GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, OR DO THEY?

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't think many people with command of the English language would miss the difference between a 'weapon' and a 'rifle', Gunnar.

'Weapon' is a broad term; many everyday items can be used as weapons and some items are designed to serve as weapons -- like guns (handguns, rifles, automatic, semi-automatic, or otherwise), switchblades, certain bombs....

We know that handguns (including semi-automatic ones) account for most gun violence in the U.S. and semi-automatic rifles are the preferred weapons for public mass-murderers and terrorists in the U.S.

So, again, whether one chooses to label the weapons referred to in the Globe editorial as 'semi-automatic' or 'assault' is irrelevant to the the issue itself. It's clear, and defined in the article itself, what constitutes a 'semi-automatic' or 'assault' firearm and that the author believes that semi-automatic arms (including the rifles used in most public mass murders and terrorist attacks) to be weapons of war which should not be available to any interested civilian who passes a background check and pays for the firearm.