double dee: An assault rifle, by definition a military grade weapon designed for and used by our military forces and our police depts. .. has one specific characteristic that makes these definitions of weapons used by these mass murderers false and gives ammunition to the NRA and its allies; all such have either a three position selector switch, single shot, three round burst, fully auto, or are fully automatic period.
The use of the term is simply incorrect when speaking of a rifle with only semiautomatic capabilities.
The use of the contemporary term 'assault rifle' is different from an actual definition of assault rifle. The use of the 'TERM' assault rifle to include particular semi autos is not incorrect. But to define an assault rifle as a semi auto rifle is indeed incorrect.
The TERM assault rifle has come to include semi auto renditions of rifles which at some point in development are capable of full automatic fire by several of the methods you list above - select fire.
Now, sequitur, some semi auto rifles are termed assault rifles if they can be converted BACK to full auto, by a conversion kit or simple tools (ie a file).
It's just the way the term 'assault rifle' has evolved, devolved, or morphed (pick) and is used by politicians to quickly describe what they're referring to, & is recognized readily by unbiased people.
So let's live with it, & recognize nra propaganda as what it is, simply another cheap trick to muddy up the waters that an 'assault rifle' ban would ban almost all rifles anywhere anytime. No, it won't, it would 'ban' maybe a few percent of all rifles - them being the most lethal rifles which exist today with .223 ammo, with rapid fire capability (ar15) even in semi auto mode, since little recoil (even the 90 lb wife of the san bern shooting had one it is reported, surely due the low recoil - dunno if she shot it tho).
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