it would only make sense to ban and confiscate them all (or at least those with a detachable magazine that can hold more than five rounds) Why ban just a few that look evil because they resemble rifles used by the current militaries of the world. Even better would be to ban and confiscate ALL simiautomatic firearms especially pistols. The problem with that is of course it is impossible to pass such legislation at this time.
(In passing I don't really feel banning and confiscating all semiautomatic firearms is even possible and might well lead to some states seceding from the Union. Americans have always had a high level of distrust in government and that level is extremely high today. Many gun owners feel that they can't trust a government that doesn't trust honest citizens enough to allow them to own firearms.)
Therefore gun control advocates who wish to ban semiautomatic firearms try to use the incremental approach. First ban rifles like the AR-15 and then ban and confiscate other rifles that use a detachable magazine that holds more than five rounds. Once that is accomplished work on banning and confiscating all semiautomatic pistols.
Gun owners are well aware of this tactic and therefore oppose any and all bans of firearms let alone confiscation of said weapons. Many gun owners also go to the polls to vote out any elected politician or candidate who supports such bans. Since there are at least 80,000,000 gun owners in our nation and a high percentage own semiautomatic firearms those who vote make up one BIG voting block. Of course politicians who come from states where gun rights are restricted and gun ownership is not as common as other states that have gun friendly laws, still can win elections with ease. Each state gets two Senators and only two. For that reason it's extremely difficult to get gun bans to pass in the Senate.
Obviously the gun laws in our nation need improvement and most gun owners would like to see it become much harder for people who suffer from mental illness that might make them dangerous to others and violent felons to be able to legally purchase firearms of any type. Gun owners would also like to see better enforcement of the laws against the straw purchase of firearms and the smuggling and sale of such weapons into the inner streets of the cities in our nation.
I have always felt it would be better to the Democratic Party to simply ban the use of the word "ban" when proposing gun legislation and instead concentrate on improving our existing gun laws. Such an approach might actually reduce gun violence in our nation and also eventually help more Democrats win close elections in red gun friendly states.
= new reply since forum marked as read