Ink's not even dry on the decision....

[Hornet33]

o/t - if they are the same, what do you call those handguns that fire continuously with one pull of the trigger?

That would be a machine pistol as has already been stated and those are a class 3 firearm.

When the first auto loading handguns were developed they were called automatics because they automaticaly loaded the next round in the chamber when the weapon was fired. The same held true for rifle. Now enter the select fire weapons and the terms semi auto and full auto came into play.

Now because of the constant missuse of the terms when discussing different types of firearms people associate the term automatic handgun as being a fully automatic machine pistol and that is not the case. A TRUE automatic pistol fires in a semi automatic mode of operation. One trigger pull fires one round and the pistol "automaticaly" loads the next round, hence it's designation as an automatic handgun.

The DC Mayor in his statement was describing one firearm class as if there were two types of firearms and the general public is stupid enough to not know the differance and buy into it.

As I said before, my PT-99 is classed as an automatic pistol and it fires in what is commonly reffered to as a semi automatic mode of operation, but it's the SAME gun.

[SteveBailey]

If elected, Obama will do all he can to "regulate" and "restrict" our rights to bare arms.

damn, if he  forces me to wear long sleeves, I'll be pissed

[Terror]

Yeah, the general public usually has no understanding of the terminology of the standard actions of firearms:

Here are the basic types of firearm types:  (Add or correct if you want.)

Muzzle:  Manual reloading.  The components to fire are loaded manually through the muzzle.

Single:  Manual reloading.  The action must be opened by hand and a new live round fed into the action by hand.

Bolt:  Manual reloading.  The action is worked by hand and a new live round is fed from a "well" (magazine, tube, etc) of live ammunition by the action.

Semi-Automatic:  The action is worked by the energy of the round being fired, the next live round is fed automatically. One round is fired per trigger pull.

Full Automatic:  The action is worked by the energy of the round being fired, the next live round is fed automatically.  Multiple rounds can be fired with one trigger pull.

Select Fire Automatic:  The action is worked by the energy of the round being fired, the next live round is fed automatically.  The firearm can be set to fire in Semi-Automatic, Full Automatic, or Burst Fire (Burst fire is full automatic with a pre-determined multiple number of rounds fired with each trigger pull.)

Terror

[bsdaddict]

so basically, when gun control types SAY "automatic handgun" they want you to think they're referring to machine pistols, but when they WRITE "automatic handgun" in a piece of legislation it's actually pertaining to what we think of as semi's...  Not that this is new to me, just goes to show what tricky bastiges our "representatives" are...

[moot]

What do you mean??  It's for your own good!

[SmokinLoon]

Someone do the research please! How many legal handguns, used by there legal owners, where involved in shootings in the last....oh lets say 4 years. Then find out how many illegal, stolen, unregistered, handguns where involved in shootings in the same time period! I bet most of that info is being heavily suppressed.

For some reason they miss the fact that it's not the legal guns causing all the problems.

actually, it isnt any gun that is the problem.      It is the people behind any gun that is the issue.  Bad guys will always be bad guys and they will always ge their hands on anything they want. 

[Hornet33]

OK here is the correct definition for ALL types of firearms.

Handguns
Sub Machine guns
Rifles
Shotguns
Machine Guns

Pretty much everything else falls under the catagory of ordinance such as cannons and the like.

Handguns are broken down into the following:
Muzzle Loading
Single shot
Revolvers
Automatics

Rifles are broken down into the following:
Muzzle Loading
Single shot
Automatics

Shotguns are the same as rifles

Sub Machine guns are a hybrid weapon. They contain the qualities of an automatic rifle but fire a handgun cartridge

Machine guns are broken down into the following:
Heavy
Light

Now we have modes of operation.
Single shot: Once fired the weapon MUST be manualy reloaded by the user.

Semi Automatic: Once the weapon is fired the next round is automaticly loaded into the chamber BUT the user MUST pull the trigger again to fire the next round.

Burst: Once the weapon has been fired it will automaticly fire a set number or rounds for one pull of the trigger.

Full Automatic: Once the weapon has been fired the next round will automaticly be loaded AND fired as long as the user keeps the trigger pulled.

So going back to handguns there are 4 general classes of weapons.
Muzzle loading handguns require the powder, and bullet to be manually loaded through the muzzle of the gun and they fire in a single shot mode of operation.

Single shot handguns are weapons like a Deringer. Self contained cartridge individualy loaded into the chamber by hand. Even double barreled Deringers are considered a single shot weapon because after it is fired the user has to manualy load the next round into the weapon.

Revolvers hold multiple rounds in the cylinder and the cylinder revolves the next round inline with the barrel as the weapon is cocked.

Automatics contain the rounds in a magazine and the weapon automaticaly loads the next round once the weapon has been fired.

Rifles and Shot Guns are the same as pistols in this regard. Where people start confusing everything is when they start using the mode of operation in place of the class of weapon.

Here is an excample. A Ruger 10/22 is an Automatic rifle that fires in a semi automatic mode. Most people call a Ruger 10/22 a semi automatic rifle but that's not correct. They are using the mode of operation to class the weapon when in reality a 10/22 is an automatic rifle.

Anouther excample. The M-16 rifle. It is an automatic rifle. It is capable of firing in TWO modes of operation. Semi Auto, and Full Auto/Burst. Weapons that are "select fire" like the M-16 are classed as a Class 3 firearm and are regulated by the Federal Government. However an AR-15 which is IDENTICAL to an M-16 EXCEPT it is NOT equipped with select fire capablities is ALSO classed as an automatic rifle but it ONLY fires in the semi automatic mode of operation and is there for available to the general public.

Now where it gets tricky for the general public is when the anti-gun grabbers start tossing these terms around. They KNOW exactly what they are saying but they rely on the publics ignorance to lean in their favor. When they say they ONLY want to ban automatic weapons, Jonh Q Public thinks "Full Auto" weapons like a M-16 or something and that's OK with them. What the public FAILS to realize is that an automatic weapon is ANY weapon that auto loads a round. The gun grabbers have been switching the terms around for so long that no one understands what is actually being talked about anymore and that's EXACTLY what they want.

So when the DC Mayor stood up yesterday and said that semi auto and automatic handguns are still banned what was he really saying?

Just owning a gun isn't enough to excerise your rights. You MUST be armed with the correct information as well.

[Elfie]

The fact that he doesn't understand that an automatic and semi automatic handgun are the exact same thing is funny.

I caught that too, and if it wasn't so pathetic I might have actually laughed.

[john9001]

i find it appalling that 4 out of 9 SC judges think it is ok to disarm innocent civilians, one more judge and you will have no right to protect yourself.