Well, if you know where the term "assault weapon" (actually specifically, the term "assault rifle") originated, it originated in purchase orders from German military to the Chancellor (Hitler) to replace worn/obsolete weapons. It was a designation for describing selective fire rifles specifically.
And even more specific, the StG 44 infantry rifle was to be the replacement weapon. It later became a broadly defined umbrella term used to describe ANY selective fire rifle or rifle with ability for selective fire conversion. "Assault Weapon" is some weird shit that modern TV media came up with
I suppose to differentiate between a weapon used for self defense versus one used in an assault with said weapon (not actually sure, but the media would need a placeholder term to please NRA at any rate)
You know, the whole idea that using firearms for self/home defense is actually a common thing that occurs (it isn't). Fact is, almost next to no firearm involved incidents are a case of self or home defense. So much so that there almost isn't enough data to form statistics on the amount.
But media would have to play ring around the narrative on this one and just come up with an "buzzword" that sounds good, hence "Assault Weapon" or "High Powered Assault Weapon"
And you get these Gun Nuts™ that say that an AR-15 is just a "spicy .22" because the round is a similar diameter when infact, and AR-15 is a far more powerful weapon, that infact was designed as a military grade weapon without automatic fire. So, I don't think most people know enough about guns