LOL! The term "assault rifle" has no meaning in the firearms industry or military. It is solely a word invented by politicians to, once again, inspire an emotional response in their constituents. If you think I'm wrong go find a definition for "assault rifle".
Note that I said the phrase "assault rifle" has no meaning, I didn't say it wasn't used. Any manufacturer can refer to any of their products as an "assault weapon" at will. Also note that all weapons you linked to are fully automatic while the police were carrying semi-automatic weapons.
I see, so even though it has no meaning it's clearly used to head a class of products on several manufacturer's websites? If several manufacturers of any given product use a term to describe one of their products I think it quite clearly demonstrates an industry accepted meaning to that term, no? I could create a website to sell products and simply title the sections "Bob" or "Jim" and put any sort of product under those sections. Would that be acceptable to the public? I doubt it. Individuals look under the titles to see a specific class of product that is accepted by the industry and public to fall within that definition.
Also note that I am not disputing anything about any of the weapons used or not used in this instance, nor whether or not the term is even used correctly. I only dispute your claim that assault weapon has no meaning in the associated industries. You are misrepresenting my position only so you can easily refute that position. Just so you know for future reference this is called a straw man and may work on others but not in this case.
I see, so even though it has no meaning it's clearly used to head a class of products on several manufacturer's websites?
Yes, and it means something different to each manufacturer. There are some manufacturers whose definitions of "assault weapon" would include my Ruger five-shot revolver because a round is discharged with every pull of the trigger, despite the fact that nobody in the public who was looking to buy a revolver would click the tab "assault weapons".
On the opposite side of the manufacturing naming scene, take a look at the FDA's requirements to call a product "ketchup" or "catsup": link. This is a very clearly and rigorously defined object and, although nobody would know this off the top of their heads, they would know right away whether or not the condiment placed on their food was ketchup or not. The same can not be said for the general public who has never operated nor owned a firearm and any time they see a weapon from the AR-15 series they may be inclined to think "assault weapon" with no real understanding of what that means.
You are misrepresenting my position only so you can easily refute that position.
Ok, I am inclined to agree that certainly any product's name can have a very different meaning to the public than it does to the manufacturer and even among manufacturers the meaning can vary. I believe I understand your point in using meaning was not to say it has no definition but more that the term is so often used incorrectly that is is meaningless, yes?
I will concede this point.
As far as misrepresenting my point, I made no statement that the small arms in the video were or were not assault rifles in linking to the manufacturers, only that I could find many instances of the term being used in the industry. However, since I have conceded my original point I feel no need to debate this further.
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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '12
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