Let's call them what they are MODERN.

[wjustinen]

Reminds me of the push here in Canada to stop calling firearms "weapons"

It worked. Now instead of restricted and prohibited "weapons" - handguns and full autos - we have prohibited, restricted and non-restricted "firearms."

I guess we showed them. :banghead::banghead::banghead:

Perhaps we should spend a little more time stressing that all firearms can be used for good or bad purposes, and that the appropriate use of law is to allow those who do bad things to be stopped and incarcerated.

Who are we trying to convince? People who have no recreational interest in firearms; but have a healthy interest in living reasonably secure, free lives.

 

[Caimlas]

wjustinen - that would be great, except for the fact that "good" and "bad" tend to not exist within the vocabulary of those we are trying to convince, except when "good" means the things they like and that are PC, and "bad" are things they disagree with and are traditional worldviews.

We're dealing with "moral relativists" here, and using the argument of good vs bad won't do a lick of good unless you get them to divorce their entire worldview. Remember, these are the same people who argue that murderers, rapists, jihadists and other ner-do-wells are just poor, misunderstood have-nots who are in a bind and being abused by the Haves.

 

[wooderson]

You don't engage in any form of moral relativism, Caimlas? So you don't believe in the concept of 'collateral damage,' right?

And when we torture someone for information, that's clearly and unequivocally wrong, correct?

 

[turtlehitman]

with all the eco-friendly chatter that goes around the media I think that "green rifle" is a good one. infact the military is trying to switch from regular ball ammo to lead free "green bullets". sounds good eh?

 

[IA_farmboy]

Part of the problem is that the definition of "assault weapon" or "assault rifle" is open to interpretation and shifts over time as technology and the political climate changes.

What I particularly dislike about words like "assault", "sniper", or even "defense" when used to describe a firearm is that they give no information about its function. These words describe its use or intended use.

All of the sudden a "hunting rifle" becomes a "sniper rifle" when some crazed yahoo decides that shooting at passing cars sounds like a great way to pass the time. The rifle didn't change, only the target in its sights.

In military lingo terms like "battle rifle", "assault rifle", "personal defense weapon", and "sniper rifle" have very specific meanings and it is rare to have a single weapon fall under more than one definition. Outside of the military these terms do not have such strict definition and tend to be used inappropriately and/or to add political connotations.

In the hands of a civilian all firearms should be defined (IMHO of course) as either a home/self/personal defense weapon, or a hunting rifle/shotgun/firearm. But that won't become common vernacular. No one is likely to see a headline reading "Terror on highway from HUNTING rifle" or "Gangsters wield PERSONAL DEFENSE WEAPONS in shootout with police" because that doesn't sell newspapers.

Getting much closer to the topic at hand, I don't like the term "modern firearm" either. Calling something "modern" is just as open to interpretation as "assault". I've seen one hundred year old buildings described as "modern construction" since materials and techniques haven't changed much in a century. Just as firearms haven't changed much since the introduction of the "modern" cartridge about 150 years ago. A modern firearm could describe a wide variety of weapons. Think about that the next time you see a Colt 1911.

Maybe we should take a page out of the bicycle history books. Bicycles really took off after the "safety bicycle" came about. Few people think of bicycles as dangerous anymore. I think I'm going to start referring to modern firearms as "safety weapons".

 

[748]

One thing I have told people when I have my M94 Winchester 30-30 is: "this was the most advanced assualt rifle in the world , back in 1895".
When ever you go back and look at when a gun was new if you look at the rest of the guns of the time you can clearly see what guns were assualt rifles 400, 100 or 40 years ago.
They are modern fire arms.