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"Assault Rifle" (courtesy teenvogue.com)

As we reported back in March, Teen Vogue is on an antigun agitprop jag. In the aftermath of The Pulse nightclub massacre, the editors wants their teenage charges to be au fait with the term “assault rifle.” Under the headline What Are Assault Rifles, this is what passes for their definition.

Large, military-style rifles are often called “assault weapons,” though the gun industry calls them “modern sporting rifles.” These weapons were originally designed for military use, and they’re built for combat. Many were illegal in the U.S. from 1994 to 2004 under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Since the ban expired in 2004, they’ve become both popular and controversial.

Here’s the Justice Department’s definition of an assault weapon, according to CNN: “In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use.”

Assault rifles, like the popular AR-15, usually fire smaller bullets than handguns. But they’re capable of firing many more bullets without reloading, which makes them potentially more lethal.

The AR-15 is the most popular assault rifle in the U.S., and was originally designed to give U.S. soldiers an advantage over Russian-made AK-47 rifles during the Vietnam War. The M-16, a military adaptation of the gun, was the standard-issue U.S. military infantry weapon from 1969 to around 2011, when it was replaced.

California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey have their own state-level assault weapons bans. As The San Diego Union Tribune pointed out in 2013, there’s no one definition of an assault rifle. Relatively minor changes can make the same weapon fit into the category or not. And while some of those changes could make the weapon less deadly, not all do.

Here’s the really strange not-to-say off-putting bit: wikipedia.org offers a perfectly serviceable definition of an assault rifle. All TeenVogue had to do was click over, copy and paste. I guess that was a bridge too far for the editors, who are all too happy to perpetuate the same old myths and misunderstandings about America’s most popular rifle.

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46 COMMENTS

  1. Didn’t even know it was still in print. But I don’t really expect anything less from people with no morals…. and no idea what they are talking about. Go back to writing articles about who the next heart throb will be and how to braid your bffs hair. Stay out of politics.

    • But if they don’t harp on politics how are they going to convince teenage girls to murder Donald Trump for the Glorious Hillary Caliphate?

  2. Assault rifles, like the popular AR-15, usually fire smaller bullets than handguns. But they’re capable of firing many more bullets without reloading, which makes them potentially more lethal.

    Wow. This will totally confuse the uninitiated. Some rifles do indeed fire smaller bullets than some handguns (depending on the load), but at much higher velocities. Think they’ll run a follow-up on powder charge and yaw? Nah, it’s obviously all about capacity.

    Wait’ll they find out about those 33 round Glock mags.

    • I thought that was weird too. But what if it’s intentional? Then they can draw the parallel between the innocuous handgun to the scary black rifle. Hey look, it’s the same thing, only it only fires half as many rounds. But wait! It’s more concealable, and there’s more deaths from handguns than rifles. Clearly we just need to ban both!

      Or I am giving them too much credit, and yes, they are just ignorant. Sometimes I wonder if the liberal left is so cunning in their narrative and plot for ultimate control… or do they actually believe all that tripe in actuality? After seeing how they clamor for a socialist, perhaps it’s the former.

      • The left is primarily composed of 90% people who don’t know any better and are trying to make the world a better place, and 10% who manipulate the base and want to watch the world burn so they can be king of the ashes.

        • That estimate certainly matches my experience!

          But even when one of the ninety percent is brought to see the deception, odds are they’ll still vote for liberals because guns are “just one issue”.

      • The progressive leadership knows exactly what they are doing. It is de rigor propaganda procedure for revolutionaries and organizers. Their sheep, who have been indoctrinated throughout their educational years to accept whatever the progressives say and not to look too closely or to check for themselves, just ape what the leadership says.

        The same applies to every other position the progressives take.

    • I shook my head at this foolishness! My Ruger SR9c magazine holds 17 rounds plus one in the chamber = 18 rounds. My SR556 with the standard magazine holds 20+1. That’s a whopping 3 round difference!

      True, I can plug a 30 round mag into the SR556, but that’s not the standard mag. As mentioned above a 33 round mag for pistols such as the Glock are not uncommon.

    • All I have to say is Keltec PMR-30…
      Just like the AR-15, it’s a .22 cal and it’s also using a 30 rounds standard magazine, but it’s a pistol.

      • They should call it the KelTec WMD! 30 magnum rounds in a concealable death machine!

        I was just wondering what RF is doing reading Teen Vogue.. hmm…

      • The trick is getting PMR 30 to cycle all 30 without a hickup.

