• PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      The “AR” in “AR-15” doesn’t stand for “Assault Rifle” though. It stands for “Armalite-15”. Armalite being the company that originally developed the modular firing mechanism that we all know today. Technically speaking, the only part that is legally classified as a gun is the actual firing mechanism that Armalite developed; Everything else (like the barrel, stock, and handle) is just add-ons and accessories.

      So yeah, calling it an AR-15 assault rifle would be correct. Though there’s also the debate on what actually constitutes an “assault rifle”, as people seem to just use a “you’ll know it when you see it” rule for identifying assault rifles.

      • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        A… rifle. It’s just a rifle. Assault is a term used for sensationalism purposes. Gun control advocacy group decided to use the term, “assault weapons”. This term was first introduced into U.S. language (regarding firearms) in the mid 80s.