The fairy-tale term of "military grade weapons" is now being used as an attempt to define (redefine) semi-automatic rifles. Just when you might think dumb could not get dumber, it does. Semi-automatic .22 caliber Armalite rifles are now called "military grade," because someone wants to call them that.

When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, no one felt that sending over crates of .22 caliber semi-automatic rifles would help. No one told Hitler that he was a nasty guy and if he didn't cool his jets, .22 caliber semi-automatic rifles would be unleashed against his panzer divisions.

When the Japanese bombed the United States, you might think that they would have targeted .22 semi-automatic rifle storage, instead of sending the United States Pacific Fleet to the bottom of Pearl Harbor. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers and a anti-aircraft training ship. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Fearsome .22 caliber semi-automatic rifles were ignored.

When the Allies invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944, they used no .22 semi-automatic rifles. The strategic daylight bombing runs of WW II targeted no .22 semi-automatic rifle factories.

You might think that the United States would have threatened the use of .22 caliber semi-automatic rifles to end the war with Japan? Instead, we dropped atomic bombs. When the war ended, more than 25,000 U.S. laid mines were still in place and the Navy proved unable to sweep them all, limiting efforts to critical areas. After sweeping for almost a year, in May 1946, the Navy abandoned the effort with 13,000 mines still unswept. During the Korean War, 1.2 million people died, but none from the use of .22 caliber semi-automatic rifles.

When Saddam Hussein was repelled from Kuwait, it was Gulf War time. Precision-guided munitions were heralded as key in allowing military strikes to be made with a minimum of civilian casualties compared to previous wars, although they were not used as often as more traditional, less accurate, bombs. Specific buildings in downtown Baghdad could be bombed while journalists in their hotels watched cruise missiles fly by.

Precision-guided munitions amounted to approximately 7.4% of all bombs dropped by the coalition. Other bombs included cluster bombs, which disperse numerous sub-munitions, and daisy cutters, which are 15,000 pound bombs which can disintegrate everything within hundreds of yards.

(The standard U.S. service rifles/carbines used in the Gulf were and still are the select fire [meaning they can fire bursts fully automatically] M16 and M4. These look somewhat similar to, but are NOT the same, as semi-automatic civilian AR-15s and MSRs. -Editor)

Military grade weapons include Tomahawk missiles, armed Predator drones, helicopter gunships, so-called "smart" bombs and bunker-buster bombs. No war or "police action" is fought primarily with .22 caliber semi-automatic rifles.

Today, the United States still maintains about 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad, from giant "little Americas" to small radar facilities. We deploy nuclear submarines, attack aircraft, missiles, tanks, the floating cities of aircraft carriers and much more.

Consider that aircraft carriers of the Gerald R. Ford class have:

• Advanced arresting gear.
• Extensive automation.
• The updated RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missile.
• An AN/SPY-3 X Band multi-function radar and an AN/SPY-4 S Band volume search radar, designated together as Dual Band Radar (DBR).
• An Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), in place of traditional steam catapults, for launching aircraft.
• A new nuclear reactor design (the A1B reactor) for greater power generation.
• Stealth features to reduce radar cross-section.
• The ability to carry up to 90 aircraft, including the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, Grumman C-2 Greyhound, Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II, Sikorsky SH-60
• Seahawk helicopters and unmanned combat aerial vehicles, such as the Northrop Grumman X-47B.

Ships of the Gerald R. Ford class are intended to sustain 160 sorties per day for 30 plus days, with a surge capability of 270 sorties per day. All with a crew of 2600, unlimited range and a 50 year service life. It has a pair of 3000+ mph Sea Sparrow missile launchers, along with countless other defensive goodies. The United States, as of 2017, still has an inventory of 6800 nuclear warheads. These are not used to recharge smartphones.

Anyone who tries to call a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle a "military grade weapon" in 2018 is either stupid, tragically incompetent, or just plain lying. Mostly, they are statists who are intentionally and knowingly attacking individual rights, the Bill of Rights and civil liberties.

Politicians solemnly swear to uphold and protect the United States Constitution, not to attack it, dilute it, or dismember it. They should be ashamed of themselves. As many are clearly not, they sorely need to be quickly voted out of office where they cannot as easily attack the Constitution of the United States.