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This article is about the American legal and political term. For fully automatic military rifles, see Assault rifle. For other uses, see Assault weapon (disambiguation).
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Assault weapon refers to different types of firearms and weapons, and is a term that has differing meanings and usages.

In discussions about gun laws and gun politics in the United States, an assault weapon is most commonly defined as a semi-automatic firearm possessing certain ergonomic or construction features similar to those of military firearms. Semi-automatic firearms fire one bullet (round) each time the trigger is pulled; the spent cartridge case is ejected and another cartridge is loaded into the chamber, without requiring the manual operation of a bolt handle, a lever, or a sliding handgrip. An assault weapon has a detachable magazine, in conjunction with one, two, or more other features such as a pistol grip, a folding or collapsing stock, a flash suppressor, or a bayonet lug.[1] Most assault weapons are rifles, but pistols or shotguns may also fall under the definition(s) or be specified by name.

The exact definition of the term in this context varies among each of the various jurisdictions limiting or prohibiting assault weapon manufacture, importation, sale, or possession, and legislative attempts are often made to change the definitions. Governing and defining laws include the now-expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban,[2] as well as state and local laws often derived from or including definitions verbatim from the expired Federal Law.

Whether or not assault weapons should be legally restricted more than other firearms, how they should be defined, and even whether or not the term "assault weapon" should be used at all, are questions subject to considerable debate.[3][4][5][6][7] As a political and legal term, it is highly controversial. Critics have asserted that the term is a media invention,[8] or a term that was intended by gun control activists to foster confusion with the public over differences between fully automatic and semi-automatic firearms.[9]

The term "assault weapon" is sometimes conflated with the term "assault rifle". An assault rifle is a military rifle capable of selective fire originally intended to replace other small arms or crew-served weapons during a military assault. This may include fully automatic fire, where multiple rounds are fired continuously when the trigger is pulled and held, and/or burst fire, where a burst of several rounds are fired when the trigger is pulled once.[10] In the United States, fully automatic firearms are heavily restricted and regulated by federal laws such as the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986, as well as state and local laws.

The term "assault weapon" is also used to refer to various weapons that are used by the military for offensive operations in battle. Many of these military assault weapons are far more powerful than conventional firearms or small arms, such as portable rocket launchers used for anti-tank and bunker destruction purposes and various other weapons using flammable munitions and/or explosives.

Definitions and usage

Assault weapon refers primarily (but not exclusively) to semi-automatic firearms utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge that possess certain features.[7][11] Original definitions and uses of the term for assault rifles in German, Sturmgewehr, literally "storm" (or assault) "rifle", included capability of fully automatic function. Later definitions from the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban only specified semi-automatic weapons.[7][12] Actually possessing the operational features, such as full-auto, is not required for classification as an assault weapon; merely the possession of cosmetic features is now enough to warrant such classification as an assault weapon.[13] Semi-automatic firearms, when fired, automatically extract the spent cartridge casing and load the next cartridge into the chamber, ready to fire again. They do not fire automatically like a machine gun. Rather, only one round is fired with each trigger pull.[13] The National Rifle Association has referred to the features affected by the Federal Assault Weapons Ban as cosmetic.[14]

Nonetheless, assault weapon is a term that has been given many different meanings.[1] For example, some pistols are also classified as assault weapons, despite clearly not possessing the cosmetic features of an assault rifle, under both state and federal laws.[15] Another definition is any of various automatic and semi-automatic military firearms utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge.[16][17] The reason is that since the definition of assault weapon is only defined by cosmetic features, both semi-automatic firearms that possess these cosmetics, as well as full-auto firearms that possess these same cosmetic features, irrespective of the presence or absence of the operational functions of assault rifles, is enough in some states to cause a firearm to be classified by the term "assault weapon". Federal laws, however, clearly make the distinction that assault weapons that possess both the cosmetic and operational features of assault rifles are Title II weapons, not assault weapons, and Title II weapons are heavily regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) of June 26, 1934, passed in response to infamous Prohibition era use of machine guns. (For example, the US Army's M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle machine gun was a favorite of gangster Clyde Barrow (1909 – May 23, 1934), who obtained his through periodic robberies of Army National Guard armories in the Midwest.[18]) In California, even some manually operated firearms, such as .50 BMG rifles, are essentially treated as assault weapons.[19]

