I’ve previously discussed how the AR-15 is properly called a “modern sporting rifle” instead of an “assault weapon.” Along those lines, I would like to point out Modern-Sporting-Rifle.com, which is a website dedicated to this issue.
. . . be an informed gun owner and to use the following facts to correct misconceptions about these rifles. Support the cause and banish the term Assault Weapon from any conversation. Replace it with “MSR” or Modern Sporting Rifle. [Read more here.]
While I welcome any attempt to end the perception that an AR-15 is a tool of murder, and I don't object to the term, I just don't feel comfortable referring to mine as a "Modern Sporting Rifle", since I don't use it for sport.
I have mine for defense in times of civil emergency and natural disasters. I feel that a citizen should be as well armed as a common soldier, and given that most soldiers I've talked to prefer to use their M16s in single-fire mode, I feel that the AR-15 gives me most of the same advantages.
I have absolutely no intention of ever committing a crime with my weapon. When people ask me about why I have it, I try to explain that it is for when things get really bad, and you want to keep bad people really far away from you.
So in my case, I want to give people the impression that while it is not a tool of murder, it is a defensive weapon. Maybe I'll call it a "Civil Defense Rifle".