https://www.nationalreview.com/news...-weapon-calling-term-highly-politicized/
Avoid Using ‘Assault Weapon,’ Calling Term ‘Highly Politicized’
In a Wednesday tweet, the Associated Press Stylebook reiterated guidance advising journalists to refrain from using the terms “assault weapon” and “assault rifle,” which they call “highly politicized.”
“The preferred term for a rifle that fires one bullet each time the trigger is pulled, and automatically reloads for a subsequent shot, is a semi-automatic rifle. An automatic rifle continuously fires rounds if the trigger is depressed and until its ammunition is exhausted,” reads a July 2022 style tip, recommending their usage over more general references to “assault” weaponry.
According to the Stylebook, which is adhered to by newsrooms across the country,
the “assault” label “convey[s] little meaning about the actual functions of the weapon.” While the Stylebook change was first made in 2020, conservatives have long derided the modifier as misleading and imprecise.
Stephen Gutowski, founder of The Reload, an outlet dedicated to coverage of firearms policy, reacted on Twitter by expressing his agreement with the guidance, calling it “very good.”
President Joe Biden and members of his party in Congress have called for the reinstatement of an “assault weapons ban,” referring to a provision included in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.
In that bill, “assault weapons” were defined as semi-automatic rifles with two or more features from a list that included bayonet mounts, grenade launchers, and pistol grips. Certain specific models, including Colt AR-15s, were also not allowed to be manufactured for civilian use under the ban, although weapons already lawfully possessed before its passage were grandfathered in.
Although studies have come to varying conclusions on the efficacy of the ban, with most calling its effects negligible, it has been observed that a vast majority of crimes committed with firearms are perpetrated using firearms not defined as “assault weapons” by the 1994 bill.
The AP’s guidance, highlighted in a tweet on Wednesday, marked a rare ruling that pleased political conservatives. Previous guidance on gender issues and urban violence had been criticized for accepting progressive premises.
https://reason.com/volokh/2022/07/1...assault-rifle-and-semi-automatic-weapon/The Volokh ConspiracyI don't agree with everything in the AP Stylebook, but I think this guidance is sound (and I think it's generally useful for prominent media organizations to offer such suggestions to writers):
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Thanks to Alan Gottlieb (Second Amendment Foundation) for pointing this out.
https://www.saf.org/associated-press-makes-smart-gun-change-to-style-book-says-saf/ASSOCIATED PRESS MAKES SMART GUN CHANGE TO STYLE BOOK, SAYS SAFBELLEVUE, WA – After years of incorporating the terms “assault rifle” and “assault weapons” into news reports involving firearms, especially when used in crimes, journalists are now advised by the Associated Press to avoid the “highly politicized terms,” and the Second Amendment Foundation says it’s a “smart gun change.”
“It’s about time the media realized the terms ‘assault rifle’ and ‘assault weapon’ are inflammatory and meaningless,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Those terms have become part of the gun prohibition lobby’s lexicon, and unfortunately, journalists across the country have been all-too-willing to adopt their vocabulary and repeatedly use it in their reports.
“I’m glad to see the AP Stylebook now recognizes that these firearms only fire one round each time a trigger is pulled,” he continued, “and really function no differently than any other semi-auto rifle, pistol or shotgun, all of which have been in common use in this country for more than a century.”
According to an AP Style Tip, “The preferred term for a rifle that fires one bullet each time the trigger is pulled, and automatically reloads for a subsequent shot, is a semi-automatic rifle. An automatic rifle continuously fires rounds if the trigger is depressed and until its ammunition is exhausted.
“Avoid assault rifle and assault weapon,” the AP adds, “which are highly politicized terms that generally refer to AR- or AK-style rifles designed for the civilian market, but convey little meaning about the actual functions of the weapon.”
As noted by Gottlieb, “The gun prohibition lobby has always used ‘assault rifle’ or ‘assault weapon’ to confuse and frighten the public and make people think it’s a fully automatic ‘weapon of war.’ Now we’ll have to see how intellectually honest journalists will be in adopting this correct terminology, rather than continuing to use these deliberately misleading references.“This laudable effort by the Associated Press may help restore the level of trust the public should have in the media,” he observed. “It will be interesting to see if the media now challenges politicians and anti-gun lobbyists whenever they use such terms, especially since ‘AR’ never referred to ‘assault rifle’ but to Armalite Rifle, and the gun control crowd has always known it.”
