I hate the term "assault rifle" and everything it implies.

I hate the term "assault rifle" and everything it implies.<br><br>The term assault rifle is accredited to the Nazis. It was translated to English as "assault rifle" because in German, it literally means "assault, with rifle."<br><br>Generally, the term assault rifle means a select-fire rifle, firing an intermediate cartridge.<br><br>But what does the media mean when they say "assault rifle?"<br><br>They mean any civilian firearm that vaguely resembles a military rifle.<br><br>"Oh, it has a pistol grip and a magazine. It looks like a machine gun, so it is defined as an assault rifle."<br><br>So you have the media, using the literal definition of a translated Nazi term, and using it to define civilian weapons that do not fit the actual definition of assault rifle.<br><br>Furthermore, the media acts like the term assault rifle is used by the US military to describe any weapon that looks vaguely like one.<br><br>The US military does not use the term assault rifle. They use the term Carbine. <br><br>Now imagine if every time the media talked about a handgun, they said "machine gun" because it vaguely resembles a submachine gun.<br><br>Imagine the media saying "A man was shot with a machine gun today."<br><br>Imagine the media saying "Machine guns are the leading killer of people in the US."<br><br>Hell, imagine if the US had a law banning "machine guns" defined as "Any pistol with a detachable magazine, or semi-auto pistol."<br><br>That is the reality we live in, with the term assault rifle.<br><br>I hate the term assault rifle. I hate what it implies. I hate that the media uses it to talk about civilian arms, and I hate that it is used by both sides of the debate.<br><br>It is a loaded term that was coined by Nazis, translated poorly to English, and now used by the media to make all firearms look scary.<br><br>Edit: Some people are saying "Well the term assault rifle was used by other countries before the Nazis used it." While that may be, the Nazis used it first to describe a select-fire rifle, firing an intermediate cartridge. The definition of assault rifle used today.<br><br>Edit: A lot of people are saying "Well, the US has laws defined by the ATF that defined 'assault rifle' as any rifle with a pistol grip and detachable magazine, with at least two other things like a barrel shroud, folding stock, or bayonet mount." This is the issue. The ATF should not include civilian weapons in the definition of assault rifle.