Gunfire erupts outside Dallas federal courthouse

[rlvaughn]

Gunfire erupts outside Dallas federal courthouse; alleged shooter killed in gunbattle

A gunman who appeared to be wearing tactical gear and wielding an assault rifle opened fire outside a federal courthouse in Dallas Monday morning, but no one aside from the alleged shooter appeared to be injured in the incident, police said.

Police responded to what they called an active shooter incident at the Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse in downtown Dallas at 8:50 a.m.

 

[Reformed1689]

And what exactly is an assault rifle?

 

[Reformed]

The shooter was shot and killed according to news reports.

 

[rockytopva]

Gunman wearing 101st Airborne Division patch opens fire on federal courthouse in Dallas

 

[rockytopva]

Shooter Brian Isaac Clyde Facebook rant....

 

[rlvaughn]

And what exactly is an assault rifle?

I think it is pretty subjective, as used in the media. For me, maybe any gun someone is trying to shoot me with!

On a more serious note, The Firearms Blog cites approvingly the definition found at Wikipedia.

The U.S. Army defines assault rifles as “short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachine gun and rifle cartridges.” In a strict definition, a firearm “must” have at least the following characteristics to be considered an assault rifle:

• It must be capable of selective fire.
• It must have an intermediate-power cartridge: more power than a pistol but less than a standard rifle or battle rifle, such as the 7.92×33mm Kurz, the 7.62x39mm and the 5.56x45mm NATO.
• Its ammunition must be supplied from a detachable box magazine.
• It must have an effective range of at least 300 metres (330 yards).

Rifles that meet most of these criteria, but not all, are technically not assault rifles, despite frequently being called such.

In addition to that, The Prepper Journal says there are “three possible definitions of assault rifle: the technical one, the legal one and the functional one.”

 

[Salty]

In addition to that, The Prepper Journal says there are “three possible definitions of assault rifle: the technical one, the legal one and the functional one.”

and the Media definition "Whatever we want it to mean"