What's Your Favorite Firearm Myth?

[44 AMP]

The assault weapon myth is the one that really gets me. It's widely spread, totally inaccurate and is a great example of how propaganda works.

Totally correct, except for the "totally inaccurate" part.

The term "assault weapon" is completely "accurate" in what it defines, but it is intentionally MISLEADING.

Coined in the early 90s by gun control advocates, and defined in law in the (now sunset) 1994 AWB. An "assault weapon" is a SEMI AUTOMATIC firearm, NOT a select fire or full auto only weapon. It was based entirely on the visual (cosmetic) appearance of the gun, originally defining "assault weapon" as a semi auto (rifle, pistol or shotgun) that had certain features.

It came about because accurately describing and referring to certain firearms was not "scary enough".

Adolph Hitler coined the name "Sturmgewehr" (Sturm = storm, gewehr = rifle) to describe a new class of rifle fielded by the Germans . Sturm means "storm" and used in a military context, it means "storming" or "Assaulting" an objective. SO Assault Rifle is a valid translation.

The defining features of the rifle so named became the standard definition of Assult Rifle from WWII on, used in military, and firearms terminology.

Magazine fed, SELECTIVE FIRE, and firing a cartridge of "intermediate" power (which meant more powerful than a pistol round but less powerful than the standard infantry rifle round of the WWII era).

There were some very high profile mass murders done in the later 80s and early 90s where a SEMI AUTO rifle was used. The rifles were semi auto (ONLY) variants of the AK-47.

The press reported that the killers used "assault rifles". The shooting community answered back with the truth, that they were NOT assault rifles, neither functionally nor legally. They were just semiauto rifles.

The press sort of corrected themselves, for a short time, by referring to the rifles as "semiautomatic assault rifles". This proved to be too cumbersome a phrase for a good "sound byte". Then someone came up with the term "assault WEAPON", and they created a definition for it, which I have described previously. Essentially, any semi auto that LOOKED like a military weapon got put in that class.

The term was deliberately crafted to exploit the general public's lack of understanding the difference between "assault rifles" (which can fire full auto) and regular semi auto guns which cannot.

As an example, the GI M16 is an assault rifle, the AR15 is NOT. However, the AR15 is an "assault weapon" because the definition of assault weapon was specifically crafted to include the semi auto AR15 and all semi autos like it.

In that regard (and ONLY in that regard) is the term "assault weapon" accurate.

Under US law, there is no such thing as an "Assault Rifle", the select fire assault rifles are legally machine guns. The Fed 94 AWB sunset in 2004, but various state laws essentially copying that Fed law, did NOT. And, since then, some of the state laws have been further expanded.

In 2019, EVERY SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLE in Washington state legally became a "semiautomatic assault rifle", due to the definition used in the new law. No longer did it require a combination of "evil" features, just being semi auto and a rifle was enough.

When they make up the names, words mean whatever they say they mean, and what we think they mean and the way we've been using them for generations no longer matters.

its not right, far from it, but its the way things have been working for far, far too long....

[Forte S+W]

When they make up the names, words mean whatever they say they mean, and what we think they mean and the way we've been using them for generations no longer matters.

Just like modern slang on the Internet.

[2wheelwander]

Glad I'm not the only one who saw one.

[fl_rich]

Liberals arn`t coming for your guns!

[44 AMP]

Liberals arn`t coming for your guns!

They're not!

They won't do that!!! What they will do is SEND armed men, paid professionals in some police or military uniform to do it. And there are people who will do it, IF they believe it is the law, and they are enforcing it.

It's been done in other countries around the globe. It's been done certain times and places in the US.

The MYTH is thinking "it can't happen here!" it has, and it can, again.

[Hal]

The MYTH is thinking "it can't happen here!" it has, and it can, again.

& the sad truth behind it is - the people - as in "We the People", will fight tooth and nail to dismantle every single one of the Bill of Rights & not even bat an eyelid.

This exchange took place about three weeks ago:
"

"The Bill of Rights, as you well know, protects Americans' rights — enshrines their right to practice their religion as they see fit and to congregate together to assemble peacefully," Carlson said. "By what authority did you nullify the Bill of Rights in issuing this order? How do you have the power to do that?"

"That's above my pay grade, Tucker," Murphy replied. "I wasn't thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this. ... We looked at all the data and the science and it says people have to stay away from each other. That is the best thing we can do to break the back of the curve of this virus, that leads to lower hospitalization and ultimately fatalities."

While the response of Murphy doesn't surprise or shock me - the total lack of this exchange showing up all over social media - is - disheartening.
Here's an elected official - sworn to uphold the constitution - that blatantly admits he tossed it aside & just flat out did what he wanted to do & the worst part is - nobody seems to care....
And whos' right out there on the front lines enforcing this violation?

Yep the very same ones that one day will come knocking on our doors to collect what someone has deemed us unfit to have.....

[David R]

My dad told me when I was young that in the service they told him if you hit a man in the hand with a 45, it will spin him around. This would have been around 1953 when he was a Sailor.

I did have some Vietnam vets tell me the 223 tumbles in your body. Hit you in the chest it may come out some where else.

David

[Bart B.]

People claiming firearms kill people need be asvised that's not unlawful. No laws state that's unlawful.

Nor is against any law for a knife to kill someone.

