I came across this article from the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel.

They can kill from more than four football fields away, shred police officers’ vests, fire up to 75 bullets at a time – and they’re increasingly showing up in criminals’ hands.

Last year, Fort Wayne Police seized 31 semiautomatic rifles, compared with two in 2003, the last year of the federal assault weapons ban that limited the sale of the rifles. The seizure increase and more reports of criminals using the rifles concerns Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York.

Here we are in the second paragraph, and the author has already mixed his terminology. A semiautomatic rifle fires a single shot for every pull of the trigger, and loads the next round without any manual operation of the gun, such as working a lever. There is absolutely nothing sinister about semiautomatic rifles. They have the word “automatic” in their name, which conjures up images of fully automatic rifles, but they are not the same thing. Full-autos continue to fire as long as the trigger is held down. Semi-autos fire a single shot for every pull of the trigger.

The author continually refers to “semiautomatic rifles” as if they are some special thing, but really, he might as well just be saying, “rifles” and leave it at that. It would be like complaining about problems with “fuel injected cars”.

The author then refers to the federal assault weapons ban (AWB) that “limited the sale of the rifles.” Actually, no it didn’t. The AWB specifically limited rifles that had certain cosmetic features. It is true that all of the rifles banned by the AWB were semiautomatic. That’s because fully automatic rifles are already heavily-regulated and nearly-completley banned for civilian ownership by a different law. But the AWB did not apply to semiautomatic rifles in general; only to some specific models and to guns having certain cosmetic features.

So, the police seized 31 “semiautomatic rifles”. This could be nearly any rifle, from a target-plinking .22 caliber to a deer rifle.

“The fact that we have these relatively cheap, assault weapon-type firearms out there, it’s not only a hazard to the public, but in particular to police officers,” said York, who supports renewing the ban. “It’s proof that they continue to get into the hands of irresponsible people.”

Then take them away from the “irresponsible people” and leave me the fuck alone, please.

“It’s a weapon of war, not of sport,” York said. “I’m sure it will be a political battle, but the officers are out in the street fighting that battle every day.”

Actually, semiautomatic rifles are not weapons of war. Not even a little bit. Every state-run military in the entire world issues full-auto or select-fire battle rifles to their infantry. Not a single one uses semiautomatic rifles. Semiautomatic rifles are explicitly civilian in every way.