Let's clear something up...

...That may not be clear to all of us.
I just read a discussion that pointed something out to me that I wanted to explain; the difference between semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons.

A fully automatic weapon, AKA a machine gun, is one which will fire continuously when you depress the trigger, and will only stop when you either take your finger off the trigger, or run out of ammunition. With the exception of Class III firearms license holders, these weapons have been banned for DECADES. They are not available to the general public.
A semi-automatic weapon is one that fires one round every time you pull the trigger. No more, no less (unless you jam). No other action is required (e.g. pulling a bolt, racking a slide, or working a lever). If you hold that finger down on the trigger, after firing the first round, nothing will happen.

Some of these semi-automatic weapons look a lot like what our military is using in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, but they are functionally very different. It is this "look" that gun-banners focus on to muddy the distinction between the two, referring to them as "assault weapons", or "bullet hoses". These "assault weapons" are no different functionally from any other semi-automatic rifle, for example, my Ruger 10/22. My 10/22 has a wooden stock, so it doesn't look as "scary" as a black plastic AR-15.

Gun-banners rely on the ignorance of average Americans about this to push bills like HR1022.
Not cool.