Anti-Gun People are Intentionally Ignorant About Guns

[H]andgun restriction is simply not viewed as a priority. Assault weapons...are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.

- Violence Policy Center, an anti-gun lobby

quote found here

Many of us who like guns are very eager to explain guns to people who don't know.  The fact that the average people don't know anything about guns is the reason ant-gun people oppse "assault weapons."

Prior to 1989, the term "assault weapon" did not exist in the lexicon of firearms. It is a political term, developed by anti-gun publicists to expand the category of "assault rifles"... 

- Bruce H. Kobayashi and Joseph E. Olson

With the White House poised to announce gun restrictions, many are wondering about the possibilities. Banning assault-style weapons is a no-brainer for many Americans. The argument practically makes itself: Assault? No, thank you!

-Jason Ross

Anti-gun people gain their support through ignorance about guns.

The more we tell the public about guns, the more support that we'll have.

This is a good start.

[N]o one should have any illusions about what was accomplished [by the ban]. Assault weapons play a part in only a small percentage of crime. The provision is mainly symbolic; its virtue will be if it turns out to be, as hoped, a stepping stone to broader gun control.