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CNN And The Curious Case Of The 'Full Semi-Automatic' Rifle
Townhall.com ^ | February 27, 2018 | Matt Vespa

Posted on 02/27/2018 1:50:33 PM PST by Kaslin

You know there were some who thought the media was actually making steps towards improving their pervasive and appalling ignorance on basic gun facts. Like knowing the difference between automatic and semi-automatic firearms, while also knowing that the latter constitutes the vast majority of guns in America. Semiautomatic is a self-reloading firearm. It fires one round per trigger pull. Once a round is fired, the energy pushes the slide back, ejecting the casing, while the next round in the magazine is pushed up and chambered as the slide comes back. The video below of a Beretta 92 9mm (the gun Bruce Willis uses in Die Hard) captures the function perfectly.

Beretta 92 9mm filmed in slow motion, 600fps

Automatic firearms fire multiple rounds per trigger pull. You can own some automatic firearms as a civilian. You need to undergo a background check, which could take up to a year or more, pay the NFA (National Firearms Act) tax stamp, and have your name and weapon serial number placed in a database. This is all run by the ATF. Legal transfers of such firearms are only for those made pre-1986. New sales of automatic firearms are banned.

Assault rifles are fully-automatic guns and new sales of them to civilians has been banned since 1986.

Assault weapons are semi-automatic guns and there are likely tens of millions of them in civilian hands.

Semi-automatic firearms likely make up a large majority of all guns.— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 23, 2018

I bring this up because CNN had a rather interesting segment in which a former member of the military and the network’s military analyst, Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, wanted to show what “full semi-automatic” fire looks like from an AR-15. It wasn’t that more rounds were fired per trigger pull; he just pulled the trigger faster. That’s not the same as an automatic weapon. The Washington Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski noted the odd phrasing, adding that it’s sort of hard to show examples of semiautomatic and automatic firing systems when only an AR-15 is used. A M-4 Carbine, which can fire multiple rounds per trigger pull, was seen but never fired. 

Just heard the term "full semi-automatic" used on CNN ??— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 27, 2018

The range segment where that phrase was used was actually ok but it didn't actually compare the AR-15 to the M-4 since they never show the M-4 fired on full auto. Could've been far more informative than it was.— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 27, 2018

The weirdest part was that it was a former military guy who was seemingly against banning ARs. He fired off a few shots in slow succession then said he was going "full semi-automatic" and starting firing off individual shots more quickly. Such a weird thing.— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 27, 2018


There is no such thing as “full semi-automatic fire.” I admit that I get things wrong on firearm terminology at times, but I work quickly to correct the record. You don’t see that with the mainstream media. They have a narrative to sell to liberal voters; facts will get in the way of that. Articles from Lois Beckett of the liberal Guardian publication is definitely worth your time. Her beat is firearms. She notes the glaring biases in the media, the sloppy reporting, and understands why so many gun owners and Seconds Amendment supporters distrust the media on this subject. They never learn from their mistakes, nor do they apologize for them. This nonsense, along with MSNBC interviewing a would-be school shooter to push gun control and trashing Florida Gov. Rick Scott for not meeting with student protestors, only to find out he was unavailable because he was at the funeral for one of the school shooting victims, places the media back at square one. Well, maybe a few notches back from that since we have news outlets confusing shotguns with AR-15s.

Repost - That, people, is a pump action shotgun. Semi-automatic AR-15 it is not. https://t.co/UuVXAZDrkD— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 27, 2018

It’s maddening. It’s atrocious. But we need to keep recycling the facts for these people because we cannot let them just skate by on this drivel. It’s a narrative that must be fought and destroyed every time they try to pull stuff like this—and every time the Second Amendment crowd has prevailed.   

Was talking to a gun owner in Louisiana a few months ago about this, and he said: when newspapers report on a car crash, they don't just get the make of the car wrong, or include basic errors about cars and how they work.— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) February 23, 2018

Yet big news outlets often make basic technical mistakes in talking about guns and gun laws. And yet they don't correct them. They keep making the same mistakes. And that tells gun owners that they don't care about accuracy, that they're not interested in getting it right.— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) February 23, 2018

If you're a gun owner, and you're seeing blatant errors and exaggeration and a tone of hysteria in the media about a consumer product that *you own,* about something that is *in your house,* why should you trust journalists reporting on other issues you might not know firsthand?— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) February 23, 2018

Last year, I listened to so many media discussions about "Why don't conservatives believe facts any more?" And as a gun beat reporter, it was so obvious: We are getting some facts wrong. Some of our coverage has clear cultural biases. Gun coverage is one dramatic example.— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) February 23, 2018



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: ar15; banglist; cnn; communistmedia; fakenews; guncontrol; gunrights; liberalmedia; libmediabias; littlecnn; media; msm; secondamendment
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1 posted on 02/27/2018 1:50:33 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

More “pistol bullets are too slow” from the pinko pres.


2 posted on 02/27/2018 1:51:36 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

I watched this video a few minutes ago. Unbelievable The lies and BS being put out there to fool people.


