There is still a lot of question about what an assault weapon really is.  It could be any gun or even a baseball bat, if used for a physical attack or killing.  It is not an automatic unless it is modified to be a rapid-fire gun like a  machine gun such as used by Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger.  Those went out of use in 1934 except for the Military or Law Enforcement.  All others are semi-automatic weapons.  I had occasion to carry a Sub-machine gun when the battalion runner got sick and I took his job for a couple of days.  Since it is a job where goods or services are delivered to the front lines, the runner is a one man army.  The rest of the time I carried an M-1, a semi-automatic weapon.  It was a great improvement over the old Springfield, where the soldier had to open and close the bolt for every shot. No automatic weapon can be sold to any civilian today.  I think the average semi-sutomatic  rifle gives the average hunter plenty of fiie power, however many people make a hobby of guns and the more they spend, the more attached they are to them.  Had the Japs made a landing on the West Coast during WWII they would have met hot reception from the National Rifle Association.