“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Hear that? It’s the sound of an assault weapon in the hands of a rogue individual, taking down an airplane flying overhead.

At least, that’s what the Reverend Jesse Jackson thinks assault weapons can do. The Reverend’s misinformed assertion that assault weapons are capable of shooting down airplanes came during a Fox News appearance yesterday.

“These semi-automatic weapons, these assault weapons, can only kill people, and in fact, they are threats to national security … the young man who did the killing in Aurora, Colorado … he could shoot down airplanes, so this is a matter of homeland security as well,” he said while speaking about gun control with anchor Martha MacCallum on ‘America’s Newsroom.’ The debate about gun control has permeated the national dialogue ever since the tragic massacre of 26 innocent victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month involved a gun.

An assault weapon is a loose term not easily defined, often brought up in discussions about gun control, and commonly refers to the high-powered rifles and other guns that are used in tragic shootings, such as the AR-15. And according to Jason Hanson, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who spoke to The Blaze, using a rifle similar to the one Aurora shooter James Holmes used, “it would be impossible to shoot down a plane. (Okay, nothing is impossible, but it would be as likely as aliens knocking on my front door tomorrow.) I’ve never heard of a rifle shooting down civilians plane outside of a war zone either.”

Even Michael Knox, a criminology consultant with a specialty in firearms and ballistics, said the AR-15, “is no more capable than any other firearm of shooting down a plane–less capable than most hunting rifles–so, Jesse Jackson’s claim would mean that all firearms are a threat to national security.” He went on to say, “Clearly, Jackson is reaching for gun control rhetoric and he would be well-served to do some research on firearms before making such absurd public statements.

We await comment from the White House and its liberal parrots on whether or not the Reverend’s comedic comments are a welcome distraction from the President of the United States and his recently issued controversial executive actions.