Yikes! Man Planned Mass Shooting at "Twilight: Breaking Dawn" Screening

Bramblethorn said:

As a lapsed SCAdian, I think it's one of those Judean People's Front/People's Front of Judea things that matters much more to the parties involved than to any of the bystanders...

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Lapsed SCAdian, lol.

Now that I think about it, that "comfortable at a frat party" part is pretty much the reason I never went past guest status.

Could someone help me out a bit here?

I always thought that a semi-automatic gun was one that automatically reloaded but only fired one bullet at a time, whereas a fully automatic was one where you could hold down the trigger to fire several bullets at once. But reading this thread, people are talking about the AK-47 (that's the one they use in the army right?) being semi-automatic, isn't it fully automatic? And surely using semi-automatics isn't going to spray bullets everywhere, just mean you can fire individual bullets faster. Are fully automatic weapons legal?

I'm confused.

SevenSquared said:

But reading this thread, people are talking about the AK-47 (that's the one they use in the army right?) being semi-automatic, isn't it fully automatic?

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Military (and black market) AK-47 (or any of the Kalishnikov series or license-manufacture copies) are properly classed as "Select Fire) meaning they can fire semi-automatic or full automatic (or three round burst, on some models) but that generally isn't the "AK-47" anti-gun nuts rant about people "buying at wal-mart" because those "Select-Fire" versions are tightly controlled under the Firearms Act of 1934.

There are several manufacturers that do make semi-automatic versions based on the kalishnikov design that are semi-automatic only; some even look very similar to the Select Fire military models. Many of the semi-auto-only models can accept the familiar 30-round "banana clip" most people associate with an "AK-47."

The US and NATO forces don't use the Kalishnikov action. The US uses various derivatives of the AR-15 such as the M-16 and M-4.

SevenSquared said:

Are fully automatic weapons legal?

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Fully automatic firearms have been tightly controlled since the Firearms Act of 1934. They aren't precisely illegal, but they do require a special background check and license to own or operate.