What is an Assault Weapon?

Every time a tragedy occurs, all definitions go out the window for most media and politicians. Many of them are not even aware what an assault weapon is. It’s perfectly understandable for anyone listening at such times to be convinced that the gun went out by itself and comitted the crime. There is a specific definition of “assault weapon”, which is currently ignored by most media and many politicians.

By U.S. Army definition, an assault weapon is a selective-fire rifle chambered for a cartridge of intermediate power. If applied to any semi-automatic firearm, regardless of its cosmetic similarity to a true assault weapon, the term is incorrect. The AR-15 is not, by this definition, an assault weapon.

Selective-fire refers to a firearm's ability to be fired fully automatically, semi-automatically or, in some cases, in burst-fire mode at the option of the firer, generally by means of a switch.

A fully automatic firearm is designed to feed cartridges, fire them, eject their empty cases and repeat this cycle as long as the trigger is depressed and cartridges remain in the feed system. Examples: machine guns, submachine guns, selective-fire rifles, including true assault weapons.

In other words, an assault weapon will continue to fire as long as the trigger is held and there are cartridges in the feed system.

Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since the National Firearms Act of 1934 and de facto banned since the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986.

What About the AR-15?

Is an AR-15 an assault weapon?

The AR in “AR-15” stands for ArmaLite Rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. “AR” does not stand for “assault rifle” or “automatic rifle”. The AR-15 and other semi-automatic rifles are NOT “assault weapons.” An assault weapon is fully automatic—a machine gun.

The AR-15 is a semi-automatic firearm, which will only fire one cartridge each time the trigger is pulled. In other words, AR-15 style rifles are not “assault weapons”; an “assault weapon” is fully automatic.

More Information

You can find information about the AR-15 and about assault weapons from numerous, reliable sources. A few of these are listed below:

• The AR-15 - Time to Set the Record Straight from The Well-Armed Woman
• Guns For Beginners: What is an ‘Assault Weapon’? from The Truth About Guns
• Modern Sporting Rifle: Introduction from the National Shooting Sports Foundation
• Defining “Assault Weapons” from The Regulatory Review