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Comment by chmod600 | Hacker News Reader

An otherwise informative article, but using the term "military-grade" seems out of place.

The term has little meaning. You could call socks "military-grade" as well, and the only meaning that it really conveys is that it was cheap and barely functional enough to win a contract.

And AR15s are cheap. A lot of plastic and aluminum. You could say that's a problem, if you want. But that line of argument doesn't seem to lead anywhere.

In any case, "military-grade" seems like a talking point and nothing more. If anything, it gives the rifle more protection under the second amendment, which specifically references the militia.

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It's not just out of place, it belies a fundamental ignorance as to gun related technology.

There is pretty much one single feature that we've decided should be reserved for military use: selective fire, aka automatic weapons. A "military-grade semi-automatic rifle" is a contradiction in terms. I believe all standard issue military rifles are selective fire, and no civilian rifles can be outside of extremely rare and tightly regulated situations.

The AR-15 is a counterpart to the M16. It is specifically not a military gun and the major difference is that it does not have selective fire.

I think in this context it is used more to refer to something that ‘has functionalities that no civilian would ever need’.

That doesn't really make sense, though. The entire point of the 2nd amendment is to allow the rapid formation of a militia to protect against tyranny, oppression, foreign aggression, etc. So "military grade" is exactly what you want citizen weaponry to be... I.e., civilians don't need those functions until they really do.

>>>>You could call socks "military-grade" as well, and the only meaning that it really conveys is that it was cheap and barely functional enough to win a contract.

"Cheap and barely functional enough to win a contract" = "government issue"

My Fox River combat boot socks (my standard everyday sock even when not in uniform) are definitely not cheap and barely functional.

But I otherwise agree with your overall point.

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