        RF, would you like to tell all of us how you found that article in Teen Vogue? We all swear we won’t judge, no really we won’t.

    • Typo in the headline, opened an i and closed it with i/

      Wonder if it can be closed in the comments…nope

  3. This “article” reads like it was written by a
    12 y/o doing a book report. Obviously Teen Vogue has to dumb it down for its millennial readership, but my God, WTF?

  4. In the hands of a skilled operator, an AR-15 can also be used to cut thru sealed blast doors and deflect laser bolts…. no wait…. that may be a lightsaber.

  5. Teen Vogue is a funny thing. A magazine, run by adults telling, teens what to think. You’d think teens would recognize this and reject it out of hand, given the average teen’s propensity to reject any direction from an adult.

    The MD rifle ban doesn’t work. I know many people in the state that have bought them after the ban, because the HBAR version is still legal. You buys a stripped lower and you promises to only make an HBAR from it. Yeah right, that happens.

    • “given the average teen’s propensity to reject any direction from an adult”

      Given the content it’s really hard to tell the difference.

      • Yeah, I suppose I should have air quoted “adult”, as I was only referring to the carbon dating version of adult vs the behavioral version.

        Hell it’s probably not even written by humans, just a computer algorithm doing webscrapes of whatever teens are talking and texting about.

  6. —- Assault rifles, like the popular AR-15, usually fire smaller bullets than handguns. But they’re capable of firing many more bullets without reloading, which makes them potentially more lethal.—-

    While this is technically true – it’s also somewhat misleading. Yes, it is a smaller “bullet”… but a larger more powerful Cartridge.

  7. For every American murdered with a rifle in the US, over 800 Americans are murdered by careless,lazy and incompetent doctors. We should focus on those dangerous quacks first.

    • This!

      And for every American murdered with a rifle in the US, over 100 Americans die in a car accident which is an industry that is heavily regulated. But since those death could be preventable, we should definitely propose to set all speed limit to 10 mph maximum… and since red cars looks quite faster, we should also consider to ban them.

      Since the US are amongst the top countries with an obesity epidemic (follow by Mexico) with 1/3rd of the population obese and over 650,000 Americans that die every year because of diseases related to obesity (almost 2,000 times more than murdered by rifles, all kind of rifles, not only the so called evil “assault” rifles), I do believe we should propose immediately (at least for the children) to ban and close all junk & fast food restaurants. We should have a regulation in drinks and spoon size. And we should introduce a 8h delay between orders, as well as an Universal Health Background check for any heart diseases, diabetes, etc… for any high-calories meals order.

      Also, an automatic report of suspicious potential terrorist would be send to the FBI for anyone that would request to remove bacon (or any pig related products) from their meal. We know this is discrimination for Jews and Vegans out there, but it’s for public safety a for our children!

      And finally, since we know Terrorists are using social medias for communication, recruiting and propaganda, we should introduce a bill to ban and close all social networks websites such Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc… We know it could be seeing as a discrimination bill that would impact billions of users, but again, it’s for public safety. If it only saves one live… We have to think about our children!

      This is some of the “common sense” laws we should definitely propose to make our world a safer place.

  8. Teenyboppers still read Teen Vogue? Unless it’s totally online I’m thinking it’s just to stay “relevant”…

  9. Ignorant adults, with a socialist inclination, incompetently informing children. How is this any different than what they get in school every day?

  10. Assault rifle has and always has had a precise definition starting with the Sturmgewehr on down. Assault weapon is a made up term that means whatever the gun banners want it to mean at the moment. Either out of malice or ignorance, they use the two interchangeably, which confuses a non-gun-owning public on the issues.

    • The only “assault weapon” I am aware of was the Sturmgewehr of WW2 Germany, from which the AK47 used by Russia evolved.

