assault weapon

noun

Definition of assault weapon

: any of various automatic or semiautomatic firearms especially : assault rifle

Examples of assault weapon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Restrictions on assault weapons have proven to be a popular rallying cry for gun control advocates in the aftermath of recent mass shootings, from Parkland, Florida, to Las Vegas. — German Lopez, Vox, "Washington votes to strengthen gun laws with Initiative 1639," 7 Nov. 2018 President Trump recently nominated Brett Kavanaugh as the successor to Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, who, among his other positions, has said that a ban on assault weapons is unconstitutional. — Allie Gemmill, Teen Vogue, "Sacha Baron Cohen Got Pro-Gun Activists and Lawmakers to Support a Fake Program That Would Arm Children," 16 July 2018 In one of his notable decisions, Kavanaugh voted to reject a Washington, D.C.’s ban on assault weapons. — Abigail Simon, Time, "What to Know About the Potential Nominees President Trump Has Interviewed for the Supreme Court," 3 July 2018 King and other Democratic candidates have already called for a ban on assault weapons, but his plan to tax gun and ammunition sales is the first from a candidate for governor. — Gray Rohrer, OrlandoSentinel.com, "King calls for bullet tax to pay for gun violence prevention," 1 June 2018 Cordray as attorney general was part of the lawsuit to end individual cities' bans on assault weapons. — cleveland.com, "Find out where the 2018 Ohio gubernatorial candidates stand on these issues ahead of the May primary," 2 May 2018 Advertising The Pittsburgh legislation restricts military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 rifle authorities say was used in the synagogue attack. — Ramesh Santanam, The Seattle Times, "Prosecutor blocks gun law charges against Pittsburgh mayor," 12 Apr. 2019 Photo: Getty Images New Zealand’s plan to ban military-style semiautomatic and assault weapons in response to a terrorist attack on two mosques mirrors tighter gun laws that neighboring Australia introduced after a 1996 massacre. — Rob Taylor, WSJ, "New Zealand Models Guns Clampdown on Australian Experience," 21 Mar. 2019 It was initially proposed by Barack Obama’s administration but never adopted as mass killings with military-style assault weapons became more visible in America. — Annie Linskey, BostonGlobe.com, "Donald Trump wants to make foreign arms sales easier," 23 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'assault weapon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

12 May 2019

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The first known use of assault weapon was in 1966

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