[doofus47]

How did we get to page 4 and no one has said:
"30-06 is the most powerful rifle cartridge in the world"

[44 AMP]

How did we get to page 4 and no one has said:
"30-06 is the most powerful rifle cartridge in the world"

maybe because its not???

[Forte S+W]

Well, this is a thread about "myths" ergo examples of such shouldn't be accurate.

That being said, .30-06 being the most powerful rifle cartridge falls more under the category of "Fudd Lore" than Firearms Myth.

[Ignition Override]

"Firearms are illegal for regular citizens to own in Europe and the UK".

Various semi-auto rifles (some allow SKS, AKs, VZ-58s, M-1 Garands) etc are legal in Switz., France, Belgium, Germany, Norway (Youtube "Katarina Vikor"), Czech R., Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia. Single-shot (modified) Mini 14s are legal in the UK. Some semi-autos might be legal in others.

The Czech Republic allows handgun carry, possibly one or two other countries.
A Czech attorney (often on TheHighRoad) can verify the basic info presented here, with a few corrections and additions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4t39Fi_m9w Non-LEO Civilians in Slovenia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnmWL746-jM Norway: 20-rd. mag in Katarina's semi-auto Mini 14?

https://vlaamsvredesinstituut.eu/wp-..._ownership.pdf Belgian gun ownership.

https://germanculture.com.ua/daily/gun-laws-in-germany/ Germany.

"....Hey Man, No Way, I keep reading on gun forums that they are illegal over there".

[Carmady]

Stagger Lee shot Billy with a .44 so bad the bullet broke the bartender's glass.

[44 AMP]

If you want to see a bunch of firearm myths "in action" just turn on your tv or watch about any movie where guns are used. There are a very few "truths" shown, here and there, but most it is BS.

One of the biggies is people firing guns, including short barrel AKs and ARs inside rooms and hallways, without any kind of hearing protection, and still hearing normally.

[Scorch]

In 2019, EVERY SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLE in Washington state legally became a "semiautomatic assault rifle"

Why, then, 'tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
William Shakespeare

One of my other favorite myths is "put a scope on it and you can't miss". Apparently I've been doing this wrong for the past 50 years.

[Forte S+W]

If you want to see a bunch of firearm myths "in action" just turn on your tv or watch about any movie where guns are used. There are a very few "truths" shown, here and there, but most it is BS.

To be fair, how many of said movies and TV shows are portrayed in an accurate, realistic fashion otherwise, how many of them set out to be accurate/realistic, and how many of them pride themselves on their accurate depiction of firearms?

It's one thing to call out Anchormen, Reporters, and Journalists in general for inaccurate information regarding firearms, but cinema is meant to entertain, and seldom does it ever attempt to be 100% true-to-life in all aspects, so unless it is marketed for being specifically accurate to firearms, it seems silly to call it out for being inaccurate.

Don't get me wrong, it's one thing to have a good laugh over something like in Season 1 of Chicago P.D. when they find some green tip .223 ammo which they refer to as "Cop Killers" and then have a scene in which said ammo pierced through a TV, the brick wall of an apartment building, a fire hydrant, then came to rest inside the engine block of a delivery truck down the street. Because that show is at least going for some degree of realism. But most of the movies and TV shows in which firearms are featured are things like Action, Sci-Fi, or Horror genre which obviously aren't trying to be realistic, ergo it's ridiculous to complain that firearms aren't depicted realistically in most movies/TV shows.
In fact, it's kind of a buzz-kill sometimes. Like, I used to be a regular on a forum (you'll never guess which one) in which a lot of the regulars would complain endlessly about the unrealistic depiction of the performance of the Walther PPK in the James Bond films, as if a series of films about a Secret Agent who saves the world from total domination, economic disaster, or complete devastation with the use of high-tech gadgetry was ever meant to be taken that seriously.

[Bart B.]

I've heard this one in gun shops:

Put this collimator in the muzzle, zero the scope windage and elevation adjustments on its reticle, then adjust elevation up in MOA equal to bullet drop at target range plus sight height above the barrel and the scope will be zeroed just fine.

[Mannlicher]

That bullets rise when fired

[44 AMP]

That bullets rise when fired

They seem to. Relative to the line of sight.

Reality is that gravity pulls the bullet down from the instant it leaves the muzzle, and to compensate for this, the bore is pointed up, relative to the line of sight, something that is not visually obvious, so the bullet seems to rise.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by Mannlicher

That bullets rise when fired

They can. Point the rifle straight up, shoot it, and tell me the bullet didnt "rise".

[44 AMP]

better use a bubble level on the barrel. If you aim the sights straight up, the bullet isn't going straight up when you fire it.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

better use a bubble level on the barrel. If you aim the sights straight up, the bullet isn't going straight up when you fire it.

The general direction of up proves my point. The bubble level would require a true straight taper barrel to be anywhere close to correct.

[Sharkbite]

And the thread descends into Minutia.

The point is bullets dont have any lift. Nothing causes a bullet to do anything but fall with gravity the instant it leaves the muzzle.

The SLIGHT angular convergence between line of sight and the bore point the bullet in an upward direction until gravity pulls it back to Earth. Hence an arc is formed and we get the bullet crossing LOS twice, once relatively close (~30-50yds) and once at our zero distance.

Basic external ballistics.

[Erno86]

"22's are for sissies"

[Pahoo]

That bullets rise when fired

Some do and eventually drop into the target. ……

Be Safe !!!