There is no single defined description on what constitutes an assault rifle. Generically, we refer to those military style guns that are either full automatic capable or fire in multi-round bursts as being assault guns.
The AK47 variant that we routinely buy is actually a
Wassenaar Arrangement Semiautomatic Rifles (more commonly referred to as the
WASR series rifles) are export-oriented, semi-automatic versions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASR_series_rifles
But even these WASRs are not necessarily assault rifles in all states.
Virginia defines an assault firearm quite differently:
"For purposes of this section, "assault firearm" means any semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine which will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock."
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-308.2C01
Hence: an AK47/WASR with a 20 rd magazine, fixed stock and not built with a threaded barrel or permanent suppressor is NOT an assault rifle in VA. Still these are only potentially illegal in certain larger, listed cities and counties only IF you do not possess a permit (CHP) which would make such legal for you.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-287.4
Confused yet? There are other states that have their own state specific law(s) that would cover this.
Ohhh I understand that politicians make laws to place fear of a weapon/gun on appearance. Overall the German army I believe coined assault rifle. And a ruger 10/22 could be classified as a assault rifle when it clearly does not look like a assault rifle. Though one could paint the stock black and affix a bayonet to it.
I hate using Wiki but I didn't feel like digging for another site to document where the term originated. Just because a politician attaches a fear word to a gun, and gets away with it does not make it correct.
"The term assault rifle is a translation of the German word Sturmgewehr (literally "storm rifle", as in "to storm a position"). The name was coined by Adolf Hitler[3] to describe the Maschinenpistole 43, subsequently renamed Sturmgewehr 44, the firearm generally considered the first assault rifle that served to popularise the concept and form the basis for today's modern assault rifles.
The translation assault rifle gradually became the common term for similar firearms sharing the same technical definition as the StG 44. In a strict definition, a firearm must have at least the following characteristics to be considered an assault rifle:[4][5][6]
It must be an individual weapon with provision to fire from the shoulder (i.e. a buttstock);
It must be capable of selective fire;
It must have an intermediate-power cartridge: more power than a pistol but less than a standard rifle or battle rifle;
Its ammunition must be supplied from a detachable magazine rather than a feed-belt.
And it should at least have a firing range of 300 meters (1000 feet)
Rifles that meet most of these criteria, but not all, are technically not assault rifles despite frequently being considered as such. For example, semi-automatic-only rifles like the AR-15 (which the M16 rifle is based on) that share designs with assault rifles are not assault rifles, as they are not capable of switching to automatic fire and thus are not selective fire capable. Belt-fed weapons or rifles with fixed magazines are likewise not assault rifles because they do not have detachable box magazines.
The term "assault rifle" is often more loosely used for commercial or political reasons to include other types of arms, particularly arms that fall under a strict definition of the battle rifle, or semi-automatic variant of military rifles such as AR-15s.
The US Army defines assault rifles as "short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachinegun and rifle cartridges."[7]"