What is a semi-automatic assault weapon?

What is a semi-automatic assault weapon?

Paul Helmke (President, The Brady Campaign) gives expert video advice on: How dangerous are assault weapons?; What is a semi-automatic assault weapon?; What's the difference between an assault weapon and a semi-automatic firearm? and more...

It's all a question of definition. In the 80's the gun industry marketed assault weapons and they were semi-automatics. It's, what people don't understand a lot of times is they don't know the difference between an automatic weapon and a semi-automatic weapon. An automatic weapon is illegal in this country. That's part of the machine gun ban that goes back to 1934. An automatic weapon is one that if you pull the trigger and hold it back it'll keep firing. A semi-automatic weapon, you have to twitch your finger. That's the difference between them. Sometimes, it's fairly easy depending on the make to modify a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic weapon. But any gun, any weapon, that is designed for aggressive use, that is designed not for self defense but for offense in my mind is an assault weapon and that's generally going to be a semi-automatic.