Writings of various natures on various topics

Assault Rifles

The term "assault rifle" comes from the Sturmgewehr 44 (literally "Storm rifle" or "assualt rifle" model of 1944),the first really practical selective-fire infantry weapon. It was an effort to provide increased firepower to individual infantrymen for assaulting heavily defended positions. The Kalashnikov AK-47 and the M-14 and M-16 were refinements or reinterpretations of the assault rifle concept. The essential feature of a true assault rifle is of course the fact that it it's selective fire: flip a lever and your rifle is now a light machine gun.

NONE of the weapons currently on the civilian market - not the AR-15,not any of the SiGs or HKs or AK-47 clones,not even the Springfield M1A or the Thompson copies that Auto-Ordinance sells,qualify as "assault rifles",because NONE of them are capable of firing full-auto,nor are any of them modifiable TO fire full-auto. Internally,for example,an AR-15 is different enough from its military dopplegangers the M-16 and M-4 that it cannot be made to fire more than one round at a time. All the "tactical" stocks,pistol grips,30 round magazines,accessory rails,lasers,IR scopes,flash suppressors or bipods you care to hang on your hideously expensive tricked out AR will NEVER turn that AR into an M-16. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

Of course,this trenchant and to-the-point discourse on the ins and outs of the armorer's trade matters not a whit to the Administration or the Congress or to their fellow-travelers on the television news anchor desk. WHY it doesn't matter I leave to another rant at another time,but I suspect,dear reader,that my thoughts on the matter are probably fairly congruent to your own. :-

Previously posted on Townhall, a conservative-ish news-and-opinion website.