I think it’s a lack of understanding by people that don’t want to be educated.
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How about video games along with TV? I’ve never been a fan of first person shooting games for anything other than training, even decades before I discovered an appreciation of firearms.
They look quite similar to a military automatic rifle and people in general do not understand the difference with a repetition weapon, they only see what it looks like and conclude. Certainly, the media is the main culprit, as well as politicians with their own personal (and the corporations they represent) interests.
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I think it started with Viet Nam. It was the first military action that got such close coverage and people saw M16s - which they now mistake for AR15s - doing battle damage. The left used the images widely then and since to tell us all that violence, no matter the reason or justification, is evil, and that violence is symbolized by the AR15. It really has nothing to do with its capabilities or anything else. It’s just a symbol for something else that they hate.
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because they hold more ammo then a typical hunting rifle. are easily reloaded , fast to fire and follow up shots and are very accurate and little recoil. most people think they are more powerful then they are, even though they were and are used by the military in one form or another. the goverment fears them because they know a armed society will not be enslaved.
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It defiantly is the media hype, that make people scared.
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My AR platform tends to dispatch ground hogs and coyotes for farmers who find those critters to be pest and predators. I think of it more as a tool than a dangerous looking “Assault Rifle”. I guess the ground hogs would disagree.
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I was on my phone & in a hurry & accidentally selected “All of the above”…
I do not believe that…
It’s a mix of media bias and political bias.
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As others have stated, the appearance certainly resembles military and law enforcement weapons. That the model is referenced as “AR” also contributes to the confusion of politicians and media elites out of ignorance or disregard for facts. Colleagues who position themselves as “anti-gun” have, with very few exceptions, demonstrated no curiosity about AR-xx even when I offered to take them to the range for a demo and to try it first hand.
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I selected ALL THE ABOVE. Never underestimate the power of optics. Constant bombardment with phrases & imagery can change public perception. The media is influential in corrupting the minds of the uneducated & pushing narratives that are factually untrue. Labeling the AR15 as an “automatic” & “weapon of war” is certainly a stain on America’s most popular rifle. Finally, the urban legend that AR means “Assault Rifle” makes you seem dangerous to those outside the gun community.
( Funny that a simple Google search would prove that Democrats are lying) 
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To quote the immortal bard, Mel Brooks, “… You know…Morons!” That’s why AR’s are bad in the minds of the unedumactud.
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Don’t own an AR, but planning to build one soon
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Sorry, but “assault” can be an adjective. Most words can be used as multiple parts of speech; it depends on how the word is used in a sentence. For example, I can use “running” as a noun or a gerund (Running is my favorite exercise); as a verb (I am running in next week’s race); or as an adjective (I love my new running shoes). The real problem is that “assault rifle” is a phrase created by a self-serving, anti-gun politician. It’s not a military or gun industry term. Technically, “assault” can be an adjective put in front of anything one person uses to deliberately harm another. If I hit you with my Louisville Slugger, I’ve used an assault bat. If I set my pit bull on you, I’ve used an assault dog – and so on. Anything used to harm another person deliberately is an assault whatever: an assault rock, an assault 2x4, an assault knife (or fork or spoon). You just won’t catch the media using “assault” unless it’s an adjective for “weapon” or “rifle.” Apparently, they believe no one can be assaulted with a pistol, a bolt-action rifle, a pencil (John Wick, anyone?), or anything else. In August of 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, James Alex Fields Jr., a self-professed neo-Nazi and white supremacist, drove his car into a peaceful crowd, killing one and injuring 28 others. He’s now serving two life sentences plus 419 years, and deservedly so. Personally, I’d have given him the needle. But my point is that no one, no media outlet, no Everytown spokesperson ever mentioned an “assault car” or an “assault automobile.” Nor has any court said that any of the injured or the parents of the murdered woman may sue the auto manufacturer for making an “assault weapon.”
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I almost clicked All the Above, but knowing it isn’t automatic (etc. etc), and it isn’t just Media Bias, but a political goal of misinformation. I am convinced of this following several years of research. Certainly, some politicians are uninformed and biased. But not that many over that many years. It is their responsibility to learn facts. Socialism is a political-social philosophy that by its stated goals as control, citizenship must be disarmed. They’re happy if ignorant folks help push their agenda.
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The power of the media is amazing. They have convinced the uninformed and also gun owners that these guns are inherently dangerous. Oh my gosh, they have 30 round magazines. I taught hunter safety for many years and have actually but many AR’s in the hands of kids as young as 10. Once they have been informed of how they operate, how to properly handle and gun or rifle and how much fun they are to shoot we have helped create an informed group of kids that can go back to school, or even home, and share what they know. It’s only through education that we can change this dangerous trend.
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In addition to the categories for listed for today’s poll (which I believe are all the above), my “write-in” response for other is…ignorance. Many people take other sources for their version of “the truth” and do not conduct any research of their own.
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Its media bias…the media doesn’t do there homework/research regarding the AR-15 (Armalite Rifle - 15) and the AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova 47) initials stand for… Assault rifles are military weapons and also, used by SWAT teams.
Media bias calling them “assault rifles” and weapons of war when they are neither one.
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People are thinking these are evil guns because of some evil people who have used them in the past. It’s just a gun with a little more fun when used appropriately as most guns are.
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I believe a musket makes for a better club. Crockett’s Old Betsy was surely an assault weapon.