The AR-15 Rifle Is Not A Machine Gun - Critical Mas
This entry clarifies the technical and legal distinctions between the AR-15 rifle and machine guns or 'assault rifles.' Expert Massad Ayoob explains that the AR-15 is semi-automatic, firing one round per trigger pull, unlike military variants (M4/M16) which have full-auto capability. The common mislabeling of the AR-15 as a 'weapon of war' is addressed by defining 'assault rifle' as a fully automatic firearm.









