# Semi-fully automatic weapons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 26, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006 "2008-04-26T23:29:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/1 "2008-04-26T23:29:52Z")
[From here](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-police-assault-rifles,0,2104512.story): > [@Mayor Daley](#): > > “When they come to a scene, someone has a semi fully-automatic weapon and you have a little pistol, uh, good luck.” > > \ > > "We’re finding out that the weapons of criminals are getting bigger and bigger, AK47s, all types of different weapons, because they can carry assault weapons, it’s not a violation of federal law… ‘Semi-fully automatic’? Um… Did you pass high school English, Mr. Daley? Now, you’re just a mayor and a politician. I wouldn’t expect you to know anything about laws. :rolleyes: It is indeed a violation of federal laws (and state laws, and city laws) for criminals to have firearms. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/2 "2008-04-27T00:29:53Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] [From here](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-police-assault-rifles,0,2104512.story): ‘Semi-fully automatic’? Um… Did you pass high school English, Mr. Daley? Now, you’re just a mayor and a politician. I wouldn’t expect you to know anything about laws. :rolleyes: It is indeed a violation of federal laws (and state laws, and city laws) for criminals to have firearms. [/QUOTE] Presumably they don’t become criminals until they start blasting people. Daley seems to be complaining that if the cops find an AK in the trunk of a car, and they suspect its going to be used in a crime, they can’t just seize it. So instead, they have to have their own heavy weapons to reply after the blasting starts. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/3 "2008-04-27T00:46:55Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Daley seems to be complaining that if the cops find an AK in the trunk of a car, and they suspect its going to be used in a crime, they can’t just seize it. [/QUOTE] I thought firearms were banned in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/4 "2008-04-27T00:50:43Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] I thought firearms were banned in Chicago. [/QUOTE] So are heroin and cocaine. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/5 "2008-04-27T01:50:17Z")
I always thought “fully automatic” was redundant, and used by those who want to use it politically. It’s either automatic or semi-automatic, or something altogether different (bolt action, etc.). “Fully automatic assault rifle” is completely over the top. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/6 "2008-04-27T01:52:19Z")
I think **Johnny** ’s point is that it would not be a matter of “not being able to seize” if the were already illegal inside Chi-town city limits anyway. I heard the recording on NPR (Weekend ATC) and IIRC it sounded like Daley stumbled upon his words, like _“someone has a semi-uh-fully automatic weapon”_. Maybe he meant to insert an “or” or meant to correct himself and ended up sounding silly. And my theory of why laypeople say “fully automatic”, is that it’s a combination of (a) pistols are commonly called “automatic”, when they’re really semis, so the layperson may be confused and (b) in the context of selective-fire weapons they are used to hearing the terms “semi or full auto” to indicate the selector settings,so they think that those are also the terms for describing the weapon. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/7 "2008-04-27T03:16:04Z")
I don’t know why y’all are so confused, it’s just like being semi-pregnant. Simple, really. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/8 "2008-04-27T03:22:22Z")
[QUOTE=JRDelirious] And my theory of why laypeople say “fully automatic”, is that it’s a combination of (a) pistols are commonly called “automatic”, when they’re really semis, so the layperson may be confused [/QUOTE] I believe “fully automatic” or “full auto” is used to discriminate between “semi automatic” and “automatic” for those who may not understand the difference. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/9 "2008-04-27T04:06:49Z")
Surely, there must be firearms out there which can be truly semi-fully automatic, at the click of a button or lever? It’s a bit like those auto-manual car transmissions which let you choose, depending on mood. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/10 "2008-04-27T04:14:38Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Surely, there must be firearms out there which can be truly semi-fully automatic, at the click of a button or lever? It’s a bit like those auto-manual car transmissions which let you choose, depending on mood. [/QUOTE] They’re called ‘selective fire’. It can shoot one way or the other. ‘Semi-fully automatic’ is meaningless. Anyway, this isn’t about the guns. It’s just an example of Da Mayor talking about something he doesn’t understand to try to fool the proles. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semi-fully-automatic-weapons/447006/11 "2008-04-27T04:34:32Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] They’re called ‘selective fire’. [/QUOTE] Aaaaah OK. Now that I think of it, I’ve heard the term “selective fire” before, but had never stopped to wonder what it meant. Thanks **Johnny**.