According to the Brady campaign it lets a person spray bullets with accuracy, just like Arh-nuld does in the movie "Commando"! :eyes:
Q: What is the difference between semi-automatic hunting rifles and semi-automatic assault weapons?
A: Sporting rifles and assault weapons are two distinct classes of firearms. While semi-automatic hunting rifles are designed to be fired from the shoulder and depend upon the accuracy of a precisely aimed projectile, semi-automatic assault weapons are designed to maximize lethal effects through a rapid rate of fire. Assault weapons are designed to be spray-fired from the hip, and because of their design, a shooter can maintain control of the weapon even while firing many rounds in rapid succession.
Opponents of the ban argue that such weapons only "look scary." However, because they were designed for military purposes, assault weapons are equipped with combat hardware, such as silencers, folding stocks and bayonets, which are not found on sporting guns. Assault weapons are also designed for rapid-fire and many come equipped with large ammunition magazines allowing 50 more bullets to be fired without reloading. So there is a good reason why these features on high-powered weapons should frighten the public.
Assault weapons are commonly equipped with some or all of the following combat features:
- A large-capacity ammunition magazine, enabling the shooter to continuously fire dozens of rounds without reloading. Standard hunting rifles are usually equipped with no more than 3 or 4-shot magazines.
- A folding stock on a rifle or shotgun, which sacrifices accuracy for concealability and for mobility in close combat.
- A pistol grip on a rifle or shotgun, which facilitates firing from the hip, allowing the shooter to spray-fire the weapon. A pistol grip also helps the shooter stabilize the firearm during rapid fire and makes it easier to shoot assault rifles one-handed.
- A barrel shroud, which is designed to cool the barrel so the firearm can shoot many rounds in rapid succession without overheating. It also allows the shooter to grasp the barrel area to stabilize the weapon, without incurring serious burns, during rapid fire.
- A threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, which serves no useful sporting purpose. The flash suppressor allows the shooter to remain concealed when shooting at night, an advantage in combat but unnecessary for hunting or sporting purposes. In addition, the flash suppressor is useful for providing stability during rapid fire, helping the shooter maintain control of the firearm.
- A threaded barrel designed to accommodate a silencer, which is useful to assassins but clearly has no purpose for sportsmen. Silencers are illegal so there is no legitimate purpose for making it possible to put a silencer on a weapon.
- A barrel mount designed to accommodate a bayonet, which obviously serves no sporting purpose.
http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/faqs/?page=awb
<boldface mine>
The basic idea here is that the Brady Campaign thinks that Americans only have the right to own 'sporting' guns, and if a gun has any capability to be used effectively for self-defense, then it must be banned as a weapon of mass destruction.
While semi-automatic hunting rifles are designed to be fired from the shoulder and depend upon the accuracy of a precisely aimed projectile, semi-automatic assault weapons are designed to maximize lethal effects through a rapid rate of fire.
All rifles are designed to be fired from the shoulder, and all rifles depend on the accuracy of a precisely aimed projectile. What enables an 'assault weapon' to achieve rapid, aimed fire is the fact that they use a relatively low-powered cartridge that generates little recoil. The 5.56mm NATO cartridge that the AR-15 and Mini-14 fires is actually the near the bottom of the chart in terms of power. Looking at Winchester's website, the 5.56mm is beaten by all but six or seven cartridges, and three of them date back to the Wild West era!
Assault weapons are designed to be spray-fired from the hip, and because of their design, a shooter can maintain control of the weapon even while firing many rounds in rapid succession.
No, not really. It is actually easier to fire from the hip with a traditionally-stocked rifle because you don't have to bend you wrist so much. I guess by "control" they mean "not dropping the gun into the dirt", because you sure as hell can't hit anything while firing from the hip. That whole "bring gun up to the shoulder and aim" thing. I guess if you had a laser sight on your rifle then you could fire accurately from the hip by watching the red laser dot, regardless of the gun you had, but without the gun up to your shoulder you have less ability to absorb recoil.
A large-capacity ammunition magazine, enabling the shooter to continuously fire dozens of rounds without reloading. Standard hunting rifles are usually equipped with no more than 3 or 4-shot magazines.
