As promised, here are a few things you need to know when having a discussion with somebody who’s far more into firearms than you.

First, it’s important to understand the difference between a semi-automatic and fully automatic firearm. With very rare exceptions, civilians don’t have access to fully automatic firearms. A fully automatic firearm will keep firing bullets as long as the trigger is depressed, until there are no bullets left to fire. A semi-automatic firearm will fire one bullet every time the trigger is depressed, but will automatically load the next bullet to be fired, so you don’t need to take another action before you can fire again.

Put even more simply:
Fully automatic: depress and hold trigger, you get lots of bullets
Semi-automatic: depress and hold trigger, you get ONE bullet

Very little will cause a firearms rights advocate to ignore you more quickly than confusing the above.

Next, it’s helpful to understand that there are different classifications of firearms other than fully/semi-automatic. In general, there are handguns and long guns. Handguns include:

• Revolvers – have a revolving area that holds the cartridges. If you don’t need to pull the hammer back before firing, it’s a double-action revolver (two actions happen when you pull the trigger: the hammer goes back, then the hammer drops to fire the bullet). If you do, it’s a single-action revolver (the trigger only does one action here, dropping the hammer).
• Pistols – have a magazine that holds the cartridges. Semi-automatic pistols are far and away the most popular choice for shooting people in the United States.

 

Long guns include:

• Rifles – have a barrel that’s rifled on the inside, which helps to stabilize the bullet by making it spin as it leaves the barrel (imagine a football spiral). Rifle barrels tend to be thicker than shotgun barrels, as they need to withstand higher pressure.
• Shotguns – have a barrel that’s smooth on the inside. While a shotgun can fire a single projectile (usually called a “slug”), it’s more common for shotguns to fire multiple projectiles at once (“shot”). The length of the barrel helps control the amount of spread achieved by those projectiles; having a rifled barrel would alter the shot pattern to be more donut-shaped instead of spread over a circle, defeating the purpose.

 

You may have noticed that I sometimes use “bullet”, and sometimes use “cartridge”. While often used interchangeably, they’re not actually the same thing. A cartridge is the entire thing that gets put into a magazine; it consists of a bullet (or, for shotguns, shot or other projectiles), a case, propellant, and a primer. The bullet is simply the part that comes out of the front when you pull the trigger. I should also mention that while we sometimes see reports discussing “high-powered” rifle rounds, that’s not a distinction that is generally worth focusing on, as it is sometimes inaccurate.

Speaking of magazines, it’s worth noting that there’s a difference between a magazine and a clip. Suffice it to say that modern firearms generally don’t use clips. If you’re thinking of the spring-loaded cartridge holder that gets inserted into a firearm to feed in the cartridges, that’s a magazine.

One thing sure to annoy any firearms rights advocate is using the phrase “assault rifle” or “assault weapon”. The problem is that these have variable definitions. To a firearms rights advocate, an assault rifle is likely to mean a fully automatic military rifle meant for battlefield use. To a legislator, an assault rifle probably means whatever’s in that state’s statutes, which often includes semi-automatic rifles with pistol grips and folding/collapsible stocks (the rear-most part that goes against the shoulder). Assault weapons are also defined in legislative terms rather than commonly accepted firearms terms. Accordingly, even though it’s reasonable to quote your state’s statutes to define what an assault rifle or assault weapon is, you’re very likely to find that anything you’re saying is being ignored if you do so.

Finally, if you’re going to quote specific models of firearms, be sure to understand what you’re quoting. As an example, an AR-15 is not really a single firearm. Rather, it’s more of a modular platform with parts made by several different manufacturers. While a more typical AR-15 build is likely a .223 caliber rifle, you can change barrels to accommodate different calibers. You can also change grips, sights, and other parts to customize the weapon. In other words, there isn’t just one weapon that comes to mind when somebody mentions an AR-15. It’s also worth noting that an AR-15 is NOT an M-16. The M-16 is a military rifle that has selective fire (i.e., the user can select between semi-automatic, three shot burst, and fully automatic modes). The AR-15 is very similar, but does NOT have the option to shoot in bursts or in fully automatic mode; it is a semi-automatic weapon. (Fun fact: the “AR” doesn’t stand for assault rifle; it’s short for Armalite Rifle, with Armalite being the manufacturer who initially made these.)

Thanks for taking the time to help keep yourself from being categorically ignored.