag due to the extra weight of lugging it around. 5 round mags are also available and are required most places when hunting game animals. Hunting laws specify how many rounds a weapon can hold when pursuing game animals other than varmints.
When you hear media commentator state (referring to ARs) " These are not hunting rifles!" you know you can disregard anything they say after as they are clearly misinformed.
I was going to ask that. I have no idea what hunters do, besides Elmer Fudd (shotgun) and DeNiro in that long Vietnam movie (rifle).
Broadly speaking, is one type more prevalent for one type of game?
Shotguns shoot shot, naturally, which is more useful for hunting birds. Larger game is mainly taken with rifles, although there are densely populated areas that require hunters to hunt game with shotguns loaded with deer slugs, because being non-rifled they have less range and a stray shot is less likely to pass into an inhabited area.
Very generally shotguns will be used for smaller/closer/faster moving targets (think ducks) and rifles for bigger/further/still targets (think elk) - BUT designs vary widely for both shotguns (bore, shot size, action etc) and rifles (calibre, cartridge size, action, etc) - and game from roughly, say, as small as rabbits to as large as deer might be hunted with either depending on personal preference and other factors (including legal restrictions as noted above).
I’m not an expert on hunting regulations here in Indiana but I don’t think there is any situation where you can use a high powered rifle. There are seperate seasons for hunting deer with bows, black powder, handgun and shotguns with rifled slugs. They may overlap some, I’m not sure. There is a minimum caliber for deer hunting with a handgun, I believe a
.357 is below the minimum. I think most handgun deer hunters around here use a .41 or .44 magnum or .45 Long Colt.
Birds of any sort are mostly shotgun except turkeys, maybe. I’ve heard of people taking them with handguns but that may not be legal.
Rabbits and squirrels would be with a .22 rifle probably. If you were hunting rabbits with dogs you would be shooting them on the run which would require a shotgun.
Animals considered varmints have no season, bag limit or limits on what type of weapon you can use.
An “assault weapon” is a precise legal distinction made for the sole purpose of defining them so that they could be regulated by law. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what you want to call them or even if you agree with the definition, because that is, in fact, the definition. Anything that does not precisely meet the conditions of the law or was not called out by name or type (as some were) is not an “assault weapon”. Therefore, you can have two semi-automatic, magazine-fed firearms firing .223 Remington and one could be an “assault weapon” while the other one is not.
I don’t know the name of the movie, but I think it was about Deer and the Hunters of them 
In that movie, he only carried one round IIRC. His choice. But for hunting bird, most laws require a plug that limits it to 3 rounds max (1 in the chamber, two in the tube). New pump/semi shotguns usually come with this.
For the hunting stuff, above is true. I believe Illinois one state that does not allow rifles (congested and flat).
Deer mostly rifles or slugs, although the “buck” in buckshot isn’t referring to money.
Varmints - around here, crows have a season, I believe you just need a basic license. Ravens are right out. Coyotes can die.
Non-lead shot for waterfowl or in certain areas.
A “high-powered” assault weapon is less powerful than a “allowable” deer rifle. You can, and people do, hunt deer with .223. Generally speaking, it’s not recommended.
Well, something reminded me it was citeable in this context. Ditto Wabbit Season, but that one I remembered.
Or was it Duck Season?
From a mechanical viewpoint, you can fire a double-action revolver faster than you can fire an auto-LOADING, semi-automatic pistol. The semi-auto firing rate is limited by mechanical design. A double-action revolver firing rate is only limited by your physical ability to squeeze the trigger fast enough. Both are only tools.
If you refuse to address the mindset of the person using those tools, you aren’t addressing the real problem or correcting anything.
I’d say it’s the “high capacity magazine” thing combined with “easily concealable”. I’m guessing here but I suspect there may also have been concerns about people trying to convert them into sub-machine guns as well.
The thing is, the major two commercial semi-automatic pistols with detachable magazines mounted in front of the trigger are the Tec-9 and the Cz-91; both of which look a lot like (and in one case actually was a semi-auto only version of) a sub-machine gun.
In other words, they couldn’t come up with a purely objective definition of “assault weapon” and had to fall back on listing individual guns that met the “I know it when I see it” criterion. :rolleyes:
For their first 50 years semi-automatics were only considered sporting guns.
The semi-automatic rifle was invented in 1885. Early 20th century models like the Winchester Model 1903 and Model 1905, and others by Remington and Savage were sporting rifles.
The first standard issue military semi-automatic rifle was the M1 Garand in 1937.