Some state laws, however, make no such distinction, classifying all firearms with either the cosmetic features or the actual operational features of assault rifles as assault weapons. Hence, some state definitions of assault weapon explicitly include assault rifles. For example, in Connecticut, an assault weapon is legally defined as "any selective-fire firearm capable of fully automatic, semiautomatic or burst fire at the option of the user".[20] Only seven states have such state-level assault-weapons bans in place;[21] in all other states, assault weapons are considered semi-automatic only, per prior definitions established by federal law.[7][12] Even within the seven states with their own state-level assault weapon bans there are differences in the legal definitions of assault weapons. For example, Massachusetts and New York, two states from the set of seven states that have their own assault weapons bans, define assault weapons as being semi-automatic firearms, only.[22][23] The vast majority of states define assault weapons as being semi-automatic firearms only.

History of terminology

Prior to the 1980's, the term "assault weapon" was used in the context of military weapons systems, such as for the Rifleman's Assault Weapon, an American grenade launcher developed in 1977 for use with the M16 assault rifle.[24]

In 1985, Art Agnos introduced a bill in the California State Assembly seeking to place restrictions on semi-automatic firearms capable of using detachable magazines of 20 rounds or more.[25] In his bill, AB 1509, these guns were categorized as "assault firearms".[25] Speaking to the media, Agnos referred to them as both "assault firearms" and "assault weapons".[26] The measure did not pass when it came up for a vote.[25]

Popularization of the term "assault weapon" is attributed by many to the 1988 book "Assault Weapons and Accessories in America", written by gun-control activist Josh Sugarmann, and to subsequent public reaction to the January 1989 Cleveland School massacre in Stockton, CA.[27] Sugarmann wrote:

Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.[28][29]

The term is highly controversial especially amongst advocates of gun control and gun rights.[30] Gun rights activists consider it a misnomer intended to conflate civilian semi-automatic firearms with military assault rifles. Joseph P. Tartaro of the Second Amendment Foundation wrote in 1994, "One of the key elements of the anti-gun strategy to gull the public into supporting bans on the so-called 'assault weapons' is to foster confusion. As stated previously, the public does not know the difference between a full automatic and a semi-automatic firearm."[9] Robert Crook, executive director of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said "the term 'assault weapon,' as used by the media, is a media invention."[8]

Civilian semi-automatic rifles identified as "assault weapons" are no more powerful than many other semiautomatic rifles legally used for hunting throughout the United States; they do not shoot faster or have greater range.[31] Assault weapons are also sometimes called "black guns" or "black rifles", due to the presence of black plastic parts in the place of wood for stocks and grips.[32]

United States Federal Assault Weapons Ban

The Colt AR-15 Sporter SP1 Carbine looks like a military rifle, but is a semi-automatic rifle that fires one round each time the trigger is pulled.
A semi-automatic Zastava M70AB2 rifle with a pistol grip and a folding stock.
This Ruger 10/22 rifle with a pistol grip and a folding stock was classified as an assault weapon under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, despite firing the same .22 LR cartridges as any other Ruger 10/22.
An Intratec TEC-DC9 with a 32-round magazine. This semi-automatic pistol has a threaded barrel and a magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip, two of the features listed in the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.
Main article: Federal Assault Weapons Ban

The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994, more commonly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, expired after ten years in 2004. It banned the manufacture or importation of certain semi-automatic firearms that it defined as assault weapons. Any firearms so defined that were already possessed at the time the law took effect were grandfathered in, and could be legally owned or transferred. The law also banned the manufacture or importation of magazines that could hold more than ten rounds of ammunition, with existing magazines grandfathered in as legal.[2]

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 defined certain firearms as assault weapons based on the features they possessed. This included semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazine and at least two of these features: a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a flash suppressor or threaded barrel, a bayonet mount, or a muzzle-mounted grenade launcher. It also included semi-automatic pistols with a detachable magazine and at least two of these features: a magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip, a threaded barrel, a barrel shroud, or an unloaded weight of 50 ounces or more. Additionally defined as assault weapons were semi-automatic shotguns with a rotating cylinder, or with at least two of these features: a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a detachable magazine, or a fixed magazine that can hold more than five rounds.[2][15]

The ban also prohibited 19 specifically named models of firearms, as well as copies of those guns. These included the AK-47, Uzi, Galil, AR-15, FN FAL, MAC-10, Steyr AUG, TEC-9, and Armsel Striker.[2][15]

Proposed 2013 federal ban

On January 24, 2013, Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill that would institute a new federal assault weapons ban. The proposed legislation would prohibit the manufacture or importation of firearms it defines as assault weapons. Currently owned firearms that would fall under the new definition would be grandfathered in, and could be sold or transferred if the buyer passes a background check. The manufacture, importation, sale, or transfer of magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition would also be prohibited. The bill would provide funds for voluntary buy-back programs at the state level.

