Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: Point Click, Fire: An Undercover Investigation of Illegal Online Gun Sales [View all]Euromutt
(6,506 posts)...but it's wrong.
Yes, the term "assault weapon" very likely does date back to 1973, but not that definition. As originally coined, an "assault weapon" is any weapon intended to be used by infantry to breach or destroy enemy fortifications; we're talking about stuff like satchel charges, flamethrowers, Bangalore torpedoes, rocket launchers, and the like. Here is an example of such an assault weapon:

That's a Mk135 Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon (SMAW), a modification of the Israeli B-300 rocket launcher, used by the USMC since 1984. In other words, since before Josh Sugarmann of the VPC misappropriated the term "assault weapon" to broadly mean "semi-auto-only version of a firearm design that was originally capable of automatic fire."