Quote:
Originally Posted by franzas
2 points:
1. If I beat you over the head with a hammer, I would be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Is a hammer now an assault weapon?
2. 'Assault weapon' is redundant. Anything you assault someone with is a weapon, whether it is a firearm or the aforementioned hammer. In MY opinion, the term 'weapon' implies assault. If it's not being used for malicious purposes (i.e. assault), then it is a tool. My shotgun is a hunting tool, my J frames are self-defense tools, my wrenches are mechanic's tools, etc. The minute I decide to start shooting people outside the law or beating people with wrenches, feel free to refer to my firearms and other tools as weapons or assault weapons. Until then, I prefer to call them tools. They are inanimate objects incapable of assaulting anyone without human interaction. 'Assault weapon' is a pointless term, unjustly applied to firearms in order to instill fear into the weak-minded.
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It is opposite to a defensive weapon, which is what we and police carry. When the 'assault weapon' was created it was designed to aid in an attack by crack troops on an enemy as opposed to the 'service rifle' and by definition, had full auto capability. They were so effective, it was decided to arm nearly ALL the troops with one as a standard weapon. The types of war also evolved to where the assault rifle became much more useful than a long 'service rifle',