The proposed legislation defines an assault weapon as a semi-automatic firearm with a detachable magazine and one additional feature, such as a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a barrel shroud or threaded barrel, or a grenade launcher or rocket launcher. Also defined as assault weapons would be all semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition, semiautomatic shotguns with one additional feature and a fixed magazine that can hold more than five rounds, and semiautomatic shotguns with a rotating cylinder. The bill also specifically names 157 models of firearms as assault weapons.[33][34]

Differing state law definitions

Although the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004, several states still have their own current assault weapons bans that sometimes differ from the former federal law. Only seven states have their own assault-weapons bans in place.[21] The states with their own assault weapons bans are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York; local assault weapons bans also exist in 17 local areas, including Denver, Colorado, and Cook County, Illinois.[35]

In California, the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 bars a number of specific firearm models defined within three legally defined categories of assault weapons.[36]

In Connecticut, an assault weapon is defined as "Any selective-fire firearm capable of fully automatic, semiautomatic or burst fire at the option of the user" (i.e. with fully automatic capability) plus other specific semi-automatic firearms plus other semi-automatic firearms with certain attributes.[20]

In Massachusetts, assault weapons "have the same meaning as a semiautomatic assault weapon as defined in the federal Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(30) as appearing in such section on September 13, 1994...”.[37] They thus have the same definitions in Massachusetts as was used in the expired Federal 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.

In New York, an assault weapon is defined as "Any semiautomatic centerfire or rimfire rifle or semiautomatic shotgun which has one or more ... features, ..., Any shotgun with a revolving-cylinder magazine, ..., (or,) Any part, or combination of parts, designed or redesigned or intended to readily convert a rifle or shotgun into an assault weapon."[23] The New York Safe Act of 2013 legislated a stricter definition of assault weapons, and immediately banned weapons in that category, including even magazines used by police officers.[38] Considered assault weapons are: semi-automatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and one military-style feature, and semi-automatic shotguns with one military-style feature.[39]

In Illinois, proposed legislation formerly under consideration defined the term "assault weapon"[40] even more broadly to mean any semi-automatic firearm with a detachable magazine, which would include the majority of all firearms,[41] but died in committee before coming to a vote.[42] While assault weapons are legal in most of Illinois, they are banned in Chicago[43] and Cook County,[44] which have no provision for the legal possession of guns that were owned before their laws were passed.

Relation to assault rifles

A common mistake stems from the conflation of the term "assault weapon" with the term "assault rifle", which refers to military rifles having selective fire capability. Unlike assault rifles, semi-automatic firearms fire one round each time the trigger is pulled; the spent cartridge case is ejected and another cartridge is loaded into the chamber, without the manual operation of a bolt handle, a lever, or a sliding handgrip. In contrast, a selective fire rifle may have the ability to fire in fully automatic mode, in which the rifle will repeatedly fire rounds in rapid succession with the trigger pulled once and held back, or fire in burst mode, in which two or three rounds will be fired as a burst each time the trigger is pulled, or fire in both fully automatic and burst modes.

Civilian ownership of assault rifles or any other full-automatic firearm is tightly regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the National Firearms Act of 1934 as amended by Title II of the Gun Control Act of 1968.[15] Unlike "assault rifle", "assault weapon" has no consistent definition across all legal jurisdictions in the United States and is subject to varying definitions for varying purposes, including definitions that include common non-military firearms.[1][45] In this respect, it is primarily a legal term, with various statutory definitions in local, state, and federal laws that define them by a set of characteristics they possess, sometimes described as military-style cosmetic features. Using lists of cosmetic features to define assault weapons was first codified by the language of the now-expired 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban.[7][12]

