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(MiniRant) I don't care which side of the Gun Debate you're on...
... but will people stop saying "semi-automatic" in a context that shows that they think it means "shoots like a machine gun"???? and misusing the term "ASSAULT WEAPON". Real assault weapons are NOT semi-auto.
A semi-automatic weapon is not a machine gun. It is not "made to kill a lot of people quickly", as one spam I got today says.
Most pistols are semi-automatic. You pull the trigger, it shoots, and a mechanism in the gun brings the next cartridge up so you can PULL THE TRIGGER AGAIN, having spat out the now-expended first cartridge's remains (the "brass").
Revolvers do the same thing through a different mechanism, but unlike a semi-automatic pistol, they don't eject the cartridges themselves, so you have to open the revolver up and clean it out and reload after 6 shots pretty much by hand, while you can eject a magazine from your semi-auto and keep shooting -- one shot at a time.
FULL AUTO weapons are the ones that shoot lots of bullets much faster than you can pull a trigger (well, faster than MOST people can pull a trigger; some of the stunt shooters can manage an impressive rate of fire for a short time). Real assault weapons are full-auto (many can SWITCH to burst and/or semiauto, but what makes them good military weapons is that they are in fact capable of fully automatic fire.
Semi-automatic covers most handguns and a fair number of rifles and some shotguns.
Fully-automatic weapons have been illegal in most states for YEARS, and generally HAVEN'T been used in the killings people get up in arms over.
A semi-automatic weapon is not a machine gun. It is not "made to kill a lot of people quickly", as one spam I got today says.
Most pistols are semi-automatic. You pull the trigger, it shoots, and a mechanism in the gun brings the next cartridge up so you can PULL THE TRIGGER AGAIN, having spat out the now-expended first cartridge's remains (the "brass").
Revolvers do the same thing through a different mechanism, but unlike a semi-automatic pistol, they don't eject the cartridges themselves, so you have to open the revolver up and clean it out and reload after 6 shots pretty much by hand, while you can eject a magazine from your semi-auto and keep shooting -- one shot at a time.
FULL AUTO weapons are the ones that shoot lots of bullets much faster than you can pull a trigger (well, faster than MOST people can pull a trigger; some of the stunt shooters can manage an impressive rate of fire for a short time). Real assault weapons are full-auto (many can SWITCH to burst and/or semiauto, but what makes them good military weapons is that they are in fact capable of fully automatic fire.
Semi-automatic covers most handguns and a fair number of rifles and some shotguns.
Fully-automatic weapons have been illegal in most states for YEARS, and generally HAVEN'T been used in the killings people get up in arms over.
no subject
Alas, I'm sure that if they had access under the same terms as regfular rifles, some nut case would set up someplace and start taking out cars & trucks on the freeway. *sigh*