Journalist’s guide to gun literacy

After back-to-back mass shootings, firearms are once again at the center of the national conversation. Inevitably,  journalists across the country are writing and talking about guns. But do they know what they’re talking about?  Statistics show that over a quarter of all Americans don’t own guns or have little experience with guns – that includes a lot of journalists. Say, 25%.  

Getting the terminology and overall basics right, on an issue that so massively divides the  country, is key in making sure people who are knowledgeable about guns don’t immediately write you off. It will also help people with less knowledge develop their own gun literacy. 

Here’s a rundown of just a few terms, how journalists should (or shouldn’t) use them, and some overall gun basics. For further reading, check out 7 things journalists should know about guns from the Journalist’s Resource.

The basics:

Shotgun vs. Rifle vs. Handgun

These are the umbrella terms for types of guns.

Handguns are the most popular firearm in the U.S., and include revolvers or pistols. These are commonly purchased sport shooting, self defense, home defense. They are also the most common type of gun used in mass shootings, homicide, suicide, and accidental deaths. A Glock 19 is a handgun commonly carried by police officers.

Rifles have a long barrel and are held under the shoulder. They come in a wide range of power, or calibers, and are commonly purchased for hunting, sport shooting, and home defense. Rifles were used in nearly all of the most deadly mass shootings in the U.S.. An AR-15 is a rifle.

Shotguns have long barrels like rifles, but they shoot a “shot” of metal pellets that are contained in a “shell.” These are commonly purchased for home defense, bird hunting, and skeet or clay pigeon shooting. The Remington 870 is a shotgun.

Ammunition

Rounds are what a rifle or handgun shoots. A round holds a bullet, which is a metal projectile. A round is often held in a cartridge. 

Caliber refers to the diameter of the round or cartridge.

Semi-automatic weapons vs. fully automatic weapons: 

Semi-automatic means a round is automatically moved to the gun’s chamber after each firing until the weapon is empty.

Handguns, rifles, and shotguns can all be semi-automatic. Americans owned 20 million semi-automatic weapons as of 2021, and it is estimated there are more than 390 milllion guns in the country. The NRA says semi-automatic weapons accounted for more than half of gun sales in 2012.

Fully automatic means a weapon can fire rounds continuously with a single pull of the trigger until it is released.

Fully automatic weapons are highly regulated and illegal to manufacture for civilian use, though some older models are grandfathered in federally and there are loopholes in the laws.

Getting Specific

Talking about rifles:

Don’t use the terms “assault weapon” or “assault rifle”

These are vague, politicized terms that should be avoided, according to the AP stylebook. Assault weapon has a unique legal definition depending on jurisdiction. Assault rifle is sometimes defined as a weapon that is capable of fully automatic firing. However, it is often conflated with “assault weapon” and used to describe a wide range of firearms that do not fit this definition, creating confusion. 

Do refer to the gun’s make and model. Explain what the gun does when possible. If that information isn’t available, just say rifle, shotgun, or handgun.

The AP gives these examples: “Authorities said the shooter used a Smith & Wesson M&P15 rifle or Authorities said the man used an AR-style semi-automatic rifle with a 30-round magazine.” and “Authorities say he used a MAC-10 machine pistol, which fires a bullet and quickly reloads every time the trigger is pulled.”

Common rifles we hear about in the news, video games, and military: the AK-47, M16 and AR-15s

The AR-15 Is a semi-automatic rifle that has been widely marketed as “America’s Rifle” and is sometimes called the “lego” gun because of the range of aftermarket modifications available. Gun manufacturers often refer to it as a Modern Sporting Rifle, and gun technicians recommend the weapon for anything from home defense to small game hunting. 

What do all these letters mean? 

The “M” stands for “model” but this is how the U.S. military names their firearms. The civilian versions of these will have a different naming convention. For example, the civilian version of an American M16 is the AR-15.

AR stands for Armalite Rifle and is a style of gun that many manufacturers can build their own version of. AK stands for Avtomat Kalashnikov and is a Russian counterpart to the American M16.