Political and legislative issues

Whether or not the term assault weapon should be used at all and, if so, how the term should be defined and whether firearms defined as assault weapons should be legally restricted more than other firearms are questions subject to considerable debate as part of the arguments of gun politics in the United States. Critics say that it is an vague term created by anti-firearm activists in an attempt to brand specific firearms as more dangerous than others.[9]

Prominent gun-control groups that support restrictions on ownership of firearms include the Brady Campaign[46] and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.[47] Prominent opponents of assault-weapons bans include the National Rifle Association[48] and Gun Owners of America.[49] Gun-rights and sports shooting groups consider the phrase assault weapon to be a pejorative when used to describe civilian firearms,[50][51][52] considering it a politically driven catchphrase aimed to conflate non-automatic weapons with actual full-automatic assault rifles[45] which are already (since 1934) strictly regulated and cannot be obtained by civilians without prior clearance by US federal, state, and local authorities.

As of 2012, there are an estimated 2.5-3.7 million rifles from just the AR-15 family of rifles in civilian use in the United States; the total number of assault weapons in the United States among all types is not known.[53] AR-15 rifles are a favorite for target shooting, hunting, and personal protection.[54]

Attributes in assault weapon definitions

Attributes previously defined in Federal assault weapon legislation and their purposes:

  • Detachable magazines allow for fast reloading
  • Collapsible stocks allow for adjustment to the length of pull, permitting one firearm to be immediately fitted for any shooter
  • Folding stocks allow for ease of transport by reducing the total length of the firearm when transported
  • Pistol grips (on rifles) reduce the angle (and thus rotational strain) of the wrist when shouldered.
  • Bayonet mounts are often on civilian firearms due to the same parts being used on both government and civilian rifles[12]
  • Flash suppressors reduce night vision degradation to a shooter's vision, as well as those beside or behind the user. They do not render any reduction in detecting a shooter.[55]
  • Threaded barrels mount flash suppressors, compensators and muzzle brakes both used for aiding recoil management.
  • Barrel mounted grenade launcher mounts are concentric rings around the muzzle that facilitate attachment of rifle grenades
  • A barrel shroud is a tube around the barrel designed to limit transfer of heat from the barrel to the supporting hand, or to protect a shooter from being burned by accidental contact.[56]
  • Magazines greater than 10 rounds[12]
  • Semi-automatic, functionality meaning that they can eject spent shell casings and chamber the next round without additional human action, but (as opposed to automatic firearms) only one round is fired per pull of the trigger.[15]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Babay, Emily (December 22, 2012). "Confusion Abounds: Just What Is an 'Assault Weapon'?", Philly.com. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, H.R.3355, 103rd Congress (1993-1994), Government Printing Office. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  3. ^ Goode, Erica (January 16, 2013). "Even Defining 'Assault Weapons' Is Complicated". New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  4. ^ Lallanilla, Marc (January 17, 2013). "What Is an Assault Weapon?". Fox News. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  5. ^ Richman, Josh (January 18, 2013). "Assault Weapons: What Are They, and Should They Be Banned?". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  6. ^ Blake, Aaron (January 17, 2013). "Is It Fair to Call Them 'Assault Weapons'?". Washington Post. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e Carney, Timothy P. (December 17, 2012). "Media Myths on 'Assault Weapons' and 'Semiautomatic Firearms'". Washington Examiner. Retrieved January 3, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "Media Myths on assault weapons" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Matthew Kauffman (December 18, 2012). "In State With 'Assault Weapons' Ban, Lanza's Rifle Still Legal". Hartfort Courant. Retrieved 2013-01-02. The term 'assault weapon,' as used by the media, is a media invention," said Robert Crook, executive director of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen. "These are semi-automatic firearms that have military cosmetic characteristics. They look like our military firearms, but they're not.
