None of the guns that the Newtown murderer used was an assault weapon under Connecticut law. This illustrates the uselessness of bans on so-called assault weapons, since those bans concentrate on guns' cosmetics, such as whether the gun has a bayonet lug, rather than their function.
What some people call "assault weapons" function like every other normal firearm—they fire only one bullet each time the trigger is pressed. Unlike automatics (machine guns), they do not fire continuously as long as the trigger is held. They are "semi-automatic" because they eject the empty shell case and load the next round into the firing chamber.
Read the article: The Wall Street Journal
APPEARS IN
News
Kopel: Guns, mental illness and Newtown
Thursday, December 20, 2012
TRENDING NOW
Monday, December 22, 2025
Dr. John Lott’s Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) has released its latest annual report on the state of concealed carry in the United States.
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
With the holiday season upon us, former VP candidate Governor Tim Walz has once again proven his "Bah Humbug" stance on the Second Amendment.
Monday, December 22, 2025
We recently reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had created a new section under its Civil Rights Division—the first ever dedicated to protecting the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
Thursday, December 18, 2025
In the NRA’s case, Brown v. ATF, the Department of Justice filed its opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, along with its own cross-motion, defending the National Firearms Act of 1934’s registration requirement for suppressors, short-barreled ...
Monday, December 15, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Rush v. United States, a challenge to the National Firearms Act of 1934’s restrictions on short-barreled rifles.
More Like This From Around The NRA
