An Assault Rifle is a hand-held, selective fire weapon that fires an intermediate powered rifle cartridge.
There is No Such Thing as a semi-automatic assault rifle. 99.9% of SKS's, Ak's, Ar-15's sold in this country are semi-automatic. Semi-automatic means each time the trigger is pulled, a single bullet leave the barrel, until the magazine is empty. An assault rifle can also be fired one shot at a time, but every single Assualt Rifle has a selector switch that allows the user to fire more then one bullet automatically. For a true AK, this is full automatic and holding down the trigger will empty the magazine. SKS's were designed to be semi-automatic and are not selective fire capable. There are experimental models from the U.S.S.R. and China that rumor says were full auto, but none have shown up here in the U.S.
The Ar-15 is NOT an M-16. M16 is the designation for the militaries rifle that has a semi-automatic and 3 round burst option. The original M16's did offer full automatic, though. Again, these are military weapons and are not for sale to civilians. Ar15's, while similar in look, do not have a full auto or 3 round burst capability, and therefore by definition are not Assault Rifles.
The cartridges used by these Assault Rifles and their semi-automatic siblings are not high powered cartridges. Every single Assault Rifle cartridge is lower in power then a 30-30 Winchester; a cartridge designed in the late 1800's. While more powerful then most pistol rounds, these cartridges are designed for a modern battle field where combat takes place within 300 meters. A Battle Rifle cartridge, like a 30-06, 7.62x54R, or 8mm are much, much, much more powerful then cartridges fired from Ak's, SKS's, or Ar-15's.
To call bullets fired from an SKS, AK, or AR-15 "high powered," like the media has a tendency to do, is like calling a Civic a race car. A Civic, while a decent car, is not in the same league as a Corvette, Ferrari, or Lotus and comparing them is an insult anyones intelligence.
So why does the news media call Assault Rifle cartridges "high powered?" IGNORANCE
