There are a lot of reasons why I'm so particular about words and language. I'm imperfect; but, I do try to hold myself accountable. I do think that every time somebody has corrected my grammar in recent years, I've simply said "thank you" and made edits. Still, we need to hold everybody to high standards when it comes to the words that we choose.
I think that the gun debate is one of the better illustrations of why words matter. So many of the problems that we have come from a lack of clarity in regard to terms. Some of the problems stem from vagueness in terms from people on my side. The other side has exploited some of that vagueness to gain control, create bullshit terms, and pass unconstitutional laws.
Let's start with the Second Amendment:
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
Yes, that came from memory, including the punctuation.
Gun control people claim that the Second Amendment is about a militia having a right to bear arms, and not the general populace. Even if you disregard everything that Washington, Jefferson, and especially Madison said about the Second Amendment, that's grammatically false. The commas are there for a reason. One comma separates "the militia" from "the people." The Amendment is about securing the right of the people to bear arms.
Now, the word "automatic" has been a pain in the ass, and a bit of a self-inflicted wound for pro-gun people. Even my new gun (arriving today) is chambered in .45 ACP. "ACP" stands for "Automatic Colt Pistol." Of course, the 1911 is semi-auto; but, at the time that it was being developed, the military was still using revolvers; so, by comparison, it was automatic given context. The 1911 was more automatic than the bolt action rifles carried by most soldiers in WWI, and as automatic as the M1 Garand rifles that most soldiers carried in WWII.
Somehow, my 1911 (arriving today) is still California compliant, and nobody with real political power has directly attacked my right to have it; but, notice the word "directly."
This is why words matter.
It seems like most anti-2A people, and even some people who are cool with guns, are fine with restricting the right of the average person to have an automatic firearm. I'm not fine with that. Still, it's clear that this is the low hanging fruit for the authoritarian assholes. That's why the bump-stock ban passed with almost no opposition (sadly, even from me). Assigning the word "automatic" to our own firearms is going to lead to legal battles if we keep voting for Democrats.
The term "assault weapon" is interesting. It's actually the most transparent that the gun control people have been about manipulating language in order to get people to give up their God-given rights. There's documentation dating back thirty years about how the nebulous nature of the term combined with how ominous they are will serve as a useful tool for cajoling people into supporting sweeping gun restrictions. They are actually using 1984 as an instruction manual.
How many of you still think that the "AR" in "AR-15" means "Assault Rifle"? It doesn't. It means "ArmaLite rifle." It's just the original manufacture's name followed by the word "rifle." Bump stocks don't magically turn an AR-15 into an M-16. Still, it's telling that leftists are so forgone on this issue that they want to reinstate a ban on ill-defined "assault weapons" despite the bump stock ban.
If we're being clear with our words, the anti-gun people want to ban semi-automatic rifles with certain extra nuts and bolts.
The thing is, the POTUS has made statements saying that we're sick for wanting semi-automatic guns, and that we shouldn't have more than eight bullets in a round.
Yeah, Biden's brain isn't working. We can never tell how much of what he's saying is representative of his philosophy, and how much is just his brain shutting down. Still, he has immense power. We need to know what his words mean if people are gonna go to prison due to his policies.
So, if we take him at his word, he really does want to ban semi-automatic guns. That would make me a felon, as of today, for having a 1911.
Still, this is where people on my side screw up.
All though it's technically true that "semi-automatic" means that you have a gun that will fire one bullet with one trigger pull. That said, a double-action revolver technically fires one bullet with one trigger pull; but, they're not considered to be semi-automatic.
If we keep dumbing down the definition of "semi-automatic", we're gonna have to deal with authoritarians using our words against us.
A semi-automatic is a gun that uses the energy of the round fired to cycle. That's not what a double-action revolver does. Still, both styles of gun fire one bullet per trigger pull.
The thing is, anti-gunners generally don't know piss and head from their sister's titty when it comes to these details when they're demanding that people end up in jail when it comes to these terms. The ones that do transparently lie in order to gain more control.
If we're gonna preserve our right to bear arms, we've gotta keep our own house clean. We've gotta be deliberate, and accurate with our words. The opposition has been exploiting uncertainty, and lying about what various words actually mean for decades in order to gain power. That's a strong tool.