The next time someone says assault rifle, say patrol rifle instead

[jamesjames]

In the propaganda war, we are often at a disadvantage when our opponents use terms like assault rifle to characterize an AR15. As soon as the label assault rifle is associated with the platform, we are arguing from a position of disadvantage. They ask what you need an assault rifle for, and you spend time justifying your way out of their stereotype instead of having a productive discussion.

I just got feedback from an opponent who characterized all firearms as "killing machines" in his call for control of all firearms. We have to head this off before it gets out of control.

On the AR front, I noticed that when we like them (or are neutral about them) and when to give them to law enforcement, we call them "patrol rifles". When our opponents don't like then, they are the dreaded assault rifles.

Reminds me of the George Carlin bit about the difference between football and baseball.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmXacL0Uny0

If you call it a patrol rifle it changes the whole discussion. A "patrol rifle" has a connotation of something carried legitimately, that fits its purpose and function to maintaining good order. It is appropriate in size, weight, and function for its use and applications. A patrol rifle is carried by squared-away, thoughtful people as an appropriate tool. What do you think?

 

[dh1633pm]

Modern Sporting Rifle or MSR is the term that manufacturers are using.

 

[jamesjames]

of course you're right. And patrol rifle has the unwanted connotation of the wannabe, taking on duties or responsibilities not usually assigned to citizens. But patrol rifle has a certain ring to it that MSR doesn't quite match. MSR definitely takes us away from military and LE applications, but many rifle platforms have started as a military rifle and seen use broadened and accepted into citizen use.

 

[PJSprog]

... or, just call it a rifle. There really is no winning against an opponent determined to misuse labels in an attempt to gain advantage in the absence of facts.

 

[Theohazard]

I'm with PJ, I just call it a rifle. Why? Because that's what it is.

 

[HammsBeer]

Inform him to never call the police, since they will arrive with those "killing machines".

Inform him that real "assault rifles" are tightly controlled/registered and cost upwards of $15,000 for civilians, but the police and military get them for $800.

Inform him that semi-auto hunting rifles and shotguns are vastly more powerful than the AR, but they function no differently.

Inform him that the first generation Mustang is newer than the AR.

Inform him that functional semi-auto firearms were released before the power companies had standardized supplying AC or DC current to the public.

 

[hso]

Here's the venerable Remington Model 8 semiauto hunting rifle. People started buying it around 1906. It had a detachable magazine.
The wood stocks and blued steel makes it look different than the venerable AR 15, but they both are semiauto detachable magazine fed semiauto firearms.

 

[Scooter22]

The receiver on those Remingtons have a AK look to them.

 

[GRIZ22]

I don't think you are going to change anything by trying to call what is referred to as "assault rifle" as "patrol rifle". How terms get adopted into everyday language depends on a variety of things, most of all the public's exposure to the term. You just aren't going to get that much exposure with the term "patrol rifle".

 

[yugorpk]

I like to call of of my AR's "Short Barrel Rifles".

 

[Deog]

I call my AR Oprah.

 

[TruthTellers]

Modern Sporting Rifle is what the industry has been calling AR's. Ruger calls their 18.5" barrel Mini 14's the "Ranch Rifle" and 16" barrel Mini's the "Tactical Rifle." I don't know what AK patterns are called, maybe "the Commie gun" which might be bad because it sounds like Tommy Gun and we don't want relatives of the victims of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre to come out and denounce Commie Gun ownership.

If we really want to be specific about giving a term for "assault weapons" then we need to start calling them magazine fed, self loading, metallic cartridge, game, target, and defense rifles.

 

[The Alaskan]

In the propaganda war, we are often at a disadvantage when our opponents use terms like assault rifle to characterize an AR15. As soon as the label assault rifle is associated with the platform, we are arguing from a position of disadvantage. They ask what you need an assault rifle for, and you spend time justifying your way out of their stereotype instead of having a productive discussion.

I just got feedback from an opponent who characterized all firearms as "killing machines" in his call for control of all firearms. We have to head this off before it gets out of control.

On the AR front, I noticed that when we like them (or are neutral about them) and when to give them to law enforcement, we call them "patrol rifles". When our opponents don't like then, they are the dreaded assault rifles.



If you call it a patrol rifle it changes the whole discussion. A "patrol rifle" has a connotation of something carried legitimately, that fits its purpose and function to maintaining good order. It is appropriate in size, weight, and function for its use and applications. A patrol rifle is carried by squared-away, thoughtful people as an appropriate tool. What do you think?

Okay. I guess I'll wade on in here and deliberately step on a land mine.

You aren't going to gain any traction on any scale (outside THR and similar circles) with this. The guns are what the guns are, and your calling them something else isn't going to change that. A rose by any other name...

The bottom line and absolute fact of the matter is that a.)The AR15 started life as a military firearm. b.) the only difference between an M16 and an AR15 is the "Burst" or "Auto" selection on the safety. While to many people, that's a HUGE difference, and while in legal technical terms, it's a huge difference, most folks don't see that as a significant difference. (I sure don't.) As those kids and teachers were being gun-downed, I don't think any of them cared that their killer had the minor inconvenience of pulling the trigger for each projectile dispensed, as opposed to simply holding the trigger back.

As far as calling it a "Patrol Rifle": I'll ask the following question: What are you "Patrolling" for? and under what authority are you on patrol? I ask this because, here in Alaska, we have armed, anti-government (I may go as far as to say illegal) militias. These guys are somewhat organized, with plans of action to control different parts of town when the opportunity arises. Remember, these guys are armed with "patrol rifles," have militaristic uniforms, and they fully plan to someday, when the opportunity presents itself (earthquake, civil unrest, etc) to assume their own authority over others, and they are operating well beyond the lawful control of legal authority.

