[ryan71]

Contrary to what nearly every “journalist” believes, the Bushmaster .223 is NOT a “MACHINE GUN”, IS NOT an “AUTOMATIC WEAPON” is NOT an “ASSAULT WEAPON” and is NOT a “MILITARY WEAPON”.

[Peet]

Agree: There is such a thing as an assault rifle -- the phrase describes a select-fire (semi-auto/full-auto) rifle. See post(s) above.

The made up phrase "assault weapon" describes anything that makes libtards wet their panties and that they think they can ban because the weapon looks scarey. It is a deliberate deception made up in the 1990s. The idea is older:

  "The semi-automatic 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 that chance of public support for
   restrictions on these weapons."
                       --  Josh Sugarman, 1988, Violence Policy Center.