Assault Weapon Under Fire

Last month we missed a post from Media Matters for America titled, “Gun Blogger Under Assault Over Term Assault Rifle.” This article basically discussed how Eric at the Gunmart Blog, writing for our friends at Ammoland.com, didn’t like the term assault weapon.

As we’ve long noted, the term is dubious because it implies that people think assault weapons are something they are not – mainly military firearms. While this debate will likely continue… we were shocked by some of the comments:

“And accurately labelled [sic] in the original. It is used for assaults. I have hunted numerous times, and have yet to see someone taking down a deer with an AR-15 or an AK-37 [sic].”

This just shows arrogance. If this guy doesn’t want to hunt with an AR-15 it must not be good enough for anyone else. And this notion of “it is used for assaults” is nonsense and an utter simplification. The Germans who produced the first assault rifle, the StG44 were surely on the defensive in 1944 and 1945 but used the small arm. This is like saying only a sniper can use a sniper rifle. Nonsense.

And there is this comment:

“Are assualt [sic] weapons fully automatic? I thought fully automatic guns were against the law?” Read more

More Misuse of “High-Powered”

We continue to note that the media likes to label practically all firearms as “high-powered,” and the term has become a generic adjective to the point that it is almost meaningless.

This weekend The Monitor ran a story titled, “Mexican national jailed for allegedly smuggling ammunition,” and it included this passage:

“Authorities report that Martinez-Bernache was arrested Wednesday at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville after he attempted to smuggle 4,000 cartridges of .223 caliber ammunition and 1,000 cartridges of 7.62 caliber ammunition without a license.

“This type of ammunition is commonly used in high-powered assault rifles, authorities said.”

If authorities said that this was “used in high-powered assault rifles,” than those authorities prove they aren’t much of a gun authority.

Here is the problem. The .223 caliber ammunition is for the AR-15 or M-16, and it was actually designed to be a lower-powered bullet than the .30 caliber that was used in the M1 or M14. Those could be considered “high-powered,” but the .223 is generally considered an intermediate cartridge and thus not technically “high-powered.”

The other problem is that the 7.62 caliber ammunition comes in 7.62x54mmR, which is the old Russian standard for the WWI era bolt action rifles, as well as World War II Soviet era semi-automatic rifles. But the Soviets were among the first to see that this high-powered round was over-powered for combat needs, and created the 7.62x39mm round for the SKS. This was later used in the AK-47, which is considered an assault weapon, while the semi-automatic versions could be deemed assault weapon styled.

The point is that the 7.62x39mm is also an intermediate round, so this story is just another example of media misinformation.

Media Misinformation: Assault Rifles

The words are used over and over again by the mainstream media. There was actually a ban on this of firearm. Of course it was the “assault rifle.” But can anyone who isn’t a gun collector or regular shooter even describe an assault rifle. Surely an AK-47 is an assault rifle. This firearm remains one of the most commonly produced firearms in existence and has been used and continues to be used by soldiers, insurgents and terrorists around the world. And surely, such a gun should be banned because it is an assault weapon.

But the problem is that the AK-47 readily available isn’t the same type of gun used by most of the soldiers, insurgents and terrorists. It might look like a military weapon, but it fires a less power (intermediate caliber) bullet than most hunting rifles, and it isn’t available commercially in anything but semi-automatic. So why does it strike fear into the hearts of minds of anti-gun zealots? And why were assault weapons banned? Read more

Seattle Times Calls for Ban of Guns in City Parks

Following a recent shooting at Lake Sammamish State Park, guest columnist Ralph Fascitelli writes for The Seattle Times that guns should be banned in all public places, and offers a triad on how “gun control” is the answer. His idealized view on gun control argues that it will “reduce the chances of another shooting like the one at Lake Sammamish.” But we ask whether it really would? Read more

Automatic Weapons Heading to Mexico

Numerous sources are reporting that a 19-year-old U.S. citizen has been arrested at the border to Mexico, and according to 760AM KFMB, the man was caught with a cache of weapons. The news radio reports the items as including:

“…five automatic guns, two pistols, numerous rounds of ammunition, 23 loaded magazines, 10 rifle slings and other gun accessories.” Read more

Who Guards the Guards: Wheeling Police Change Policy after M-16 is Stolen

SWAT team members in Wheeling, West Virginia will have to head to the department to retrieve their weapons if they’re called in while off-duty. This change follows a recent theft of one of the department’s M-16 rifles from an off-duty officer’s car, reports the AP via PhilyBurbs.com.

Not only is this yet another high-powered weapon that is now on the street, but our faith in the police is once again shaken. This is just the latest example of a police officer’s gun being stolen, and it begs the question as to why any of these weapons were left in the vehicles? Is this just another case of bad judgment? So again, who guards the guards in this country?