It is bad enough that the woke-news-media like to refer to low-velocity/small caliber semi-auto rifles as ‘assault rifles’ (which goes against many states’ definition of an assault rifle), and as ‘high powered’, but the gun industry isn’t helping and are making things more confusing for police as even .22 caliber rimfire rifles, and even .22 caliber pellet (Air Soft) rifles, are made to look like ‘assault rifles’.
Sig-Sauer .22 caliber ‘airsoft’ pellet rifle, available on Amazon!
The main clue to the type of rifle used is the width of the magazine, on most rimfire and Air Soft guns it is too narrow to be that of a larger caliber rifle.
Ruger’s 10/22 made to look like an M4 assault rifle, notice the skinny magazine.
But you can’t trust the width of the magazine, as some 22 rifle manufacturers even use magazines that look like the larger caliber guns!
Sportsman’s Outdoor Superstore claims this is a .22LR rifle, notice the full sized assault rifle magazine with the loading channel which is indicative of a 22LR.
The identifying feature of a 22 rifle with full sized magazine is the vertical channel running through the magazine, which is typical of all 22 magazines. With 22 rimfire magazines you have a lever on the magazine which you have to pull down in order to load the 22 rimfire rounds.
A ‘Primer’ About Rimfire Vs. Centerfire Ammunition
The .22 rimfire is considered a cheap-o plinker, to be lethal you have to be at close range, and hit just the right part of the body. But then even the more powerful AR-15/M16/M4 assault rifles are considered plinkers.
Assault Rifle: AR-15/M16 IS NOT ‘HIGH POWER’ OR ‘HIGH VELOCITY’! IT’S A ‘PLINKER’!
There is a lot of confusion over whether or not rimfire guns are considered assault rifles under ‘The Law’. It depends on which country you live in, and here in the United States it also depends on which state you live in. In California, the rimfire round itself does not make an assault rifle, but how the rifle is outfitted determines its classification as an assault rifle, especially regarding the capacity of the magazine (California anti-2nd Amendment laws are constantly being changed, so do your research).
In most U.S. states, that have legal definitions of what an Assault Rifle is, what matters most is if the rifle has a ‘select-fire’ option, meaning you can select to fire semi-automatically or automatically. Realize that this type of definition means that the term Assault Rifle can only be applied to guns that can fire automatically, like a machine-gun, most mass shooters are not using guns that can fire automatically, which means (depending on the state) that most mass shootings do not involve Assault Rifles! Is this why most police departments across the U.S. use the phrase ‘assault-type weapon’ in their press releases and not assault rifle? Why does the woke-news-media incorrectly slap the label ‘assault rifle’ on any shooting that happens?
Example: The AR-15 is a semi-auto version of the M16, this means the AR-15 (in most U.S. states) is not legally an assault rifle, they are considered ‘sporting rifles’. The M16 and its offspring, like the M4, are select-fire weapons making them legally (in most U.S. states) assault rifles. In the United States automatic machine guns are not illegal, ownership requires the purchase of an expensive FFL (Federal Firearms License, and that is just to apply it does not mean you will get one). There are several types of FFLs, and you will be entered into a government database.
CLASS WARFARE: BEING A MASS SHOOTER IS REALLY EXPENSIVE, SO HOW’D THEY DO IT, ESPECIALLY THE UNDER-EMPLOYED/UNEMPLOYED PATSIES?