Talk:Assault weapon

The term isn't specific to the United States

The term assault weapon is sometimes used by foreigners to describe gun violence in the United States, and sometimes even in countries like Canada to describe the gun violence in their country as well (such as was the case after the the shooting spree in Nova Scotia back in 2020). I think it's just a bit misleading to start this page off by claiming that this is exclusively used in the United States as if the word "assault weapon" is like speaking Japanese to your average chap in London. It probably originated in the US, but that doesn't make it exclusively American, even if it's most commonly uttered in that country. I know the other section tackled that issue but it's kinda important that we get it across that this word isn't Japanese to the English, it's an American word that is universally understood and sometimes even adopted by other nations (such as Canada). MountainJew6150 (talk) 06:53, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

I agree that the article has a problematic focus on the United States. The term is widely used throughout the world, e.g., this Canadian report . – notwally (talk) 20:46, 5 January 2025 (UTC)

MountainJew6150 - the article doesn't claim it's used exclusively in the US. But it is appallingly US-centric. It definitely needs a rewrite to at least acknowledge the term's us outside the US. HiLo48 (talk) 22:27, 5 January 2025 (UTC)

The term is primarily used in a US context. Discussion outside the US usage in the article would make sense but keeping it US focused also makes sense. Springee (talk) 14:21, 6 January 2025 (UTC)

In New Zealand, following the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attacks, assault weapons were subjected to bans as well. In Australia, while we don't use the term assault weapon by name (many firearms that are considered assault weapons by American gun control activists are either Category C for smallbore/rimfire rifles like certain variants of the Ruger 10/22 or Category D for fullbore/centrefire rifles like the AR-15, and in both cases they are very difficult [almost impossible for the majority of Australian civilians] to obtain. Category C and D is highly restricted for obvious reasons following the Port Arthur massacre because two of the weapons used in that massacre are assault weapons. 180.216.231.185 (talk) 23:07, 5 April 2025 (UTC)