NEWSFLASH!

[RockaFowler]

[Permanut]

1. Point taken..

but as duly qualified member of the Nitpicker Police, E pluribus Unum, the Supreme Court didn't "strike down" school prayer; the prohibition was against state-sponsored prayer. I wouldn't pick that nit here or probably anywhere, except for the constant whining we are hearing from the fundies about their rights being trampled.

[Lint Head]

2. This is great info! I'm posting this on all my social walls.

[99Forever]

3. Explain that, Huckabee (or however the dickhead spells it)...

... you simple-minded twit.

[Mariana]

4. Kids can pray in school, that was never struck down.

They just can't be made to do so. It's a bad idea to use a lie to make a point.

[janlyn]

6. hear, hear

Thanks mariana, wow this is something I would have expected from a person on the right. That's right up there with the " if our founding fathers wanted god mentioned in the pledge, why did those godless democrats want it out"

All I can say is DURRR !!!

[derby378]

5. Isn't the M1 considered to be an "assault rifle?"

I seem to remember at least one attempt to put them on the verboten list, but whether it was on a state level or a Federal level, I can't recall.

And the M1 was used during WWII, and kept at numerous homes after the war. 20 years before the AR-15.

I'm trying to ask nicely for once.

[aristocles]

7. No

The M1 does not fit the legal definition of an assault rifle.

[slampoet]

8. The first assault rifle is credited as the German STG44

and was arguably the only true assault rifle of WWII to see any real deployment.

There are a few factors that makes an assault rifle.

1) is the ability to fire a high velocity cartridge like a sniper or large game rifle might. (submachine guns fire pistol ammo)

2) is the ability to fire one bullet with every pull of the trigger w/o needing to re-cock the weapon AND a mode where you can fire More than one shot for every trigger pull. (the Auto or burst fire mode is disabled for "civilian" sales of assault weapons.)

3) a quickly re-loadable high capacity magazine system. 20 shots seems to be the consensus on what is the beginning of high capacity in the gun nut world though personally I can't see ever needing more than 5 hits to bring any game down so 8 bullets seems plenty.

The M1 has two disqualifications as an assault rifle.

No Auto fire mode. (not that any gun in civilian hands should have this anyways)
Not high capacity magazine ("only" 8 shots) and also the magazine was a little primitive in the idea that you had to fire ALL 8 bullets before you could reload. This lead to problems and waste in using alternative ammo.
Either way it's still a fucking dangerous weapon to any civilian in the wrong hands and not quite obsolete militarily.

The Russians also had limited deployment of the SKS a precursor to the AK-47 during wwii but that also was lower capacity and had no auto fire.

A LOT of weapons get lumped into the assault rifle category and there are definite ways to blur the lines (like a 5 shot clip on an AK-47 making it "California legal&quot so it is understandable that people and lazy reporters get confused.

[icymist]

9. Um, I remember school prayer as late as 1974.

I was a sophomore in High School and remember the principal coming over the loud-speaker every morning to lead us in the Lords' Prayer before the start of the day. This was in NE Ohio.