The Associated Press Stylebook, which is used widely by journalists and news organizations, updated its guidance on weapons terms in 2020. That guidance suggested reporters avoid the terms “assault rifle,” “assault weapon,” “military-style rifle” and “modern sporting rifle” because they tend to be highly politicized.
Still, as leaders discuss how we move forward after the Uvalde tragedy, these terms have persisted in reference to weapons used to commit mass shootings, specifically in reference to AR-15-style rifles.
The National Rifle Association claims to use the U.S. Army definition on their website, defining an assault rifle as the following: “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 rifle, the term is incorrect.” The NRA defines an “assault weapon” simply as a weapon used directly in assault.
An AR-15, the style of gun used in the Uvalde mass shooting and by a shooter at a Tulsa hospital, is a semi-automatic firearm, meaning only a single cartridge is fired when the trigger is pulled. Meanwhile, new automatic weapons, ones that fire continuously when one holds down the trigger, are not legal to be sold in the United States to civilians.
The Firearm Industry Trade Association (NSSF) also rejects the idea that AR-15s, or similar semi-automatic weapons, are by definition “assault rifles” or “assault weapons.” NSSF refers to them instead as “modern sporting rifles,” which again, AP Style similarly warns against when referring to gun crimes or legislation.
“If someone calls an AR-15-style rifle an ‘assault weapon,’ then they’ve been duped by an agenda. The only real way to define what is an ‘assault weapon’ is politically, as in how any given law chooses to define the term — this is why the states that have banned this category of semiautomatic firearms have done so with very different definitions,” the NSSF website said.
Note: The “AR” in AR-15 does not stand for automatic rifle or assault rifle, but instead refers to the company ArmaLite that first developed the gun.
thehill.com
Still, as leaders discuss how we move forward after the Uvalde tragedy, these terms have persisted in reference to weapons used to commit mass shootings, specifically in reference to AR-15-style rifles.
How gun groups define ‘assault rifles’
The National Rifle Association claims to use the U.S. Army definition on their website, defining an assault rifle as the following: “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 rifle, the term is incorrect.” The NRA defines an “assault weapon” simply as a weapon used directly in assault.
An AR-15, the style of gun used in the Uvalde mass shooting and by a shooter at a Tulsa hospital, is a semi-automatic firearm, meaning only a single cartridge is fired when the trigger is pulled. Meanwhile, new automatic weapons, ones that fire continuously when one holds down the trigger, are not legal to be sold in the United States to civilians.
The Firearm Industry Trade Association (NSSF) also rejects the idea that AR-15s, or similar semi-automatic weapons, are by definition “assault rifles” or “assault weapons.” NSSF refers to them instead as “modern sporting rifles,” which again, AP Style similarly warns against when referring to gun crimes or legislation.
“If someone calls an AR-15-style rifle an ‘assault weapon,’ then they’ve been duped by an agenda. The only real way to define what is an ‘assault weapon’ is politically, as in how any given law chooses to define the term — this is why the states that have banned this category of semiautomatic firearms have done so with very different definitions,” the NSSF website said.
Note: The “AR” in AR-15 does not stand for automatic rifle or assault rifle, but instead refers to the company ArmaLite that first developed the gun.
What is an ‘assault rifle’? Language to know as leaders discuss gun legislation
What qualifies as an “assault weapon” or an “assault rifle?”
thehill.com
