The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Letter 2 Editor, re: AK-47 Saves Life, Captures Murderer

Gary L. Griffiths · May 10, 2009, 01:05 PM

I appreciate the compliments! I am rather pleased with how the letter just sort of fell together, without requiring a lot of wordsmithing on my part.

Bartholomew, I gave quite a little thought to the "assault rifle / assault weapon" issue. Notice I put "assault weapon" in quotes, indicating that is otherpeoplespeak. As to the difference between a real military AK-47 and one of the castrated versions now routinely sold, I didn't want to get caught up in the side issue of full-auto vs. semi-auto versions. When you look at the ads in Shotgun News and other gun magazines, you'll see the semis called "AK-47." We really can't blame the news media for labeling them that also. So be it.

Creature, great suggestion about using "High-Powered" with quotes around it. If I'd have thought of it, I would have done that, though at the risk of having the sarcasm whisk right over the heads of 99.9% of the readers. The other risk, of course, is that the editor would have simply edited out the quotation marks, as the sarcasm whisked right over his head, too. I wanted to point out that the 7.62X39mm cartridge is not very high powered, although technically it is a "High-Powered Rifle" cartridge. In any event, "High Powered" would have done quite nicely.

Side Issue: Shouldn't we have some intermediate cartridge category between rimfire and "High-Powered Rifle" It is ludicrous to talk of the .22 Hornet or even the .223 Remington as a "High-Powered Rifle Cartridge" in the same vein as the .30-06 or .300 Win Mag. In point of fact, the only centerfire rifle cartridge I've never heard referred to as "High-Powered" is the .30 Carbine.

Again, thanks for the compliments, folks.

May 10, 2009, 01:05 PM	#6
Gary L. Griffiths Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2000 Location: AZ, WA Posts: 1,466	I appreciate the compliments! I am rather pleased with how the letter just sort of fell together, without requiring a lot of wordsmithing on my part. Bartholomew, I gave quite a little thought to the "assault rifle / assault weapon" issue. Notice I put "assault weapon" in quotes, indicating that is otherpeoplespeak. As to the difference between a real military AK-47 and one of the castrated versions now routinely sold, I didn't want to get caught up in the side issue of full-auto vs. semi-auto versions. When you look at the ads in Shotgun News and other gun magazines, you'll see the semis called "AK-47." We really can't blame the news media for labeling them that also. So be it. Creature, great suggestion about using "High-Powered" with quotes around it. If I'd have thought of it, I would have done that, though at the risk of having the sarcasm whisk right over the heads of 99.9% of the readers. The other risk, of course, is that the editor would have simply edited out the quotation marks, as the sarcasm whisked right over his head, too. I wanted to point out that the 7.62X39mm cartridge is not very high powered, although technically it is a "High-Powered Rifle" cartridge. In any event, "High Powered" would have done quite nicely. Side Issue: Shouldn't we have some intermediate cartridge category between rimfire and "High-Powered Rifle" It is ludicrous to talk of the .22 Hornet or even the .223 Remington as a "High-Powered Rifle Cartridge" in the same vein as the .30-06 or .300 Win Mag. In point of fact, the only centerfire rifle cartridge I've never heard referred to as "High-Powered" is the .30 Carbine. Again, thanks for the compliments, folks. __________________ Violence is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and valorous feeling which believes that nothing is worth violence is much worse. Those who have nothing for which they are willing to fight; nothing they care about more than their own craven apathy; are miserable creatures who have no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the valor of those better than themselves. Gary L. Griffiths (Paraphrasing John Stuart Mill)