A piece in the Washington Post's online magazine Slate attempted to take other propaganda organs to task in an effort to unify their message as they exploit Orlando to advance their socialism. Unfortunately they got a definition wrong. The error:

An assault weapon is a semi-automatic gun that can accept detachable magazines and has a pistol grip and foldable stock (to increase the gun’s length).

A firearm with those qualities is actually properly referred to as a Modern Sporting Rifle per the National Shooting Sports Foundation. In propaganda land the civilian legal semiautomatic long guns are ominously referred to as assault weapons, a label that properly refers to battlefield instruments including seige engines and trebuchets. Meanwhile the fully automatic and selective fire inspirations for these modern sporting files get to hold the comparatively respectable title of assault rifle. Apparently if the criminal gang in Washington, DC gets to wield the firearm, it gets dignified as a rifle, but sporting instruments available to civilians get demeaned as mere weapons. Peace in our time.