      In the early 1960s, the AR-15 was sold to the public as a small game/varmint rifle suitable for farms and ranches. It came as a semi-auto rifle chambered for the .223 round and included one 20 round magazine, carry handle, pistol grip, bayonet stud, and flash suppressor. In 1963, Armalite (AR means Armalite Rifle, NOT “assault rifle”) offered a military version which looked the same as the AR-15, having the same features, but with full automatic added. The USAF Air Commandos tested it at Hurlburt Field, FL where my father was an instructor. It was adopted in 1964, and this was followed by adoption by the other services. In the field (Vietnam), we were issued our rifles with a care and maintenance booklet entitled “Care and Maintenance of the M-16 Rifle” (I still have mine). The main reason it was developed was that the troops wanted a lighter rifle than the M-1 Garand and M-14, preferring to carry more ammo than rifle. The brass at the time didn’t like the new toy by Mattel. The wanted the old wood and steel weapons, not caring what the troops thought. The faster rate of fire was supposed to provide an advantage over the AK47s with their 30 and 90 round magazines we faced in Vietnam, although we were still limited to 20 round magazines. Unfortunately, the early runs of production were made too well, with very tight tolerances, while the AK47s were slammed together and worked under extreme conditions the M-16 could not handle. Tolerances were later relaxed and many of the problems disappeared. On Air base Ground Defense duty, we were issued 4 and a bandolier of stripper clips. In the field, we were issued the same, however, we often left behind the junk in order to carry more ammo.

      Sen Feinstein, author of the “Assault Weapons Ban” changed the nomenclatures of quite a number of firearms in order to justify including them ion the banned list. This included both the M-16 and AR-15. This was totally bogus but she didn’t care then and doesn’t care today.

      The AWB was set for 10 years (1994 to 2004) and then to expire. As the expiration date approached, there was talk of an extension. In order to expire, BATF mandated that the mechanical design of the AR-15 be altered in order to inhibit easy conversion to the military grade M-16. This was done by the manufacturers and the AWB was allowed to expire. Feinstein immediately began her attack on so-called “assault weapons”, which is the signature legislation of her political history.

      • This is exactly what I’m getting at: the Sturmgewehr (which translates literally from German as “assault rifle”) was the first of the class of assault rifles, which are box magazine fed select fire rifles chambered in an intermediate caliber. The concept was developed because of the need to have something between submachine gun, which provided full auto file but with a pistol caliber, and a battle rifle, which fired a full power cartridge, but at bolt action or at best semi-auto rates of fire. Assault rifles fill that gap, providing the rate of fire of submachine guns with cartridges that, while not as powerful full power rifle loads, greatly outclass what pistol cartridges can do.

        The term assault weapon, on the other hand, has no definition other than “these are the guns I’d like to ban.” It’s a tool of the anti-gunners to make certain guns sound especially dangerous and scary. The conflation of the two terms is deliberate. It’s a way of lying about what you can go into an ordinary shop and buy, and what ordinary Americans own.

        Steven Crowder had Dave Rubin on to talk about gun control recently. If you don’t know about him, Dave Rubin’s an interesting guy, because like the last reasonable liberal in the world. He listens to people make points and thinks about what they say. Crowder asked him what he thought “semi-automatic” meant, not as a gotcha or anything, just to see what a not especially informed, but non-agenda driven person knows. Dave said that it mean when you pulled the trigger, the gun would should “a certain number” of rounds, meaning that he had conflated semi-auto with either full-auto or burst fire. I don’t think that’s an accident. The media, Democratic politicians, and everyone else with an anti-gun agenda has been interchanging assault rifle and assault weapon for so long, that everyone who doesn’t have a background in this assumes they’re equivalent. And since assault rifles have a very specific definition that includes select fire, that must mean that assault weapons are capable of full auto or burst fire as well.

    • “Assault rifle has and always has had a precise definition…”

      Yes, words have meaning.

      That is why I was alarmed to discover, and it seemed to slide by RF, is that the Left has succeeded in changing the language of the debate.

      The *Justice* department now defines ‘assault rifle’ as *semi-automatic*.

      In other words, it means just what they want it to mean, instead of what it *actually* means.

      That is no small point, people….

  11. There must be an unspoken code among journalists to never ever research anything when it comes to reporting on firearms.

    How else can such consistent stupidity or lack of using freely available resources be explained?

    Either it’s all intentional or they’re too dumb to trust when reporting on anything whatsoever.

  12. I like this vauge reference: “Here’s the Justice Department’s definition of an assault weapon, according to CNN:”

    So they are quoting someone who claims to be quoting someone.

    This is like me saying “Teen Vogue believes in the watermelon flavored coolaid, according to Owen”

    Today’s journalism standards are to use their vernacular, “whack”.

  13. WTF kinda manginas read teen vogue? WOW we read comic books then graduated to gun, hunting magazines and stolen playboys.

  14. And the assault weapons ban wasn’t an outright ban. It was simply legislation that made it illegal to manufacture NEW rifles/mags meeting the criteria by libs as only used for Murder-Death-Kill.

    If you liked your pre-ban, you could keep your pre-ban.

    Of course – the rules did not apply to the police/feds.

