Probably because the definition of "assault weapon" is pretty bogus. It's defined as possessing a certain number of features from a list--but some of them are

Probably because the definition of "assault weapon" is pretty bogus. It's defined as possessing a certain number of features from a list--but some of them are effectively just cosmetic. There are perfectly legal hunting guns with exactly the same performance as illegal "assault weapons"--all the important parts are the same. Thus it comes down to evil-looking guns.