Why does everyone think the AR-15 is an assault rifle?

The term 'assault weapon' is a political invention by the left, and, unfortunately, they've succeeded in what they wanted to do - demonize guns. They've managed to convince the ignorant masses that semi-automatic weapons are machine guns. I heard one idiot reporter on Fox Radio during the coverage last Friday - when nearly everything they were reporting turned out to be wrong - that the type of gun suspected at that time of being used, a semi-automatic rifle, fired six rounds per second. The best-trained marksman MIGHT be able to squeeze of six rounds in one second with a perfectly-calibrated semi-auto, but that's a maybe. It's important to note that the idiot reporter placed the capability on the gun, not the shooter. It's obvious the clown thinks that you only have to pull the trigger once and bullets just magically keep coming out of it, and the numbers of those who think the same thing is staggering.

The truth is that a pen, pencil or dinner fork is an assault weapon in the hands of a person with the intent to do harm with it. A rock is an assault weapon. The ultimate goal is to abolish the right to own any type of gun. But the left has to start someplace.

If I was in Congress, I'd be throwing 'Fast and Furious' right back in Obama's face every time he opens his mouth about gun violence.

Larger bullets than what? A .223 Remington bullet typically runs around 65 grains, 9mm handgun ammo is more like 110 grains, and 50% larger in diameter. And the .223 has very low recoil so most people can fire aimed shots more quickly than with a 9mm handgun.

As to whether it's an assault rifle, no of course not. Assault rifles must be selective fire or full auto. It's a semi-auto version of an assault rifle, and not really any better for mass shootings than a semi-auto hunting rifle with the same mag capacity. Except perhaps that the bayonet gives you an extra measure of protection against being attacked while reloading.

AR literally stands for automatic rifle. Of course the original AR battle rifle was developed and used by the US Air Force and then Armalite sold the patent to Colt. Colt saw a great opportunity to make a good weapon better and redesigned it- the US government bought it for the Army and issued hundreds of thousands during the Vietnam war. Every soldier since has fired a variant of the M-16. M-16A1 and such. Colt saw a huge market with civilians and police departments and started selling different versions- a full auto and 3 round burst model for law enforcement and a semi automatic version for civilians. Naturally other gun manufacturers saw this money maker and started copying Colt. The civilian version is exactly the same as the military and law enforcement models- only exception is it fires large magazines in semi auto mode only. Semi auto is as fast as you can pull the trigger. With bump-fire techniques and the NEW bump-fire stock you can go full auto. High cap mags allow a citizen the opportunity to carry hundreds of rounds securely and easy to reach in various positions. So to answer your question- yes an AR by definition is an assault rifle. Should civilians be allowed to own one. Should a parent be required to secure it to keep it out of the hands of children or bad guys, yes. Should the owner of a gun used in a violent crime be held accountable, even charged as an accessory to the crime? HELL YES! I believe in freedom, I also believe in punishment for a crime. I wish these murder suicide criminals would reverse the order and do the suicide first.

the AR 15 was designed by Colt Arms specifically to sell to the military as an assault weapon. the only difference between it, and the military accepted M16 version is the selector switch allowing full automatic fire. the AR 15 was used by criminals with bullet proof vests to out gun police armed with ordinary pistols. all military weapons are design to kill people, if they have value for hunting or sports that is secondary. the idea of concealment is not important in all mass murder situations. the idea of high capacity magazines is a factor, automatic fire is not. i am glad to hear that the AR 15 has fallen out of favor for those who intend to act as vigilantes but it is a pure bred assault rifle by design.

Piers Morgan is an idiot who thinks an AR-15 is a fully automatic weapon. He seems to be getting it confused with an M-60 Machine Gun. But since he is a CNN Commentator he has millions of viewers who wrongly assume he can tell his @$$ from a hole in the ground.

Don't get me wrong. I watch CNN and I respect some of their reporters and commentators but it's a crap shoot. Some are smart and some simply have a British accent which many of us confuse with smart.

A assault weapon, used in the defensive mode is a defensive weapon. I plan no assault at 70, but sure would come in handy 30 miles from anywhere if my home was attacked, it would then be a defensive weapon. Is that so hard to understand?

If Congress decides to ban the sale of "assault" rifles, the Law will contain a definition of what one is, even if it takes a hundred pages. And if it says the AR-15 is one, then it is one.

what does the '"AR" in AR-15 mean?

seriously, I'm asking because I don't know anything specific about weapons.

i assumed AR stood for Assault Rifle. i would be interested to know if that's not true.

i tried to google it but couldn't find anything on the various designations

Any weapon can be used for assault purposes. And frequently are.

Why split hairs?