Quote:
Originally Posted by saltwn
Call me crazy but I'll bet people who are not gun buffs use the terms interchangeably. They probably say pistol for hand gun and rifle for a long gun. 
So that doesn't mean the are "dumbasses" just not familiar with the particular subject lingo.
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You're right that they use the terms interchangeably, but the reality is that that's a bad thing. People who give opinions on a topic like this really need to know what the terms and matters mean when it comes to what they're talking about. For instance, a lot of people use "automatic weapons" to refer to what are ACTUALLY semi-automatic weapons. In terms of the law, there is a HUGE difference between those two. "Assault weapon" is another term thrown around too much without understanding. Just as if someone were arguing the issue of abortion rights but didn't know what the terminology they use actually even really refers to specifically. 2nd Amendment issues deserve the same levity of understanding what these matters actually mean as other social legal topics.
Ignorance about guns is one thing that fuels anti-gun sentiment. For examaple, When people realize that there is no real difference between a semi-automatic AK-47 "assault rifle" and a hunting rifle other than how they LOOK and feel, it becomes much more clear and anti-gun sentiment is often pretty irrationally-driven. In fact some hunting rifles are much
more powerful (and therefore could be more dangerous) than an AK-47 round.