  9. ^ a b c Tartaro, Joseph P. (1995). "The Great Assault Weapon Hoax". University of Dayton Law Review Symposium, Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, vol. 20, no. 2, 1995: 557. Retrieved January 3, 2013. One of the key elements of the anti-gun strategy to gull the public into supporting bans on the so-called "assault weapons" is to foster confusion. As stated previously, the public does not know the difference between a full automatic and a semi-automatic firearm. They have been further hoodwinked by the television charades of people like New York's former Governor Mario Cuomo talking about semi-automatic firearms while the camera shows a full automatic firing. Fully automatic weapons have been strictly regulated and registered since 1934. Real assault weapons are controlled by the 1934 law and by laws in most states. There is no need for a new law on semi-automatic firearms. However, the anti-gunners responsible for the hoax have continued to perpetuate it by exploiting public confusion. Cite error: The named reference "intentional_confusion" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. ^ ""Assault rifle." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 03 Jul. 2010". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  11. ^ "Banning Assault Weapons – A Legal Primer for State and Local Action" (PDF). Legal Community Against Violence. April 2004. Retrieved 2012-12-27. Assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms designed with military features to allow rapid and accurate spray firing.
  12. ^ a b c d e United States Code, Title 18, Section 921 — Firearms: Definitions, which contains a definition of the term "semiautomatic assault weapon".
  13. ^ a b David Kopel (December 17, 2012). "Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2012-12-18. None of the guns that the Newtown murderer used was an assault weapon under Connecticut law. This illustrates the uselessness of bans on so-called assault weapons, since those bans concentrate on guns' cosmetics, such as whether the gun has a bayonet lug, rather than their function.
  14. ^ Finally, the end of a sad era -- Clinton Gun Ban stricken from books! National Rifle Association
  15. ^ a b c d e Koerner, Brendan. (September 16, 2004). "What, Exactly, Is an Assault Weapon?", Slate. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  16. ^ Definition of "assault weapon", Dictionary.com. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  17. ^ Definition of "assault weapon", Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  18. ^ Ballou, James L. (2000). Rock in a Hard Place: The Browning Automatic Rifle. Collector Grade Publications Inc. pp. 77–79. ISBN 0-88935-263-1.
  19. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions .50 BMG Rifle Registration". State of California Department of Justice. Retrieved 2012-12-26. Effective January 1, 2005, the .50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004 regulates the .50 BMG rifles in essentially the same manner as assault weapons. The law generally prohibits the manufacturing, importation, sale and possession of .50 BMG rifles. The same basic exceptions that apply to assault weapons will also apply to the new .50 BMG rifle restrictions. For individuals who lawfully possessed .50 BMG rifles prior to January 1, 2005, the new law also provides for the registration and possession of their .50 BMG rifles.
  20. ^ a b "Assault weapon". State of Connecticut Judicial Branch. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  21. ^ a b Laura Nahmias (December 22, 2012). "Cuomo for Gun Laws". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2012-12-26. New York is one of only seven states that have assault-weapons bans in place, according to the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence.
  22. ^ "General Laws: Title XX, Chapter 140, Section 121". Massachusetts Laws. The 188th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  23. ^ a b "N.Y. ADC. LAW § 10-301 : NY Code - Section 10-301: Control and regulation of the disposition, purchase and possession of firearms, rifles, shotguns and assault weapons". Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  24. ^ Jane's Infantry Weapons 1995–96, p. 219.
  25. ^ a b c "California: gun control's primary target". Guns & Ammo Magazine. November 1, 1985. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  26. ^ Ingram, Carl (April 9, 1985). "Restricting of Assault-Type Guns Okd by Assembly Unit". Los Angeles Times.
  27. ^ Aaron Blake (January 17, 2013). "Is it fair to call them 'assault weapons'?". Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-01-30. The term "assault weapon" became widely used starting the late 1980s. Many attribute its popularization to a 1988 paper written by gun-control activist and Violence Policy Center founder Josh Sugarmann and the later reaction to a mass shooting at a Stockton, Calif., school in January 1989. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1= and |2= (help)
  28. ^ "Assault Weapons & Accessories". Violence Policy Center. Retrieved 2005-02-26. Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons.
  29. ^ Sugarmann, Josh (1988). Assault Weapons and Accessories in America. Washington, D.C.: Firearms Policy Project of the Violence Policy Center. ISBN 9780927291002. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  30. ^ Levs, Josh. "Loaded language poisons gun debate". CNN. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  31. ^ Laird Harrison (December 20, 2012). "4 Myths About Assault Weapons". NPR (KQED). Retrieved 2012-12-28. But these guns are no more powerful than many semiautomatic rifles legally used for hunting in California and throughout the United States. They don't shoot farther, faster or with more power. In order to create an "assault weapon" ban, legislators had to list specific models of guns or characteristics such as pistol grips on rifles, flash hiders, folding rifle stocks and threaded barrels for attaching silencers.