Okay, any gun with a detachable magazine can have any capacity you want. The Ruger Mini-14 ships with only a 5-round magazine, and Ruger does not offer anything larger. Other companies offer 10-, 20-, 30-, 40-, and if you have about $120 bucks to spend, 90-round magazines. During the 1993 ban,
new so-called 'high capacity' magazines were not legal to be sold to the general public. However, there were plenty of old ones kicking around that were perfectly legal to own and sell, and people did. I mean, the AK-47 was in servie for almost sixty years before the ban, so there were PLENTY of military-surplus magazines floating around the world!
Traditional hunting rifles of the last century were at first World War 1 military-surplus bolt-action rifles converted for sporting use, and new rifles in non-military calibers were based on those. They typically held no more than 5 rounds in a non-removable magazines. Bolt-actions were prefered because they are cheaper to make than semi-autos, are more reliable in harsh condidtions, are more accurate, are easier to make in a variety of calibers, and are friendly to hand-loading ammunition.
A folding stock on a rifle or shotgun, which sacrifices accuracy for concealability and for mobility in close combat.
Even a folded stock on a rifle makes it long and unwieldy. A Mini-14 is still over two feet long even with the stock folded, about 4 times longer than most pistols (the overwhelming choice for criminals, by the way). And with the stock folded the gun is harder to shoot accurately and to control recoil. Besides, a couple of minutes will a saw will take off a gun's stock.
A pistol grip on a rifle or shotgun, which facilitates firing from the hip, allowing the shooter to spray-fire the weapon. A pistol grip also helps the shooter stabilize the firearm during rapid fire and makes it easier to shoot assault rifles one-handed.
The hip-firing thing we addressed ealier. The pistol grip does not really add anything to the stabilization of the gun, in my limited experience. As to the 'shooting assault rifles one-handed' stuff, well, LOL at that one!
Do me a favor... go the fridge, right now, and pull out an unopened gallon of milk. Now, extend your arm straight out with that gallon of milk in your hand and pretend it's a pistol. Now try to aim.
Having fun? A gallon of milk weighs 8 pounds, which is about what an empty AR-15 weighs. Now imagine that gallon of milk jumping around every time you pulled an imaginary trigger.
A barrel shroud, which is designed to cool the barrel so the firearm can shoot many rounds in rapid succession without overheating. It also allows the shooter to grasp the barrel area to stabilize the weapon, without incurring serious burns, during rapid fire.
All rifles and shotguns have provisions on them for the shooter to grab the rifle in the barrel area without getting burned. It's called a 'foregrip'. Hot barrels affect accuracy and wear faster, so everybody takes some sort of precaution of barrels overheating. Barrel shrouds are not commonly used because they are make of steel pipe with a lot of holes drilled in them, and are as a result heavy.
A threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, which serves no useful sporting purpose. The flash suppressor allows the shooter to remain concealed when shooting at night, an advantage in combat but unnecessary for hunting or sporting purposes. In addition, the flash suppressor is useful for providing stability during rapid fire, helping the shooter maintain control of the firearm.
Lies. A flash suppressor limits the amount of the flash that the
shooter sees. From
behind the gun. It does not, and can not, hide the flash from general view. However, it can be somewhat useful when night hunting or when defending yourself in a dark environment.
A flash supressor is different from a compensator, which is a device that directs some of the burning gunpower gasses upwards or rearwards (but not both at the same time) to help reduce recoil. In other words, burning gunpower gasses are being put right into your line of sight. Does that sound like it's
suppressing the flash?
A threaded barrel designed to accommodate a silencer, which is useful to assassins but clearly has no purpose for sportsmen. Silencers are illegal so there is no legitimate purpose for making it possible to put a silencer on a weapon.
Silencers are not illegal, but you need a Class 3 Federal Firearms Licence to own and use them. Incidently, considering that a rifle shot is about 150 decibels, knocking 30 or 40 off with a silencer is not a bad idea. Hearing damage and all.
The effectiveness of silencers is overplayed in the movies. However, some companies make removable compensators and flash supressors that screw onto the end of the barrel. It's a minor point, though.
A barrel mount designed to accommodate a bayonet, which obviously serves no sporting purpose.
Criminals holding up liquor stores at bayonet point much? Are the Bloods doing drive-by bayonetings?
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