While we certainly need controls on purchases ( background checks and waiting periods seem reasonable) and on magazine capacities as well, one continuing fiction actually harms the case for those reasonable restrictions.

An assault rifle, by definition a military grade weapon designed for and used by our military forces and our police depts. ( not so certain I favor the increasing militarization of our police depts., frankly), has one specific characteristic that makes these definitions of weapons used by these mass murderers false and gives ammunition ( yeah I know) to the NRA and its allies; all such have either a three position selector switch, single shot, three round burst, fully auto, or are fully automatic period.

The use of the term is simply incorrect when speaking of a rifle with only semiautomatic capabilities. These are made to look like military grade weaponry but are no such thing. Trivial you say? I think that gun supporters ridicule every false use of the term and thus the real message is lost among the very folks we must convince.