What exactly is a military-grade assault-style weapon?
And why banning them does not make you any safer.
You’ve asked yourself this question no doubt, but what does it mean? What does the term mean to you when you are not an owner of firearms? Why should you care at all?
Canada just banned ‘military-grade assault-style weapons’ such as the infamous AR-15, and the polling shows that the majority of Canadians seem to support such a move. So what does the term military-grade assault-style weapon represent?
It’s a good idea to preface my next comments by divulging that I was an infantry soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve. I have handled and fired all manner of military weapons and come at this topic with a deep and intimate familiarity with firearms.
The short answer to the question is that there is no legal designation or description of a ‘military-grade, assault-style weapon.’ The term simply does not exist and means nothing more than political rhetoric.
Military-grade?
Military-grade is an interesting term that seems to play on the same trick advertisers use to get you to buy something like a smartphone case. I’ve seen the same term used to describe many different products, from encryption to the aluminum used in a Ford F-150. I think…
