[Long Cut]

"are portable machine/tommy guns really that different from assault rifles?"

No, but we are discussing neither assault rifles nor machine guns with this law. Both of the above are, by definition, FULLY-AUTOMATIC weapons. Got it?

So-called "assault weapons" are REALLY SEMI-automatic-only. That means that, like a pistol, they only fire ONCE for one trigger pull.

The term "assault", applied to these weapons, is a made-up term.

[rintense]

As I said on a thread the other day, if the NRA, the right, etc, wants to gain supports to let this ban drop, all they need to do is put it in simple comparable terms. Machine guns = legal. Assault weapons = illegal. People are smart enough to know a dumb law when they see it. I should correct that and say that people are *now* smart enough to know a dumb law when they see it.