In light of the bills coming down the pipe in VA, I want to start a discussion around semantics and terminology, since this is where the grabbers seem to be getting a lot of wins in the public perception, especially from suburban people who are not familiar with gun culture. Somehow, the infantile, scare-tactic, cringe-inducing term "assault weapon" is still common parlance. I guess if you repeat something enough, people really do start to believe it. So the question is what's in the title. What do you believe we should call AR-15's and other rifles other than "assault weapon"? Have we lost this particular semantic battle? They are not "assault weapon"s or "assault firearm"s until the VA legal code indicates that, so arguing that calling them something else that is more accurate is both honest and a good idea still holds water. I have my own thoughts on this, but I'll reserve them for a later edit after folks have responded or for a comment, since I want to get a organic non-swayed response. Something I don't have on the list? Hit up the comments; I'm looking for discussion and ideas.