What is an “assault weapon”?
Fact: In Title 26 USC (United States Code) Internal Revenue Code there is no mention of, nor description of an “assault weapon”.
See: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title26/subtitleE/chapter53&edition=prelim
§5845. Definitions
For the purpose of this chapter—
(a) Firearm
The term “firearm” means (1) a shotgun having a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length; (2) a weapon made from a shotgun if such weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length; (3) a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length; (4) a weapon made from a rifle if such weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length; (5) any other weapon, as defined in subsection (e); (6) a machinegun; (7) any silencer (as defined in section 921 of title 18, United States Code); and (8) a destructive device. The term “firearm” shall not include an antique firearm or any device (other than a machinegun or destructive device) which, although designed as a weapon, the Secretary finds by reason of the date of its manufacture, value, design, and other characteristics is primarily a collector’s item and is not likely to be used as a weapon.
(b) Machinegun
The term “machinegun” means any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. The term shall also include the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun, and any combination of parts from which a machinegun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person.
(c) Rifle
The term “rifle” means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger, and shall include any such weapon which may be readily restored to fire a fixed cartridge.
(d) Shotgun
The term “shotgun” means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of projectiles (ball shot) or a single projectile for each pull of the trigger, and shall include any such weapon which may be readily restored to fire a fixed shotgun shell.
(e) Any other weapon
The term “any other weapon” means any weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person from which a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosive, a pistol or revolver having a barrel with a smooth bore designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell, weapons with combination shotgun and rifle barrels 12 inches or more, less than 18 inches in length, from which only a single discharge can be made from either barrel without manual reloading, and shall include any such weapon which may be readily restored to fire. Such term shall not include a pistol or a revolver having a rifled bore, or rifled bores, or weapons designed, made, or intended to be fired from the shoulder and not capable of firing fixed ammunition.
(f) Destructive device
The term “destructive device” means (1) any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas (A) bomb, (B) grenade, (C) rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, (D) missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, (E) mine, or (F) similar device; (2) any type of weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter, except a shotgun or shotgun shell which the Secretary finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes; and (3) any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting any device into a destructive device as defined in subparagraphs (1) and (2) and from which a destructive device may be readily assembled. The term “destructive device” shall not include any device which is neither designed nor redesigned for use as a weapon; any device, although originally designed for use as a weapon, which is redesigned for use as a signaling, pyrotechnic, line throwing, safety, or similar device; surplus ordnance sold, loaned, or given by the Secretary of the Army pursuant to the provisions of section 7684(2), 7685, or 7686 of title 10, United States Code; or any other device which the Secretary finds is not likely to be used as a weapon, or is an antique or is a rifle which the owner intends to use solely for sporting purposes.
(g) Antique firearm
The term “antique firearm” means any firearm not designed or redesigned for using rim fire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before 1898 (including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system or replica thereof, whether actually manufactured before or after the year 1898) and also any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.
(h) Unserviceable firearm
The term “unserviceable firearm” means a firearm which is incapable of discharging a shot by means of an explosive and incapable of being readily restored to a firing condition.
So, if there is no mention of “assault weapon” within the USC which governs firearms, what exactly is an “assault weapon” and where did the term come from?
That term was created by “anti-gun” enthusiasts with the purpose of confusing, misleading, and creating a category of firearm which could be manipulated or altered outside the purview of the Internal Revenue Service, in other words an unofficial, unsanctioned, ever changing definition of something that does not exist.
Typical descriptions of what an “assault weapon” would be if there were such a thing:
- The AR in AR-15 stands for assault rifle. FALSE.
See: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/meaning-of-ar-in-ar-15-firearm/
- It looks scary.
- It has a plastic thing on the barrel.
- It’s loud like all firearms, but it looks scary.
- It has a clip. I don’t know what a clip is, but it has one.
- It can hold multiple rounds.
- It can be fired quickly.
- It hurts the shoulder when fired. It is one of the smallest rifle calibers available.
- You get PTSD when you fire one. That would mean every member of each branch of the military, law enforcement, federal agents would have PTSD.
- It has a handle. I was told that if a rifle has a handle it becomes an “assault weapon”.
One of the anti-gun crowds “go-to” arguments is that what they refer to as an “assault weapon” can be fired quickly. If that standard was applied to all style of firearms, every firearm available with the exception of single shot and muzzle loading firearms would be categorized as an “assault weapon”. Example: If any person with an AR-15 style firearm could fire 10 rounds accurately in 10 seconds and it is categorized by the anti-gun activists on Congress as an “assault weapon” because it can be fired rapidly, then any firearm that can fire that quickly would necessarily become an “assault weapon”. Pistol competition shooters routinely fire 10 rounds from semi-automatic pistols in under 4 seconds. Shooters in the Cowboy Action Shooting sport routinely fire 5 rounds from 2 single action revolvers (10 rounds total) in under 6 seconds. Shooters experienced with pump shotguns can fire 6 rounds in under 4 seconds. According to the anti-gun activists, these all could become labeled as “assault weapons”.
Here are some of the arguments high profile anti-gun activists have made:
- “It feels like a bazooka — and sounds like a cannon”. “The recoil bruised my shoulder. The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick. The explosions — loud like a bomb — gave me a temporary case of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable”.
The round fired from an AR-15 style firearm is one on the smallest rifle calibers available.
Video of a teenage girl firing a 12 gauge shotgun:
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhYxyTIy8SA
A little comparison: An AR-15 fires on average a 55 grain, .22 caliber projectile. A 12 gauge shotgun fires 546.875 grains of shot. So much for honest and accurate reporting from an anti-gun activist.
- Sheila Jackson Lee, a Representative in Congress shows the extent to which anti-gun activists will go to push their disarming agenda. Just watch, and then scratch your head…
The AR-15 round uses about 26.5 grains of powder with a .224 inch wide 55 grain bullet, the case is 1.75 inches long. The 50BMG which uses about 220 grains of powder to push a .50 inch wide 655 grain bullet, the case is 3.897 inches long.
- Another member of Congress doesn’t know what a barrel shroud on an AR-15 style firearm is for, doesn’t know an AR-15 style firearm does not use a “clip”.
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=balw6zrvF-8
Nevertheless, she introduces a Bill that that would ban a style firearm for having a barrel shroud, a protective cover around the barrel which protects the shooter from burning a hand once the barrel heats up after firing. Evidently, safety has become an assault issue??
As for the “clip”, I think she has watches too many WWII movies and needs an upgrade in the war movies she watches.
Just a thought; if politicians knowingly violate Title 26 USC by attempting to create a category of firearm they can manipulate in an effort to deny We the People our ability to own firearms, wouldn’t the be an unauthorized change to government Code punishable by purporting an unauthorized change in Title 26 USC to be factual and enforceable?
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