[ithacaartist]

I have the impression that when many of the uneducated/uninitiated speak of a semi-auto, they are confusing it with full auto. And it baffles me, the "assault" weapon concept, because I've read that the same basic rifle my dad used to hunt deer, a 30.06, (Remington 700 ADL) was used as a sniper rifle in Vietnam. I tend to agree with the NRA's idea that style or fashion has as much to do with the classification of a gun as an assault weapon as some of the salient characteristics. NY's laws pretty much mimic the 1994 ban, but do not expire. Some parts are unenforceable (pre-ban or unmarked mags), or, in the issue of the term "flash suppressor" being undefined in the former federal ban's regulations (consequently no definition as it applies in NY due to our state's following suit with the feds back then, the missing definition is duplicated in state statute.), will eventually undergo testing in the courts at some point.

The cosmetic differences as applied in the former ban were not rational, but I believe concocted on an emotional basis to soothe the activists. After all, nobody wants to be "assaulted" with any kind of firearm. And isn't the round used in Dad's Remington more destructive than any NATO format? I'd be happier if these seemingly inevitable regs made sense when they arrive.

David Parker