Reply #85: "assault"

[gorfle]

The key word here is "assault".

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assault

"a military attack usually involving direct combat with enemy forces"

An assault rifle is a rifle that is suited to an assault, as defined above.

A rifle does not necessarily have to be fully-automatic to serve in the above role.

A semi-automatic rifle can serve the purpose also. For example, I would consider the M1 Garand as such a rifle.

I think people mostly shy away from the term "assault rifle" not so much out of an earnest desire for semantic clarity but rather because they are afraid of the military connotation it implies.

I think we should be embracing the military connotation and not running from it.