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"Assault weapon" is a term used somewhat loosely in the public conversation about firearms. The gun industry's traditional definition of an 'assault rifle' is a weapon the military generally uses and has 'select fire capabilities,' or the capability to switch between semi-automatic or a fully automatic mode," CNBC reported in February.
Seven states and the District of Columbia have their own laws on assault weapons, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. One of them is California, which defines an assault rifle as a semiautomatic, center-fire rifle that does not have a fixed magazine but has any one of the following:
A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon.
A thumbhole stock.
A folding or telescoping stock.
A grenade launcher or flare launcher.
A flash suppressor.
A forward pistol grip.
California also includes under its assault weapons definitions a semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, and a semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches.
How rapidly a semi-automatic weapon can realistically fire:
top sporting competitors can pull the trigger "three times a second -- for short periods of time. So the theoretical 'cycling rate' might be 180 rounds per minute