The first term is “automatic.” Over the past two weeks, I have heard the following phrases or questions far too many times: "We need to ban automatic weapons" or "Do you think people should be allowed to buy machine guns?"
I am happy to say that neither of these are an issue. Automatic (or machine guns) can't be purchased by a regular citizen. In 1986, the federal registry, which was created with the National Firearms Act of 1934, was officially closed. So if you wanted to buy a "machine gun," you are actually about 26 years too late.
(Just for the record, “automatic” simply means you can hold the trigger down and the gun will continuously fire bullets.)
Next, is the term “semi-automatic.” Before we ban all semi-automatic guns, as many people are demanding, we need to understand what a semi-automatic gun does. The term semi-automatic means that every time you pull the trigger, the action cycles and loads another round. Therefore every time you pull the trigger, the gun fires a bullet. Almost every handgun produced and most rifles will fall into this category, so banning them all simply is not a viable solution.
The last term, and the one that seems to be the hottest, is “assault weapon.” What is an assault weapon? If you spoke to 50 people you could probably get 50 definitions of what an assault weapon is.
In New York State, there is a specific category that addresses assault weapons and provides a set of criteria differentiating a firearm versus an assault weapon. Some of the qualifying features are: pistol grips, collapsible stocks, high capacity magazines, flash suppressors, etc. All these things can make a gun look pretty scary, but if the gun happens to meet the requirements of an assault weapon, they would be illegal in New York and can't be purchased anyway.
So as you can see, a lot of the arguments are moot points or nonsensical. The discussion really has to be narrowed down to specifics and when everyone is speaking the same language, hopefully a reasonable compromise will be reached.
One other point I think needs to be addressed is the number of gun-related homicides. I will be the first to say that one good guy dying from a gunshot is one good guy too many. But let's understand the real numbers related to homicides in America. Below is an overview of the weapons used:
(Statistics from FBI.gov)
Fire - 75
Strangulation - 85
Rifles – 323 (This is the category that “assault weapons” would fall into as a subcategory)
Hammer - 496 (Includes blunt objects)
Hands/fist - 728
Knives - 1,694
Handguns – 6,220
Also, although I didn’t include this category in the “homicide” statistics, it is important to note the number of annual deaths which result from drunk driving, which I feel is even more disturbing…12,000!