3 posted on 02/27/2018 1:56:10 PM PST by ilgipper
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To: Kaslin
There is no such thing as “full semi-automatic fire.”

Probably meant the "full" capacity of the semi-automatic's ability.

Like saying "going pedal to the medal"

Means one thing in a 1969 Dodge Charger with 440, 4-Speed.

Quite another when in a 2018 Prius.

Confusing terms when you are trying to explain guns to non-gun owners.
4 posted on 02/27/2018 2:01:45 PM PST by RedMonqey ("You don't tug on Superman's cape...You don't spit into the wind...")
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To: Kaslin
There is no such thing as “full semi-automatic fire.”


5 posted on 02/27/2018 2:02:04 PM PST by Iron Munro (If Illegals voted Rebublican 66 Million Democrats Would Be Screaming "Build The Wall!")
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To: Kaslin

Right out of the Josh Sugarmann misinformantion book.

” Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons.
Josh Sugarmann


6 posted on 02/27/2018 2:05:27 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Re-open the insane asylums, stop drugging the kids.)
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To: Kaslin

7 posted on 02/27/2018 2:09:37 PM PST by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
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To: RedMonqey
Confusing terms when you are trying to explain guns to non-gun owners.

It just gives them another meaningless but scary sounding term to reference.


8 posted on 02/27/2018 2:10:13 PM PST by Iron Munro (If Illegals voted Rebublican 66 Million Democrats Would Be Screaming "Build The Wall!")
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To: Kaslin

Oh come now, we all know that this terrible weapon has a switch to slide so that it can launch grenades.


9 posted on 02/27/2018 2:11:44 PM PST by Mark (Celebrities... is there anything they do not know? -Homer Simpson)
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To: Kaslin

Another one is that news people don’t seem to realize is the difference between bullets and cartridges. When I go out shooting with friends no says “Hand me some more bullets,” it is always “cartridges” or “ammo.” The only time the term bullets comes up is when I’m reloading cartridges or stuffing a bullet down the barrel of my black powder muzzle loader.


10 posted on 02/27/2018 2:14:06 PM PST by Inyo-Mono
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To: Kaslin

Mark to share with the uninformed


11 posted on 02/27/2018 2:14:48 PM PST by Jaded (Pope Francis? Not really a fan... miss the last guy who recognized how Islam spread... the sword.ag)
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To: Kaslin

Is it made out of Genuine Imitation Plastic?


12 posted on 02/27/2018 2:19:48 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Kaslin

watched th video...
and this general is a former Armnor ? how can he be this dense ?
they’ve got the genesis and history of the AR-15 totally wrong.

The trouble with all this is, any search on the web will turn up the history of the AR15.
Does CNN have any fact checkers\editors ? Can CNN be this stupid ?


13 posted on 02/27/2018 2:28:11 PM PST by stylin19a (Best.Election.of.All-Times.Ever.In.The.History.Of.Ever)
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To: Kaslin

First they called a semi-auto rifle an assault weapon, now they are calling that same gun “fully auto.”

This is just too confusing to me.


14 posted on 02/27/2018 2:35:19 PM PST by umgud
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To: Kaslin

These people’s knowledge of the world comes from TV and movies. They think people falling out of windows backwards can hit someone with multiple pistol shots, that kill instantly while propelling the target backwards off their feet. They know nothing of basic science, have no real life experience, are impressed by artisans who cure their own meat and make their own pickles. If left to their own devices, relying on their own skills and intelligence, couldn’t keep themselves alive for 48 hours, much less create any semblance of civilization.


15 posted on 02/27/2018 2:40:56 PM PST by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: Kaslin

Please tell me that Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling NEVER had a battlefield command!

I have never heard such utter nonsense in my life re: the AR-15!

An anti-2nd Amendment retired three star!

UNFRICKINGBELIEVABLE!


16 posted on 02/27/2018 2:50:30 PM PST by Taxman (Replace the income tax with the FAIRtax and abolish the IRS!)
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To: Kaslin

The full semi-automatic guns are especially dangerous with the Chainsaw Bayonet attachment deployed.


17 posted on 02/27/2018 2:55:37 PM PST by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: Kaslin

The muzzles over in the Middle East all have fully auto AK-47’s. Even 5 year old muzzles carry them. You know as they infiltrate our country, they’ll be bringing those with them to use against us.


18 posted on 02/27/2018 3:04:20 PM PST by Old Yeller (Auto-correct has become my worst enema.)
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To: Kaslin
Regarding full autos and their availability, you can purchase an M-16 in good condition following all the paperwork required but it's going to cost you a minimum of $20,000.00...............LOL!

When ever I discuss full autos with libtards, that ends the argument.............

19 posted on 02/27/2018 3:04:41 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (My cat is not fat, she is just big boned........)
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To: stylin19a
...and this general is a former Armnor ? how can he be this dense ?

Quite simply, he can't be.

The only reasonable explanation is that he's become a liberal political hack who lies for the agenda.

20 posted on 02/27/2018 3:34:00 PM PST by TigersEye (13 Russian Facebook trolls ... and a Siberian partridge in a Russian Olive tree.)
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