Those are not assault rifles, which by definition are select-fire weapons capable of full auto fire. A semi-auto rifle, of any type, is not and never has been an assault rifle. What there is, is the category of assault weapon, which is nothing more than an arbitrary category of weapons created by people who wanted to ban guns. This category is based on cosmetic features and relies on the confusion the public has over the different types of weapons, to fool them into thinking that these are actual automatic weapons. This is why it’s important to be accurate in reporting gun matters. I went over this issue earlier today in this post, with quotes from those behind the push for the assault weapons law in the first place. Coincidentally, that post also went over the reason your upcoming article is flawed in suggesting that the American citizenry would simply be rolled over by the military because its so powerful. It’s not nearly so clear-cut of a case.
Also, they were not carrying “high-capacity” magazines, they were standard capacity. Standard capacity for an AR-15 is and always has been 30 rounds, until again gun control advocates decided to try to screw with terminology and rebrand them to make them sound scary. Not high-capacity, normal, the amount it was designed to carry.
