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At Real Clear Politics: AP Stylebook Finally Recognizes AR-15s Aren’t Weapons of War, but the timing

John Lott - Crime Prevention Research Center | Published on 8/16/2022
The term “assault weapon” is nonsensical. Finally, the Associated Press’s highly influential Stylebook followed by the news media is recognizing that fact. As the AP now acknowledges, the term conveys “little meaning” and is “highly politicized.”

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Politicians will obviously continue calling AR-15s “assault weapons” and “weapons of war,” as President Biden did a few days ago. And many seem to think that “AR” means assault rifle when it stands for ArmaLite rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. But at least some of the media is now recognizing that “AR- or AK-style rifles designed for the civilian market” are fundamentally different than military weapons.