You're absolutely right. The M1 Garand was (and still is) a semi-automatic
weapon. (Something the press still can't get right but I digress). It was a
wonderfully reliable weapon but was replaced by the M16 (civilian version
is the AR15) a fully-auto clip-fed, arguably less accurate, rifle. The
Garand operates by using gas from the expolosion of one round to feed the
next round into the chamber. You still needs to pull the trigger each time
you want to fire a round. It replaced bolt action rifles where the user had
to, essentially, manually feed each round by operating a lever or a bolt. A
distinctly slower method of chambering a round.

I would argue that it's more than just semantics, the distinction between
semi and full auto is one of technology, mechanics, and the history of
warfare. Class III weapons are also more highly restricted. One needs a
special federal permit to own them and private ownership is banned in
several states. Note I said Private ownership. Museums are a different
animal all together but still need to be in compliance with federal and
state laws. In Illinois, for example, private citizens can't own Class III
weapons but museums CAN have them in collections IF they have the proper
federal permits.

Diane Gutenkauf


Top10Denverdave wrote:
I entirely agree with Mr. Burlakoff. Someone correct me please if I am in
error, but I believe that the WWII M1 Garand was a semi-automatic rifle
with a spring-fed 5 round clip. Maybe it's a matter of definitions - a semi-
automatic means that the rifle can only fire when the trigger is depressed
for each round. An automatic weapon is one is which the trigger is
depressed and there is a continuous rate of fire until the ammo either runs
out or there is a malfunction like jamming.

<snip>

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