We explore the concept of "assault" in the phrase "assault weapon" in the context of how "assault" (the threat of force) is legally distinguished from "battery" (the use of force).
On one hand, almost any gun, say, semi-automatic gun, communicates a threat of force, as perceived in the fear of those seeing it. Does an assault weapon induce significantly more fear than any other such gun, analogous to some actions and some speech are deemed to cause a criminally high amount of fear, so become assault?
On the other hand, there are likely contexts in which assault weapons do no cause fear at all; perhaps the local population considers the weapon normal. In such a case, the weapon ought not be classified "assault". Following such a line of reasoning, criminal liability for such weapons would depend on their context. But this would make it difficult or impossible to regulate them at their point of sale.
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