  15. I would think teen mags would write about more threatening subjects geared towards teens, such as texting while driving, distracted teen driving,unprotected sex, drugs, and peer pressure. The left is trying to groom them young to hate the conservative values. Shame…

  16. Large, military-style rifles are often called “assault weapons,” though the gun industry calls them “modern sporting rifles.” These weapons were originally designed for military use, and they’re built for combat.

    They are modern sporting rifles. Loads of people hunt with AR15s and its longer action counterpart – the AR10/LR308. Also used in competitive shooting such as 3 gun. Lots of uses for it.

    They were never used for combat. Which military is using the AR15?? None. How about the sporter AK’s? Any military using them? These are civilian version firearms – not used by any military. So no – not designed for military use – not built for “combat.” Can it be used for “combat?” Sure. Just like any other gun.

    Many were illegal in the U.S. from 1994 to 2004 under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Since the ban expired in 2004, they’ve become both popular and controversial.

    No. They became popular BECAUSE of the assault weapons ban. Also, the ban didn’t ban them, it just ceased new production rifles with certain “features.” Features like a pistol grip were replaced with a thumbhole stock, as if that made any difference at all. The assault weapons ban was a joke and criminals were not affected by it. Killing was already illegal, but liberals wanted to try to “prevent” it by… gun control. It did nothing more than remove freedoms from the law abiding. Yes, liberals like to spout: “Well, under that kind of logic, there’s no point in having speed limits, because speeders will speed anyway.” But this is a point their logic isn’t getting. Speeding laws are a preventative measure seeking to curb “accidents.” Yes speeders speed anyways and they purposely break that law to perform such. None them purposely perform “accidents.” Murdering people is already illegal, and they have to purposely break that law to perform such. Ownership of a firearm has no victim. Crashing your car into others at high speed does. Murdering people has a victim. So no – not a proper analogy. In once instance (speeding) they regulate an action. In another they regulate a possession (guns – with no victim). The action is already illegal for guns. It is illegal to murder people. It is illegal to brandish firearms. It is illegal to threaten people with firearms. All actions – which are already illegal.

    Here’s the Justice Department’s definition of an assault weapon, according to CNN: “In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use.”

    Rapid fire? They are no more rapid fire than a common pistol or revolver. As fast as you can pull the trigger. Combat use? All guns can be “used” in combat. Even hunting rifles. Civilian AKs and ARs (both semi-automatics) are not designed for military use. They just “look” like the one that is designed for military use.

    Assault rifles, like the popular AR-15, usually fire smaller bullets than handguns. But they’re capable of firing many more bullets without reloading, which makes them potentially more lethal.

    AR15 is not an Assault rifle. You guys invented the political propaganda term “assault weapon.” As least use it consistently and accurately.

    The AR-15 is the most popular assault rifle in the U.S., and was originally designed to give U.S. soldiers an advantage over Russian-made AK-47 rifles during the Vietnam War. The M-16, a military adaptation of the gun, was the standard-issue U.S. military infantry weapon from 1969 to around 2011, when it was replaced.

    “The M16, a military adaptation of the gun…” Are you now recognizing that the AR15 is not a military weapon – but one designed for civilian use? M16 = military weapon. AR15 = civilian weapon.

    Again with the “Assault rifle.” AR15 is not an assault rifle. I would say an M16 is.

    California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey have their own state-level assault weapons bans.

    We all know these states hate freedom. Murdering is banned. Threatening is banned. Brandishing is banned. – so… they just take a huge brush and paint bans over ownership of all different kinds of guns, where the ownership of one has no victim at all.

    As The San Diego Union Tribune pointed out in 2013, there’s no one definition of an assault rifle.

    Assault weapon or assault rifle? An Assault rifle is a fully automatic weapon coined by Nazi Germany.

    Relatively minor changes can make the same weapon fit into the category or not. And while some of those changes could make the weapon less deadly, not all do.

    The goofy assault weapons ban of 1994 changed cosmetic features of the rifle so it would look “less scary” to fickle liberal democrats. 100% feel good legislation that did nothing more but make said liberal democrats “feel good.” Thank God it expired.

  17. Here’s How Teen Vogue Defines an “Assault Rifle”

    How can anyone not at least grin if not outright laugh at that combination of words?

    What’s next? Here’s what Cosmo has to say about metaphysics???

  18. Wow.

    That article averaged over 2.5 factual errors per sentence. Literally every single thing it said was more wrong than it would have been, had it been right.

    How does one do that?

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