  32. ^ Alex Roth, Paulo Prada, and Corey Dade (March 13, 2009). "New Calls for Assault-Gun Ban". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2012-12-28. People seeking to stock up on the types of weapons that would likely be targeted by any ban—semiautomatic weapons, sometimes known as "black guns" or "black rifles"—have flocked to purchase them.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (January 24, 2013). "Senator Unveils Bill to Limit Semiautomatic Arms". New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  34. ^ "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013". Official website of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  35. ^ "Banning Assault Weapons – A Legal Primer for State and Local Action" (PDF). Legal Community Against Violence. 2004. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  36. ^ Frequently Asked Questions: Assault Weapon Registration, California Department of Justice. "There are three categories of assault weapons under California law. The first category is firearms listed on the original Roberti-Roos assault weapons list (Penal Code section 12276, subds (a), (b), and (c)). The second category of assault weapons is AK and AR-15 series weapons, pdf (Penal Code sections 12276 (e) and (f)). The third category of assault weapons is defined by specific generic characteristics (PC section 12276.1, SB 23)."
  37. ^ "General Laws". 2012-12-28.
  38. ^ Berger, Judson (January 18, 2013). "NY Guv Looks to Clarify Gun Law After Concern About Exemption for Police". Fox News. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  39. ^ "Governor Cuomo Signs NY Safe Act in Rochester". Governor's Press Office. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  40. ^ Acevedo, Edward J. (January 4, 2013). Amendment to Senate Bill 2899, Illinois General Assembly web site. Retrieved January 18, 2013. "In this Section: "Semi-automatic assault weapon" means: ... (C-2) a semi-automatic rifle or a pistol with the capacity to accept a detachable magazine, a muzzle brake, or muzzle compensator..."
  41. ^ Chakraborty, Barnini (January 3, 2013). "Firearms Groups Fight Sweeping Illinois Gun Ban, Dems Weigh Options". Fox News. Retrieved January 5, 2013. The first proposal would ban the possession, delivery, sale and transfer of semiautomatic handguns and rifles. Gun groups say this kind of restriction would be so expansive as to affect most gun owners in the state.
  42. ^ "Illinois Assault Weapons Ban Fails Again, Votes Not There For Passage In Lame-Duck Session". Huffington Post. January 7, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2013. State Rep. Brandon Phelps, a Harrisburg Democrat, called the bill "too broad" as it applied to too many different types of guns, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
  43. ^ "Municipal Code of Chicago – Title 8, Chapter 8-20, Article III., Section 170 – Unregisterable firearms". American Legal Publishing Corporation. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  44. ^ "Cook County, Illinois, Code of Ordinances – Part I, Chapter 54, Article III, Division 4 – Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban". Library.municode.com. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  45. ^ a b ""Background Information on So-Called 'Assault Weapons'". National Shooting Sports Foundation. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  46. ^ "Federal Gun Laws: Assault-Style Weapons", Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  47. ^ "Issues and Campaigns: Assault Weapons", Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  48. ^ "Semi-Automatic Firearms and the 'Assault Weapon' Issue", National Rifle Association – Institute for Legislative Acton, June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  49. ^ "Assault Weapons Bans: A Solution in Search of a Problem", Gun Owners of America, December 24, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  50. ^ Amy Hunter, Gun sales booming across the nation (December 1, 2008). Culpeper Star-Exponent.
  51. ^ Cook County assault weapon ban hits Illinois Supreme Court (January 18, 2012). Illinois Public Radio.
  52. ^ Wayne LaPierre and James Jay Baker (2002). Shooting Straight: Telling the Truth about Guns in America. Regnery Publishing. pp. 43–44.
  53. ^ Peters, Justin (December 20, 2012). "How Many Assault Weapons Are There in America? How Much Would It Cost the Government to Buy Them Back?". Slate. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  54. ^ Goode, Erica (December 15, 2012). "Rifle Used in Killings, America's Most Popular, Highlights Regulation Debate". New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  55. ^ Army Field Manual FM 3-22
  56. ^ Puryear, Eric (April 7, 2008). "Glossary of Gun Related Terms". LearnAboutGuns.com. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  • Assault weapons entry by Robert J. Spitzer in the Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture and the Law, Vol. 2 (2002, ed. Gregg Lee Carter), p. 34-35.
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