Two more law enforcement officers were killed recently in the state of North Carolina, making the tally 5 this year (if I recall correctly). These two cop-killers were 17 and 19 years of age, and had been stopped after committing armed robbery. If justice is served, they'll both get the chair.

While not near the tragedy of the deaths themselves, it is still unfortunate the misrepresentation of facts that the media presented to the public after this shooting. News stations were quick to announce that they had been gunned down with an "AK-47", when in fact it was an SKS rifle. The reason is obvious: everyone out there has heard of the AK-47, Russia's well-known assault rifle. The SKS is usually a Chinese version of the weapon, but with one important distinction. You see, the weapon was also labelled as a "semi-automatic assault rifle" by both TV and news reporters, which is of course like referring to my Jeep's transmission as a "manual automatic". It's an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. The SKS is only semi-automatic.

An "assault rifle", by definition, is a select-fire weapon. This means it can fire single-shot in addition to full-auto or three-round burst, and often both. The AK-47 is an assault rifle. It can fire full-auto. The SKS in question could not fire full-auto. It was a semi-automatic weapon only. Bill Clinton and his anti-gun buddies like to call such firearms "assault weapons", which is merely a term they made up to describe scary guns. So what can you call the SKS? It is a semi-automatic rifle, plain and simple, just like my Mini-14, just like the Ruger 10/22, and countless other semi-automatic rifles manufactured today and widely available in the United States. To refer to it as anything else is a clear attempt to induce irrational emotions and cause panic in the people.

Almost as bad is the description of the AK-47 (and SKS) as a "high-powered rifle", which has also happened. Anyone in the know can tell you that the AK-47 fires the 7.62x39mm, what is known as an "intermediate" round. This means it is not as powerful as other common military infantry cartridges also in use. The U.S. Military's M16 also fires what is considered an intermediate round, the 5.56mm NATO (or .223), a big step down from the power of the 7.62x77mm NATO round (.308) fired in numerous military rifles all over the world (and once the standard U.S. caliber in the short-lived M14). Sure, the AK-47's cartridge packs a bigger punch than any pistol caliber out there, but it is by no means a "high-powered rifle". The .308 is a high-powered rifle cartridge, as is the 7mm, the .300 Magnum, and the .50in BMG. Now that is a high-powered rifle bullet.