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> ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).