assault weapon propaganda

Assault Weapons: Seeing through the Propaganda (by Kelsey Farnham)
The term assault weapon has been tossed around so liberally during the recent 2nd Amendment debate. It has in turn caused many Americans to encompass a misguided view of what legislation is really proposing.
In 1994 Congress passed a Federal assault weapons ban. It defined an assault weapon as “a semi-automatic rifle able to accept detachable magazines and two or more of the following: folding stock, pistol grip, bayonet mount, flash suppressor, grenade launcher.” These so called “dangerous features” and accessories are merely cosmetics. The weapons without these features function no differently than the rifles and shotguns in common use for over 100 years.
The misunderstanding of the term began when the liberal media realized that they could take advantage of the fact that most of the public could not tell the difference between true assault weapons ( Fully Automatic Firearms which are regulated under the National Firearms Act), and their Semi-Automatic look-alikes. Semi-automatics and all other firearms, such as bolt-actions, pump-actions, lever-actions, revolvers, double-barreled shotguns, and single-shot firearms, fire only once when the trigger is pulled. Media programs go so far as to show video footage of fully-automatic machine guns being fired while their reporters talk about legislation related to semi-automatic firearms. Therefore, misleading people into thinking that fully-automatic machine guns are the types of firearms covered by semi-automatic “assault weapon” legislation. “Assault Weapon” propaganda is laced with photographs of fully-automatic machine guns.
The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machineguns versus semi-automatic assault weapons only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these guns. However, television networks and print publications began instilling this sense of fear and confusion in the public by showing fully-automatic military firearms, while talking about semi-automatics. Naturally, because so many Americans automatically believe that what they see in the media as a fair, impartial, and true reporting of the facts, there is now a distorted view of what an assault weapon really is. Unfortunately, in 1994, the media’s plan worked; and the “Assault Weapons Ban” passed.
The term itself is a pure anti-gun propaganda term. It was advanced by and for the anti-gun movement in the late 1970′s and popularized in the early 1980′s. “Assault weapon” is essentially just an excessive, redundant phrase. A weapon, by definition, is a tool used to harm or destroy an enemy, prey, equipment, or structure. All of which sounds like “assault” to me. Colonel Mustard, in the billiard room, with the candlestick, should be accused just as readily for using an “assault weapon” as someone with an AR-15. Let’s get a clue, people.
As the American public, it’s our responsibility to educate ourselves better on issues as important as the 2nd Amendment. Let’s see through all the propaganda and see the truth.
“Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2
SOURCES:
1. Read more at Ammoland.com: http://www.ammoland.com/2012/12/are-we-are-our-own-worst-enemies-at-times/#ixzz2JNgJ0qpB
2. What are assault weapons?: http://www.gunbanfacts.com/get_the_facts/history.aspx
3. Assault Weapons: Propaganda: http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi- bin/archive.cgi/noframes/read/98375
4. Nobody Really Knows What an “Assault Rifle” is, So How Are We Supposed to Ban Them? http://www.policymic.com/articles/21191/nobody-really-knows-what-an-assault-rifle-is-so-how-are-we-supposed-to-ban-them