Editing Assault weapon (section)

===Cosmetic features===
Gun control advocates and gun rights advocates have referred to at least some of the features outlined in assault weapons bans as "cosmetic". The [[National Rifle Association#Lobbying and political activity|NRA Institute for Legislative Action]] and the [[Violence Policy Center]] both used the term in 2004 when the federal ban expired.<ref name=NRA040913>{{cite web |author=<!--no byline--> |date=September 13, 2004 |title=Finally, the End of a Sad Era—Clinton Gun Ban Stricken from Books! |url=http://www.nraila.org/legislation/federal-legislation/2004/finally,-the-end-of-a-sad-era-clinton.aspx |publisher=National Rifle Association, Institute for Legislative Action |location=Fairfax, Virginia |quote=Law-abiding citizens, however, will once again be free to purchase semi-automatic firearms, regardless of their cosmetic features, for target shooting, shooting competitions, hunting, collecting, and most importantly, self-defense.}}</ref><ref name=VPC040913>{{cite press release|author=<!--no byline--> |date=September 13, 2004 |title=Violence Policy Center Issues Statement on Expiration of Federal Assault Weapons Ban |url=http://www.vpc.org/press/0409aw.htm |publisher=Violence Policy Center |location=Washington, D.C. |quote=Soon after its passage in 1994, the gun industry made a mockery of the federal assault weapons ban, manufacturing 'post-ban' assault weapons with only slight, cosmetic differences from their banned counterparts. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010231937/http://www.vpc.org/press/0409aw.htm |archive-date=October 10, 2013 }}</ref> In May 2012, the [[Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence]] said, "the inclusion in the list of features that were purely cosmetic in nature created a loophole that allowed manufacturers to successfully circumvent the law by making minor modifications to the weapons they already produced."<ref name=AWPS120521>{{cite web |author=<!--no byline--> |date=May 21, 2012 |title=Assault Weapons Policy Summary |url=http://smartgunlaws.org/assault-weapons-policy-summary/ |publisher=Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence |location=San Francisco, California }}</ref> Some reporters used the term in stories after the 2012 shootings in [[2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting|Aurora, Colorado]], and [[Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting|Newtown, Connecticut]].<ref name=Seitz-Wald130206>{{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/dont_mourn_the_assault_weapons_bans_impending_demise/ |title=Don't mourn the assault weapons ban's impending demise| work=Salon |first=Alex |last=Seitz-Wald |date=February 6, 2013 |quote=[The National Rifle Association] says the ban created an artificial distinction between 'assault weapons' and other semi-automatic weapons, based almost entirely on cosmetic features. This is largely true.}}</ref><ref>More ''cosmetic'' sources:
* {{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/21/just-say-no-to-dumb-gun-laws.html |title=Just Say No to Dumb Gun Laws |newspaper=The Daily Beast |first=Megan |last=McArdle |date=November 12, 2012 |quote=... 'assault weapon' is a largely cosmetic rather than functional description.}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323723104578185271857424036.html |title=Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |first=David |last=Kopel |date=December 17, 2012 |quote=None of the guns that the Newtown murderer used was an assault weapon under Connecticut law. This illustrates the uselessness of bans on so-called assault weapons, since those bans concentrate on guns' cosmetics, such as whether the gun has a bayonet lug, rather than their function.}}
* {{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/139509-the-problem-with-assault-weapons/ |title=The problem with 'assault weapons' |newspaper=The Hill |first=Jordy |last=Yager |date=January 16, 2013 |quote=Gun companies quickly realized they could stay within the law and continue to make rifles with high-capacity magazine clips if they steered away from the cosmetic features mentioned in the law.}}
* {{cite web |url=http://reason.com/archives/2013/01/30/whats-an-assault-weapon |title=What's an Assault Weapon?| work=Reason|first=Jacob |last=Sullum |date=January 30, 2013 |quote=The distinguishing characteristics of 'assault weapons' are mainly cosmetic and have little or no functional significance in the context of mass shootings or ordinary gun crimes.}}
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Assault weapons, also sometimes called "black guns" or "black rifles",<ref name=WSJ090313>{{cite news |last1=Roth |first1=Alex |last2=Prada |first2=Paulo |last3=Dade |first3=Corey |date=March 13, 2009 |title=New Calls for Assault-Gun Ban |url=https://www.wsj.com/article/SB123690314709013801.html |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=December 28, 2012 |quote=People seeking to stock up on the types of weapons that would likely be targeted by any ban—semiautomatic weapons, sometimes known as 'black guns' or 'black rifles'—have flocked to purchase them.}}</ref> are no more powerful than many other semi-automatic rifles legally used for hunting throughout the United States; they do not shoot faster or have greater range.<ref name=Harrison121220>{{cite news |last=Harrison |first=Laird |date=December 20, 2012 |title=4 Myths About Assault Weapons |url=http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2012/12/20/four-myths-about-assault-weapons/ |publisher=KQED |access-date=December 28, 2012 |quote=But these guns are no more powerful than many semiautomatic rifles legally used for hunting in California and throughout the United States. They don't shoot farther, faster or with more power. In order to create an 'assault weapon' ban, legislators had to list specific models of guns or characteristics such as pistol grips on rifles, flash hiders, folding rifle stocks and threaded barrels for attaching silencers. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230222510/http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2012/12/20/four-myths-about-assault-weapons/ |archive-date=December 30, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Two scholars have written: "One problem inherent in the study of [assault weapons (AW)] is that the classifications of AW are based on cosmetic features of firearms... For instance, the Colt AR-15 series of semi-automatic rifles—the civilian version of the fully automatic M-16 rifle issued to U.S. soldiers—was subject to the 1994 AW restrictions, but the [[Ruger Mini-14]] rifle was not banned. Yet, the Mini-14 is the same caliber, has a similar barrel length, the same semi-automatic action, and can use magazines that hold 30 rounds of ammunition. The only real meaningful difference between the two firearms is cosmetic: The AR-15 rifle looks more dangerous."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Decker |first1=Scott |last2=Ruddell |first2=Rick |date=May 1, 2005 |title=Kids and Assault Weapons: Social Problem or Social Construction? |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0734016805275679 |url-access=subscription |journal=Criminal Justice Review |volume=30 |issue=1 |doi=10.1177/0734016805275679 |pages=53|s2cid=56076954 }}</ref>

The [[National Shooting Sports Foundation]], a firearms industry [[trade group]], states that the term ''assault weapon'' has been misapplied to many semi-automatic firearms because of their appearance and not their use in crime.<ref name="NSSF Facts">{{cite web |url=http://www.nssf.org/factsheets/semi-auto.cfm |title=Background Information on So-Called 'Assault Weapons' |publisher=National Shooting Sports Foundation |date=December 2011 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219071331/http://www.nssf.org/factsheets/semi-auto.cfm |archive-date=December 19, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>