Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Gun Laws News

Schumer Goes Full Semi-automatic

Friday, July 27, 2018

Schumer Goes Full Semi-automatic

Everybody knows you never go full semiautomatic. That is, except Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his anti-gun comrades.

On July 22, the Senate minority leader decided to fear-monger about homemade 3D-printed firearms following a Justice Department settlement that will permit firearm schematics to be more readily shared online. Wailing that “America is going to get a lot less safe,” Schumer claimed that such firearms “are not only scary, they’re outright dangerous in the way they can mimic the look and the capacity of a hardened, fully semiautomatic weapon.” A day later, Michael Bloomberg front-group Moms Demand Action re-posted Schumer’s comments on their twitter feed.

Of course, there’s no such thing as a “fully semiautomatic weapon.”

A fully-automatic firearm, or “machinegun,” is defined by 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b) as, in part, “any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.”

The 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(28) definition of “semiautomatic rifle,” explains the function of a semiautomatic firearm as one “which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.”

It’s naïve at this late date to expect most federal lawmakers to comprehend the legislation they pass. However, it’s not too much to ask that the lawmaker the New York Times described as the “workhorse” behind the 1994 “Assault Weapons” ban know the basics of firearms operation.

Schumer isn’t the first to use the “full semi-automatic” term. In February, a CNN reporter went to a range with purported firearms expert Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, who proceeded to fire an AR-15 on what he termed “full semiautomatic.”

Perhaps with his comments Schumer was adopting the bizarre theory of firearms operation posited by Australia Green Party politician David Shoebridge, who earlier this year registered his opposition to a rifle that is cycled by use of a thumb lever. Shoebridge described the firearm as “semi-semi-automatic.”

Mere ignorance is the most straightforward explanation for Schumer’s comments. However, given the gun control movement’s concerted effort to conflate semiautomatic and fully automatic firearms in the minds of the public, a dishonest motive cannot be ruled out.

In 1988, The Violence Policy Center’s Josh Sugarmann explained how gun control advocates could exploit the public’s firearms illiteracy to advance bans on commonly-owned semiautomatic firearms. In a report titled, “Assault Weapons and Accessories in America,” Sugarmann wrote,

The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.

The mainstream press has been complicit in this campaign, as evidenced by CNN’s infamous 2004 segment that deliberately misled viewers into thinking that the 1994 “Assault Weapons” ban targeted fully automatic firearms.

Gun owners often share a laugh over what appears to be the profound ignorance of much of the anti-gun community. However, gun rights supporters must also be aware that some of these absurd moments might just be attempts to mislead the less informed. Understanding this, gun owners must work to better educate the public and dispel the lies our opponents traffic in.

IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Firearms 3D Printing
TRENDING NOW
Third Circuit Strikes Some New Jersey Carry Restrictions in NRA Case

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Third Circuit Strikes Some New Jersey Carry Restrictions in NRA Case

Yesterday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Siegel v. Platkin, striking some of the carry restrictions New Jersey enacted in response to the NRA’s landmark Supreme Court victory, New York State Rifle & ...

Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Pure gun control. As in disarmament and banning of firearms. It’s rare that anti-gunners get straight to the exact point that we have been warning of for decades. 

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

Close observers of the gun debate often see references to due process.

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) may have thought he had scored against President Donald Trump in a recent war of words over rampant crime and the deployment of federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-led cities

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Washington’s Magazine Ban

Monday, September 8, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Washington’s Magazine Ban

Today, the National Rifle Association filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in a case challenging Washington State’s ban on firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Earlier this month, Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 8 into law. This legislation imposes new mandatory firearm storage requirements on law-abiding gun owners.  

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Today, the House rescheduled the veto override vote on Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to Monday, September 22. 

Supreme Court Review Sought in NRA-Backed Challenge to California’s Magazine Ban

Friday, August 15, 2025

Supreme Court Review Sought in NRA-Backed Challenge to California’s Magazine Ban

Today, a Petition for Certiorari was filed asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Duncan v. Bonta, a case—backed by the National Rifle Association and California Rifle & Pistol Association—challenging California’s prohibition on magazines capable of holding ...

Minnesota: Senate Gun Violence Prevention Working Group Meeting on Monday

Friday, September 12, 2025

Minnesota: Senate Gun Violence Prevention Working Group Meeting on Monday

On Monday, September 15th, the Minnesota Senate will hold a special working group on "gun violence prevention."

Washington Post Admits that Anti-gun Lawfare “Cannot be the Solution” to Crime

News  

Monday, March 17, 2025

Washington Post Admits that Anti-gun Lawfare “Cannot be the Solution” to Crime

In a turnabout worthy of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Washington Post (WAPO) published an editorial last Tuesday criticizing the gun control movement for ignoring the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) and pursuing its agenda in ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.