The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, with their usual propensity for lying, is claiming they have proof that Columbus' "assault weapons ban" which expired three years ago was smart legislation.
Monday, a police officer was shot during a high speed chase by what is being reported as an "AK-47" (I remain dubious). Another was shot with a handgun by the drunk driving suspect.
Since nowhere in any of the reports can I find any statement confirming it was an automatic rifle, I am forced to assume that it was not. Real AK-47s are quite rare in this country, having been all but banned since 1934. The last time the media reported a machine gun was found, it turned out to be nothing of the sort. That was in the city of Lorain when a councilman reported finding a machine gun, which was later confirmed to be a semi-automatic pistol that only looked like one.
Most likely, what was used was a semi-automatic rifle that looks like an AK-47. These are similar to the common AR-15 rifles, which are semi-automatic versions of the M-16 that the US military uses. These rifles are not illegal, were not illegal under the "assault weapons ban," and are functionally no different than many hunting rifles. Because they look scary, they are both desired by criminals who mostly want them for intimidation, as well as demonized by anti-gun politicians and the media.
You certainly can't take the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence's word for it. In their argument against these types of guns and as evidence for the need to a renewed "assault weapons ban," they point to their own study which they say proves that 1 in 5 law enforcement officers killed is shot by an "assault weapon." Yet, if you look at their study, they barely try to disguise the fact that they are stretching the truth. For each instance, they show a picture of a rifle and note that "each weapon shown is representative of the brand or model of assault weapon and is not a picture of the specific weapon used in the shooting described in the narrative." In other words, they found the scariest picture they could that was close enough.
When reading stories like this it is important to keep in mind that they have an agenda to push and aren't above lying or intentionally misleading to further it. You can easily find airsoft guns that look like machine guns, that doesn't mean that they are. And since these "assault weapons" are exactly the same as other guns that don't look as evil, ask yourself this: if the gun control movement got their way and the guns that looked scary were banned, would the criminals commit crimes unarmed or use the less scary looking ones? The answer is clear.
Comments
Wonder how the anti-gun people look at other items. If you attack someone with a hammer, is that an assault hammer or screwdriver ? What about a car that can be an assault vehicle and even the cops use them and call them the same thing. Wonder if they will try to ban rocks because we all know how dangerous assault rocks are.
One way to solve the problem would be for the government to describe an "assault weapon" as any weapon in common use by military forces. That would eliminate semi-automatic weapons. Ever seen a Marine with a weapon that can only be used in a semi-automatic mode. They use weapons that fire 3 shot bursts or fully-automatic.
One way to solve the problem would be for the government to stop restricting the 2nd Amendment and allow people to own automatic weapons. Then the journalists wouldnt have to call everything an AK47 and they might actually have to learn what the other firearms are.
Don't be too hard on the journalists - they are slightly above hair dressers on the intelligence scale. So it's not too hard to understand that in their minds if it was used in an assault it is an assault weapon. Actually I like that definition because then all my semi-autos are not assault weapons.
According to real fact, there is no such thing as an assult weapon. Therefore, we in the know do not use the term unless we insert "So called" before it. What the axis if idiots call a saturday night special does not exist in the real world either. Just the same holds with the also made up term "Cop Killer Bullets". Google Gun Facts 5.0 and enjoy some real documented facts you will not get from the anti-nuts.
Youse Gyes Is funny!!!!!!! lol
They are now calling it an automatic.Under Ohio law the large capacity drum magazine he had makes it an automatic weapon even if the rifle was only semi-automatic.And the local news showed a picture of it and it was a semi-automatic version of an AK-47 complete with drum magazine, of course the reason its classified as an automatic was never mentioned but they just parrot what they are told and investigate nothing.So much for their slogan "Where Accuracy Matters"
"One way to solve the problem would be for the government to describe an "assault weapon" as any weapon in common use by military forces."
So 9mm and .45 semi-auto pistols should be banned as assault weapons?
An assault weapon is a gun specifically designed or intentionally modified to shoot more than one round of ammo at a time. What is so hard to understand about this definition?
Insert the proper adjective and anything can be scary sounding or pretty. Take a gun its just an inanimate object until someone uses a it in a crime then the criminal doesn't get blamed the gun does but you just can't call it a gun its a (so-called) assault weapon. Sounds better that way. And the yellow journalist doesn't care if it makes guns or gun owners look like a criminal too. The journalist most likly does own a gun and only cares about their social status and the easy access to booze. Which they may need to calm their conscience enough to sleep. But you never hear them calling a car that drives thru a farmers market killing people a (so-called) assault vehicle. You know they like their car to much and consider the ability to drive more important than an actual right to keep and bear arms. They maybe to shallow to know better and I wish they would learn because I know I have told more than one reporter and they could have passed along this award winning news to their friends.
"they are slightly above hair dressers on the intelligence scale."
I wouldn't be so sure about that...hair dressers have a marketable skill that contributes to society.
I realize that the picture links to Robb Allen's blog, but it wouldn't hurt anything to give a little credit to him in the text of your article for the graphic you used.
Otter said, "...Ever seen a Marine with a weapon that can only be used in a semi-automatic mode. They use weapons that fire 3 shot bursts or fully-automatic."
Trained Marines snipers employ the M40 bolt action rifle with devastating effectiveness on threats. Snipers have a well deserved reputation and are regarded as one of most important force multipliers on any battlefield. Not only is the M40 rifle not a machine gun it is not even a semi-auto rifle, but it's effectiveness and reputation for accuracy and reliability are indisputable.
Coincidence: Yesterday evening I was thinking about this verbal maneuver and I've decided that at any time I'm talking to (arguing with) a person who uses the term "assault weapon" I will discontine the dialog and demand that my adversary provide his definition of an assault weapon. I won't resume until the other person furnishes a definition and agrees to stand by it rather the use the left-wing ploy of improving it as the discussiion continues to go against him.
There IS, however, an assault weapon. It was introduced in response to a real need in World War 1 and is still used today for various purposes, including guarding prisoners and busting door locks in urban fighting. It was the Winchester 700 (could be the wrong ID) 12-gauge pump shotgun that was then called a "trench gun." They had slings and bayonet lugs. If a soldier went "over the top" with one of those and was lucky to live until he reached the enemy's trench he'd finish his work quickly.
Assault weapon: any object used to commit the crime of assaulting another, hence, a firearm, a knife, a car, a beer bottle, a baseball bat, a fork, a pencil, a pinky-ring, a handy tree branch, a larynx (verbal assault), a putty knife, a baby stroller, a set of car keys, a bullwhip, a rope, a car, a motorcycle, a bus, a bicycle, a hand, a fist, pepper spray, hair spray, spray colonge (that stuff stings in the eyes!), and so on, ad nauseum. So, anyone with half a brain can readily discern that the term "assault weapon" describing a particular firearm is pretty much meaningless when printed in any news article, as it depends on the understanding, or lack thereof, of the author of the article in question. NOte that many highly qualified journalists use specific terms like "AK-47" when describing such firearms as Bushmanster semi-automatic rifles, AR-15s, AR-10s, and their look-alikes. Remember, by this logic, each man having a penis is a rapist, and must be disarmed.
The question is: what do you call that semi-auto AK "clone" which is outwardly indistinguishable from a Kalashnikov, but missing the auto-sear. It is just easier to say "I have an AK" than it is to say "I have a WASR-10" or "I have an SSR-85". No one knows what the hell you're talking about.
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