Would You Pass the “Assault,” Please?

Marlin just came out with a new “modern” lever-action rifle.  They officially call it the “Dark Series.”  One Gun-Tuber called it an “assault rifle,” which precipitated some criticism on another gun forum.

The discussion starter said,

I hate the title assault rifle but that’s what they’re calling it.

Then another comment,

I don’t see marlin referring to it as an “assault rifle” at their website. Dark Series Lever-Action Rifles

So it’s the Youtuber that’s using the term “assault rifle,” not Marlin.

Normally I object to the use of the term “assault weapon” or “assault rifle” especially by “our side”, since it was created and is still used by the anti-2A faction to scare the muggles into unwittingly agreeing with their agenda to ban (eventually) all firearms.  My position has long been that “words matter,” and we should not encourage or enable the anti-2A faction by adopting their own politically-charged anti-gun lexicon.

A Modest Proposal

But the use of the term “assault” in relation to a LEVER action seems ridiculous, right? However, after some thought, it has made me reconsider my position. Perhaps we should hijack the term to defeat its effect and purpose! Just like we did with Hillary Clinton’s label, “deplorable.” Instead of objecting to “deplorable” as derogatory, we embraced it as a badge of honor!  We wore it with pride, emblazoned on hats and t-shirts.  And it worked!

Go with the flow!

Perhaps we, POTG (people of the gun), should use the “assault” and the more recently popular “military grade” labels for ALL guns. Assault revolvers. Assault pistols. Assault pump-action shotguns. Assault bolt-actions. And yes…. assault lever-action cowboy guns!

Be a tactical cowboy!

If we OVER-use it, it reduces its intended power by our enemies! Whattaya think?

I was headed off at the pass with this comment…

No. They already over use words to generalize everything they don’t like, even if it doesn’t fit. You start calling everything assault, it will make it easier for them to try to ban it.

I disagree. It won’t make it “easier to ban” if the power of the word is weakened by extreme / exaggerated / sarcastic / satirical over-use.  Let’s go nuts with it!  Let’s turn it back on the anti-liberty tyrants!

Assault bullets. Assault scopes. Assault slings. Assault range bags. Assault cleaning rods. Assault shooting gloves. Assault ear muffs. Assault eye pro.

Of course, the anti-liberty / anti-2A faction are quite fond of twisting words and definitions to advance an agenda. My “proposal” is that we use similar tactics by twisting their mis-use of the words to such an extreme that it all appears silly and loses any credibility.  Fighting against emotional arguments with facts doesn’t work.  We need to change our tactics:  emotion vs emotion.

Edit to add (11/30/23):  On that same forum, someone mentioned the term, “assault prevention rifle!”  I love it!  It makes perfect sense.  We should all use that term liberally!

Boo! 👻

Perhaps we should do the same thing with the “ghost gun” term.

This is my latest “assault ghost pistol!”  It shoots “.9-mm lung blowers!”  See what I did there?

More than words…

Let’s turn “words mean something” into “THEIR words mean nothing!”

At the Thanksgiving table, “Would you pass the assault gravy so I can enhance this military-grade (dry) turkey, please?”

I think I’ve stumbled onto something here! Comment below!