SO...what are you patrolling for? Are you patrolling my neighborhood after a winter storm to assert your own authority? And for what purpose? If you are patrolling to protect me, who or hat is going to protect me from you?

Bottom line: these are military guns and nothing you can say or do will ever change that, and that common perception cannot be changed, nor should it be. The best you can hope for is the term "paramilitary firearm."

MSR definitely takes us away from military and LE applications

MSR isn't fooling anyone, either. As the old saying goes: call a spade a spade. You guys should focus less on semantics and more on substance.

 

[Walkalong]

It's a rifle. It has a semi auto action. It isn't the first one of those by a long shot.

I call them AR 15s.

 

[ford8nr]

Also let's get away from calling them WEAPONS. I know a NRA Trainers course I took a while back had a rule ... Call it a Weapon 3 times and you were OUT. For 99% of what we use them for they're rifles, shotguns or handguns. It would also help if the majority of gun ads DIDNT have a military, swat member or operator displaying the guns.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

"The receiver on those Remingtons have a AK look to them."

Well, Kalashnikov liked the safety lever on the Remington Model 8 that also served as a dust cover for the bolt slot, so he copied it.

I call my M1 Carbine and Yugo M70AB2 "Civilian Marksmanship Training" rifles. Premilitary training and historical gun collection are legitimate uses for as-issued military rifles. And people use them for hunting and self defense too. They have a reputation for reliability, parts and manuals are readily available, lotsa pluses.

Also men introduced to shooting in the military want to carry their training and instruction over to their recreational guns in civilian life; veterans of WWI wanted bolt action sporting rifles like they were trained with. Modern era veterans want guns like they were trained with: I consider that a safety issue. Why be forced to switch to a type you are not instinctively familar with handling?

And the stats on use of military rifles in crime and how firearms using offenders report firearms sources in inmate surveys makes it clear that legally acquired military-style rifles are a minor proportion of our crime problem.

 

[basicblur]

I think back when some government agency / agencies were buying a lot of those evil black rifles, they referred to them as PDW's (Personal Defense Weapon).

As someone already stated, if you follow industry standard these days, you'll call it a modern sporting rifle.

 

[akarguy]

The government/DHS calls the PDW's (personal defense weapons) when in their hands, yet assault weapons when in citizens hands. Go figure

 

[USAF_Vet]

An "assault rifle" actually has a definition of being a shoulder fired weapon, firing an intermediate cartridge, that has select fire or fully automatic capability. So next time I see an "assault rifle" I'll call it exactly what it is.

The term you are confusing it with is the arbitrary "assault weapon," which is defined as anything the media and their masters want it to be in any given situation.

Depending on the department in question, a "patrol rifle" may very well be an "assault rifle."

But I don't have tens of thousands of dollars to purchase an "assault rifle" so I'll have to settle for my AR-15.

 

[zorro45]

'liberty protection device"

 

[Balrog]

The term you are confusing it with is the arbitrary "assault weapon," which is defined as anything the media and their masters want it to be in any given situation.

Actually, "assault weapon" is not really an arbitrary term. It is a term defined and codified in federal law.

 

[HammsBeer]

The bottom line and absolute fact of the matter is that a.)The AR15 started life as a military firearm. b.) the only difference between an M16 and an AR15 is the "Burst" or "Auto" selection on the safety. While to many people, that's a HUGE difference, and while in legal technical terms, it's a huge difference, most folks don't see that as a significant difference. (I sure don't.)

By your own definition a Colt single action army is a military firearm.
And the many variations of Mauser bolt action rifles in use today.
And the many 1911's still popular today.
And the Garand and M1A and M1 Carbine still favored by many.
Perhaps only the military should have these too?

Can you tell me what separates this semi-auto AR:

from this semi-auto:

or this semi-auto:

or maybe this semi-auto:

or how about this semi-auto:

I think your concern is not specific to AR's, but rather to any semi-auto that can accept a detachable magazine of "X" number of rounds over an arbitrary number that you feel comfortable with.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Actually, "assault weapon" is not really an arbitrary term. It is a term defined and codified in federal law.

Yes, a federal law that has been defunct for over a decade that listed cosmetic features but had nothing to do with firearms themselves. What difference is there between an AR-15 manufactured in 1993 for the civilian market, and one manufactured in 1995 for the same market (or to be much more specific, one made a day prior to the AWB and one made the day after)?

It's entirely cosmetic, with the exception of magazine capacity, that applied not just to rifles, but to pistols, shotguns, and other semi-auto rifles as well.

But since the law sunset, the "codified into federal law" aspect is irrelevant. Slavery was once codified into federal law, as well.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

The term "assault rifle" just plain irks me. I have thought long and hard about how to respond when someone uses that term. I have come up with a response although it may not be perfect. This was a discussion with a non gun person, neutral on the issue, in a gun friendly state.

Person: "What do you think about assault rifles?"

Me: "Why do you refer to it as an assault rifle?" or "Where did you learn that term?"

Person: "Watching the news, or fill in the blank media source."

Me: "I call mine a defensive rifle because that is one mine is intended to do."

Later in the conversation I found out that he thought all AR-15 rifles were fully automatic because they showed a partial clip of an M-16 running while discussing semi-autos. :banghead: I was able to clear up the misconception at that point and then proceeded to discuss the features and benefits of them. Good conversation in the end.

 

[carbine85]

I've always disagreed with the term "assault rifle" and don't use it. I typically correct people when they use it.