With the passing of HB 1240, which is intended to "prohibit the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, or offer for sale of any assault weapon," many legal firearm owners are asking what is ans "assault rifle?"

There's one simple answer and it comes from an outfit that would know better than any other. According to the United States Military, an assault rifle is "a selective-fire rifle chambered for a cartridge of intermediate power."

What it is not is any semi-automatic firearm regardless of its cosmetic similarity to a true assault rifle.

However, according to Washington State Representative Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, an "assault rifle" is any "semi-automatic rifle with a barrel length of less than 30 inches, has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds” and “conversion kits and parts that can be used to assemble an assault weapon or convert a firearm into an assault weapon, if the parts are in the possession of or under the control of the same person.”

This definition covers thousands of rifles, not just the often demonized AR-15. Beyond that, just because a representative claims that any magazine over 10 rounds is "high capacity," doesn't make the statement true.

Also, accessories like a forward grip, pistol grip and barrel length also do not qualify an "assault rifle."

Despite their saying to the contrary, the only purpose behind legislation such as this is to disarm innocent, law abiding Americans of their God-given right to defend themselves, not only from those who wish them harm, but also from a tyrannical government.

The other trick they deploy, besides the intentional mislabeling of firearms which are legal in a cast majority of states, they also change the meaning of words to suit their purpose, and purposefully hide information that goes counter to their arguments.

Many will point to the number of "mass shootings" we experience in the United States. No, there were not 693 mass shootings in 2021, as they like to insist. The real number is hard to decipher, but keep in mind that the definition of "mass shooting" has changed recently to be intentionally vague. Any time there's more than a few people in proximity to a shooting crime, it is now a mass shooting. Similar to how a self-inflicted gunshot wound is now an act of "gun violence," no matter if it resulted in death , or injury, and involved only one person. This is intentional.

To add insult to the lie, they also intentionally fail to mention how many times crimes and shootings are stopped, or prevented in America by legal gun owners. The reason is because it would destroy their narrative about violence in the U.S. According to statistics from the F.B.I., the number of times a crime, or active shooter is stopped by an armed citizen numbers in the thousands each year.

The bottom line: unless you own a fully automatic rifle, you don't own an "assault rifle." You simply own the means to protect yourself and your family. And never forget that the 2nd Amendment doesn't just say we have the right to own a firearm for defense. It says the government holds no standing in depriving you of theta God-given right.

Also, don't kid yourself. Once they take your right to a rifle away, they'll take away your right to any form of self-defense. If only because their handlers tell them to do it.

LOOK: The biggest scams today and how you can protect yourself from them

Using data from the BBB Scam Tracker Annual Risk Report, Stacker identified the most common and costly types of scams in 2022.

More From 870 AM KFLD